Date: w. 1788-93, 1796 (rev. 1815, 1827, 1837, 1897)

"My personal freedom had been somewhat impaired by the House of Commons and the Board of Trade; but I was now delivered from the chain of duty and dependence, from the hopes and fears of political adventure: my sober mind was no longer intoxicated by the fumes of party, and I rejoiced in my escap...

— Gibbon, Edward (1737-1794)

Date: w. 1788-93, 1796 (rev. 1815, 1827, 1837, 1897)

"By many, conversation is esteemed as a theatre or a school: but, after the morning has been occupied by the labours of the library, I wish to unbend rather than to exercise my mind; and in the interval between tea and supper I am far from disdaining the innocent amusement of a game at cards."

— Gibbon, Edward (1737-1794)

Date: 1796

"And oft in WIT you're cheated there, / As you're deceiv'd in Wedgewood Ware."

— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)

Date: 1796

"Your stanzas must not only chime, / But sense refin'd keep pace with rhime, / As with their paste, Cooks raisins mingle, / Rich thoughts must knead with sterile jingle."

— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)

Date: 1796

"Some hurt themselves by flippant WIT, / As too much GAS, balloons will split;-- / With buoyant splendour, up they rise, / The spirit bursts, the bubble dies."

— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)

Date: 1796

"The effect [of wit on the mind] is strong,--because it's odd, / Like fire electric from a clod; / Or when fix'd air puts out a light, / Tho' vital makes it blaze more bright."

— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)

Date: 1796

"Fetters are needless where the affections are rivetted by beneficent actions. Thou hast left me free, and I am thy slave for ever; with my arms in bonds, I could have escaped, but thou fetterest my heart—I will never forsake thee!"

— Anonymous; Kotzebue (1761-1819)

Date: 1796

"Alas! the door is locked and bolted, as the hearts of white men are."

— Anonymous; Kotzebue (1761-1819)

Date: 1796

"He who feels the spirit in him, will be conscious of possessing the pearl of great price, and will lock it up in the sanctuary of his heart, as his richest treasure, never to be despoiled of it by the seducing arts of false philosophy; never to exchange that pure gold, which is the same yesterda...

— Anonymous

Date: 1796

"Gaiety was so truly the native growth of the mind of Camilla, that neither care nor affliction could chace it long from its home."

— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)