Date: 1642

"The heart of man is the place the Devils dwell in: I feel sometimes a Hell within my self; Lucifer keeps his Court in my breast, Legion is revived in me."

— Browne, Sir Thomas (1605-1682)

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: 1675

"Those things are mean, are forc'd to court the Eyes, The Porters of the Soul, to give 'em entrance."

— Fane, Sir Francis (d. 1691)

Date: 1687, 1691

"And though it may seem difficult to be a Saint, in passing ones days in a Prophane Place, yet think not my Piety grows luke-warm, or my Friendship diminished; seeing I have made a Mosque of my Heart, where Friends are ever present."

— Marana, Giovanni Paolo (1642-1693); Anonymous [William Bradshaw (fl. 1700) or Robert Midgley (1655?-1723)?]

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)