Date: December 10, 1788; 1789

"Sometimes indeed it happens, that he may be able to mark the time, when from the sight of a picture, a passage in an author, or a hint in conversation, he has received, as it were, some new and guiding light, something like inspiration, by which his mind has been expanded, and is morally sure th...

— Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792)

Date: 1790

"All the splendour of the highest prosperity can never enlighten the gloom with which so dreadful an idea must necessarily over-shadow the imagination; nor, in a wise and virtuous man, can all the sorrow of the most afflicting adversity ever dry up the joy which necessarily springs from the habit...

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

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: w. 1796, 1811

"Truths to describe, which clearly to explain / Reason's dim lamp has burnt for centuries in vain."

— Mason, William (1725-1797)

Date: 1811, 1812

"The soul, a cheering lamp, the scene illumes, / Fed with the splendour of ethereal rays, / And bright'ning still, as still the frame decays"

— Jerningham, Edward (1727-1812)