Edmund Burke tore into the directors of the East India Company, accusing them of doing less for the country than India’s mediaeval conquerors.

Britain’s first qualified female doctor, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, had a message for the first women to study for London University’s degree in medicine.

It should never be labelled ‘dangerous’ to subject Government policy to calm and honest criticism.

Sydney Smith warned ordinary Americans that encouraging the hawks in Washington would cost them more than blood.

French essayist Voltaire provoked the wrath of his government by explaining how England was superior to every European state including the Roman Empire.

The tighter the US Government’s stranglehold on dissent grew, the harder Daniel Webster fought for freedom of speech.