Date: 1763
"The heart of a woman does, I imagine, naturally gravitate towards a handsome, well-dressed, well-bred fellow, without enquiry into his mental qualities."
preview | full record— Brooke [née Moore], Frances (bap. 1724, d. 1789)
Date: 1778, 1779
"Far be it from me," said Lord Orville, "to dispute the magnetic power of beauty, which irresistibly draws and attracts whatever has soul and sympathy."
preview | full record— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)
Date: 1790
"If her heart was not quite at peace, its exquisite sensibility was corrected by the influence of reason; as the quivering needle, though subject to some variations, still tends to one fixed point."
preview | full record— Williams, Helen Maria (1759-1827)
Date: 1791, 1794
"The name, like a sudden spark of electric fire, seemed for a moment to suspend his faculties--for a moment he was transfixed; but recovering, he caught Belcour's hand, and cried--'Stop! stop! I beseech you, name not the lovely Julia and the wretched Montraville in the same breath."
preview | full record— Rowson, Susanna (1762-1828)