Date: 1739

"Marriage is a chain shou'd never be impos'd by Force upon a Heart, and if the Gentleman is a Man of Honour, he should never accept a Person, who must be his by Constraint."

— Baker, Henry (1698-1774); Miller, James (1706-1744)

Date: 1739

"[S]he suffers me to believe every thing, and glories in every thing; and at the same Time, my Heart is still cowardly enough, not to break the Chain that binds it, not to arm it self with a generous Disdain against the ungrateful Object it is but too much smitten with!"

— Baker, Henry (1698-1774); Miller, James (1706-1744)

Date: 1739

"Long my imprison'd spirit lay, / Fast bound in sin and nature's night: / Thine eye diffused a quickening ray; / I woke; the dungeon flamed with light; / My chains fell off, my heart was free, / I rose, went forth, and follow'd Thee."

— Wesley, John and Charles

Date: 1739

"To usher forth the Virtues of the Mind! / From Nature's Chain, from Earthly Dross set free, / One only Appetite remained in Thee."

— Wesley, John and Charles

Date: 1740

"In vain we forge coercive Chains, to bind / The strongest, noblest Passion of the Mind."

— Duck, Stephen (1705-1756)

Date: 1741

"Poor Mind, who heard all with extreme moderation, / Thought it now time to speak, and make her allegation: / ''Tis I that, methinks, have most cause to complain, / Who am cramped and confined like a slave in a chain.'"

— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)

Date: 1741

"He knew, that vain was ev'ry Art, design'd / To check the Freedom of the humane Will; / That Restraints could shackle up the Mind, / Which, self-determin'd, kept her Empire still."

— Ogle, George (1704-1746)

Date: 1741

"'I've a friend,' answers Mind, 'who, though slow, is yet sure, / And will rid me at last of your insolent power: / Will knock down your walls, the whole fabric demolish, / And at once your strong holds and my slavery abolish: / And while in your dust your dull ruins decay, / I'll snap off my cha...

— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)

Date: 1741

"His weary Soul, from earthly Bondage freed, / Nor fled to Heav'n, where Some say Spirits fly; / Nor vanish'd into Air, as Others plead; / Nor chang'd into a Star adorn'd the Sky; / Nor sought direct (a solitary Shade!) / In Pluto's gloomy Realm, Eternal Rest: / But thro' Traduction, (as his Moth...

— Ogle, George (1704-1746)

Date: 1742

"Not all the chains that tyrants use / Shall bind their souls to vice."

— Watts, Isaac (1674-1748)