Date: 1741

"Cornelius quickly discovered, that these two last operations of the intellect were very weak in Martin, and almost totally extinguish'd in Crambe; however he used to say that Rules of Logick are Spectacles to a purblind understanding, and therefore he resolved to proceed with his two Pupils."

— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744); Arbuthnot, John (bap. 1677, d. 1735)

Date: 1742

"So engaging are the sentiments of humanity, that they brighten up the very face of sorrow, and operate like the sun, which, shining on a dusky cloud or falling rain, paints on them the most glorious colours which are to be found in the whole circle of nature."

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: 1744, 1772, 1795

"Not so the moral species, nor the powers / Of genius and design; the ambitious mind / There sees herself: by these congenial forms / Touch'd and awaken'd, with intenser act / She bends each nerve, and meditates well-pleas'd / Her features in the mirror."

— Akenside, Mark (1720-1771)

Date: 1744, 1772, 1795

"Thus he learns / Their birth and fortunes; how allied they haunt / The avenues of sense; what laws direct / Their union; and what various discords rise, / Or fix'd or casual: which when his clear thought / Retains and when his faithful words express, / That living image of the external scene, / ...

— Akenside, Mark (1720-1771)

Date: 1745

"A race fantastick, in whose page you see / Untutor'd fancy, a meer Jeu d'Esprit: / Wit's shatter'd mirror lies in fragments bright, / Reflects not nature, but confounds the sight."

— Brown, John (1715-1766)

Date: 1746, 1793

Happiness may "Dart thro' my soul one chearful ray"

— Blacklock, Thomas (1721-1791)

Date: 1746

"As the great light that rules the radiant sphere, / The passions of a generous mind extend"

— Ruffhead, James

Date: 1746

The "heart of man" may be probed with the Muse's microscope

— Ruffhead, James

Date: 1746

The "light of reason's ray" may be extinguished

— Ruffhead, James

Date: 1746

Words may make the soul glow with rapture

— Ruffhead, James