Date: 1787

"This will in some measure stop the increase of this great political and moral evil, while the minds of our citizens may be ripening for a complete emancipation of human nature."

— Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826)

Date: 1789

"Deceiving gold was once my only toy, / With it my soul within the coffer lay"

— Chatterton, Thomas (1752-1770)

Date: 1790

"[P]ains and diseases of the mind are only cured by Forgetfulness;--Reason but skins the wound, which is perpetually liable to fester again"

— Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802)

Date: 1790

"The dreadful tales of robbers' bloody deeds, / That oft had swell'd his theme while nightly stretch'd / Now crowded on his mind in all their rage / Of pistols, purses, stand! deliver! death!"

— Wilson, Alexander (1766-1813)

Date: 1789, 1791, 1799

"Throned in the vaulted heart, his dread resort, / Inexorable Conscience holds his court"

— Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802)

Date: 1789, 1791, 1799

"Oft tho' thy genius, Darwin! amply fraught / With native wealth, explore new worlds of mind; / Whence the bright ores of drossless wisdom brought, / Stampt by the Muse's hand, enrich mankind"

— Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802)

Date: 1789, 1791, 1799

"When Air's pure essence joins the vital flood, / And with phosphoric Acid dyes the blood, / Your Virgin trains the transient Heat dispart, / And lead the soft combustion round the heart; / Life's holy lamp with fires successive feed"

— Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802)

Date: February 1791

"Call to mind the sentiments which nature has engraved on the heart of every citizen, and which take a new force when they are solemnly recognised by all."

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)

Date: February 1791

"It has apparently burst forth like a creation from a chaos, but it is no more than the consequence of a mental revolution priorily existing in France."

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)

Date: February 1791

"Montesquieu, President of the Parliament of Bordeaux, went as far as a writer under a despotic government could well proceed; and being obliged to divide himself between principle and prudence, his mind often appears under a veil, and we ought to give him credit for more than he has expressed."

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)