Date: 1713, 1719

"It is this reserv'd Mein, Madam, which has often deter'd me, and commanded my Tongue to a respectful Silence; whilst my poor Heart, overcharg'd with Passion, only eas'd it self with Sighs, and my Looks were the only Language whereby to express my interior Thoughts"

— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)

Date: 1713, 1719

"For in our Youth we commonly dress our Thoughts in the Mirrour of Self-Flattery, and expect that Heaven, Fortune, and the World, should cajole our Follies, as we do our own, and lay all Faults on others, and all Praise on our selves."

— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"'Twould swell this Discourse beyond what I design, to recount her various Starts of Passions, and different Turns of Behaviour, sometimes louder than the Winds, she rav'd! Commanded! Threatned! Then, still as April Showers, or Summer Dews, she wept, and only whisper'd her Complaints, now dissemb...

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"Ill Genius, or that Devil, Curiosity, ... too much haunts the Minds of Women"

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"But when he consider'd how much he had struggled, and how far he had been from being able to repel Desire, he began to wonder that it cou'd ever enter into his Thoughts, that there was even a Possibility for Woman, so much stronger in her Fancy, and weaker in her Judgment, to suppress the Influe...

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"I can no longer withstand the too powerful Magick of your Eyes, nor deny any Thing that charming Tongue can ask; but now's the Time to prove your self a Heroe! subdue your self, as you have conquer'd me! be satisfied with vanquishing my Soul, fix there your Throne, but leave my Honour free!"

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"Be Witness for me Heaven! how much I have struggled with this rising passion, even to Madness struggled!--but in vain; the mounting Flame blazes the more, the more I would suppress it--my very Soul's on fire."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"Oh, Melliora! didst thou but know the thousandth Part of what this Moment I endure, the strong Convulsions of my warring Thoughts, thy Heart, steel'd as it is, and frosted round with Virtue, wou'd burst its icy Shield, and melt in Tears of Blood, to pity me."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"A most susceptible and tender Heart? -- Yes, you may feel it throb, it beats against my Breast, like an imprison'd Bird, and fain would burst it's Cage! to fly to you, the Aim of all its Wishes!"

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"Nor was he less dissolv'd in Rapture, both their Souls seem'd to take Wing together, and left their Bodies motionless, as unworthy to bear a Part in their more elevated Bliss."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)