Date: 1805

"And the gay vein of sportive Sense / Enrich'd by sterling Innocence; / Th'undrossy treasures of the Mind / Good-humour'd, graceful, and refin'd; / And, rivalling the Seers of old, / Whate'er you touch transmutes to Gold."

— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)

Date: 1805

"The history of his Heart can tell; / Can all its sterling powers unfold, / More worth than Pens or Mines of Gold"

— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)

Date: 1805

Minerva has "With ready Thought, Expression fit, / And sterling Sense, and playful Wit" array'd her "favour'd Boy" Cupid

— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)

Date: 1805

"And oft thy prostituted wheel / Turns to enrich a heart of steel."

— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)

Date: 1805

"But Flint itself can teach to feel, / And soon subdue a breast of steel."

— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)

Date: 1806

One may possess a great deal of spirit and "sterling merit"

— Wolcot, John, pseud. Peter Pindar, (1738-1819)

Date: 1806

"Tho' party-zeal inflam'd his iron heart, / And prejudice sharp pointed ev'ry dart; / With glowing thoughts, his mind profusely teem'd."

— Jerningham, Edward (1727-1812)

Date: 1806

"I'll hear no tales, listen to none of the charities of life: my heart is steeled"

— Holcroft, Thomas (1745-1809)

Date: 1807

"Tyrants have wept; and those with hearts of steel, / Unused the anguish of the heart to heal"

— Crabbe, George (1754-1832)

Date: 1807-8

"Thus with the show of reason, but with hearts, / By faction tainted, and by envy steel'd / Against their youthful leader, they had hop'd / By these inglorious councils to degrade / And tarnish his high fame."

— Burges, Sir James Bland (1752-1824)