Date: 1667

"Conscience is Christs Vicar in mans heart, / It keeps Court there, and acts the Judges part"

— Billingsley, Nicholas (bap. 1633, d. 1709)

Date: 1693

"No suppliant crowds before the judge appeared; / No court erected yet, nor cause was heard; / But all was safe, for conscience was their guard."

— Dryden, John (1631-1700)

Date: 1696

"Poor thredbare Vertue ne'er admir'd in Court. / But seeks its Refuge in an honest Mind, / There it securely dwells, / Like Anchorets in Cells / Where no Ambition nor wild Lust resorts."

— Tutchin, John (1661-1707)

Date: w. 1677, 1702

"Vain wandring Thoughts, that crowd within my Breast / Do oft obstruct my Soul from Solid Rest; / like to vagrant Clouds, obscure the Mind / Which should to serious watching be inclin'd."

— Mollineux [née Southworth], Mary (1651-1695)

Date: 1703, 1718

Light may fly back to Heaven and leave one's breast bereft of its "Celestial Guest"

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1712, 1796

"Her body delicate, wherein enshrin'd, / As in its temple, dwelt a virtuous mind."

— Ellwood, Thomas (1639-1713)

Date: 1723

"Thou know'st the secret Soul's imperial Throne / Surrounded with thick Darkness, like thy own, / Where she to all the Senses Audience gives, / Appoints their Tasks, their Messages receives, / And passes Judgement in her Sov'reign Court / On every Envoy's true or false Report / How her sole Nod...

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1723

"The Cells, and little Lodgings, Thou canst see / In Mem'ry's Hoards and secret Treasury; / Dost the dark Cave of each Idea spy, / And see'st how rang'd the crouded Lodgers lye; / How some, when beckon'd by the Soul, awake, / While peaceful Rest their uncall'd Neighbours take."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1723

"And now his Spirits by the Impulse move / Of the new Guest [Love], while soft unpractis'd Pains / Throb in his Breast and thrill along his Veins."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1744

"The witnesses are heard; the cause is o'er; / Let Conscience file the sentence in her court, / Dearer than deeds that half a realm convey."

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)