Date: 1684

"Examine how your Humour is inclin'd, / And which the Ruling Passion of your Mind"

— Dillon, Wentworth, 4th Earl of Roscommon (1637-1685)

Date: 1692

A "soft Enchantress of the mind" may have to resign the empire of her lover's heart

— Norris, John (1657-1712)

Date: 1693

"Reason you plead, if you it seems t'acquit, / But if condemn'd, its Vote you won't admit. / But still, if private Reason you pretend / Must be the Judge, Disputes will never end."

— Wesley, Samuel, The Elder (bap. 1662, d. 1735)

Date: 1696

Fancy may over-rule reason

— Granville, George, Baron Lansdowne (1666-1735)

Date: 1696

"Tho' she be / A Slave, her Mind is free, and shou'd consent."

— Southerne, Thomas (1659-1746)

Date: 1696

"Nay, then it must be she: it is Imoinda: My Heart confesses her, and leaps for joy, / To welcome her to her own Empire here."

— Southerne, Thomas (1659-1746)

Date: 1696

"Here I reign / In full delights, in Joys to Pow'r unknown; / Your Love my Empire, and your Heart my Throne."

— Southerne, Thomas (1659-1746)

Date: 1700

"Nay some affirm that in the deepest Cell / Imperial Reason's self does not disdain to dwell."

— Wesley, Samuel, The Elder (bap. 1662, d. 1735)

Date: 1700

"She who Elects a Monarch for Life, who gives him an Authority she cannot recall however he misapply it, who puts her Fortune and Person entirely in his Power; nay even the very desires of her Heart according to some learned Casuists, so as that it is not lawful to Will or Desire any thing but wh...

— Astell, Mary (1666–1731)

Date: 1700

"Superiors indeed are too apt to forget the common Priviledges of Mankind; that their Inferiors share with them the greatest Benefits, and are as capable as themselves of enjoying the supreme Good; that tho' the Order of the World requires an Outward Respect and Obedience from some to others, yet...

— Astell, Mary (1666–1731)