Date: 1796

"The effect [of wit on the mind] is strong,--because it's odd, / Like fire electric from a clod; / Or when fix'd air puts out a light, / Tho' vital makes it blaze more bright."

— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)

Date: 1796

"Edgar, to whom the sun-beams of the mind gave a glow which not all the sparkling rays of the brightest eyes could emit, respected her modesty too highly to combat it, and, dropping the subject, enquired what was become of Eugenia."

— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)

Date: 1796

"He pronounced the most severe sentences upon offenders, which the moment after compassion induced him to mitigate: he undertook the most daring enterprizes, which the fear of their consequences soon obliged him to abandon: his inborn genius darted a brilliant light upon subjects the most obscure...

— Lewis, Matthew Gregory (1775-1818)

Date: 1797

"May the soft rays of dawning hope impart / Reviving Patience to my fainting heart."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1797

"This place, perhaps, infests my mind with congenial gloom, for I find that, at this moment, there is scarcely a superstition too dark for my credulity."

— Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)

Date: 1797

"In the eagerness of conversation, and, yielding to the satisfaction which the mind receives from exercising ideas that have long slept in dusky indolence, and to the pleasure of admitting new ones, the Abbot and a few of the brothers sat with Vivaldi to a late hour."

— Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)

Date: 1797

"Mortified, exasperated by her conduct, I begun to suspect that some other emotion than resentment occasioned this disdain; and last of all jealousy--jealousy came to crown my misery--to light up all my passions into madness!"

— Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)

Date: 1797

"Though a lawless passion had first suggested to the dark mind of Schedoni the atrocious act, which should destroy a brother, many circumstances and considerations had conspired to urge him towards its accomplishment."

— Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)

Date: 1798 [1797?]

"But see how poor a wretch he is, how blind! / The Sun of Science, dawns not on his mind."

— Jones, Jenkin [Captain] (fl. 1798)

Date: 1798 [1797?]

"Some wretches shut their eyes to reason's light, / Their evil habits wantonly invite, / To headstrong passions yield without remorse, / Call each prevailing whim, their Hobby Horse, / And screen'd beneath the sanction of that name, / Freely indulge their vices without shame."

— Jones, Jenkin [Captain] (fl. 1798)