Date: 1693

"Let Thirst of Glory meaner Souls inspire, / And haunt their Dreams! these, nobler Things desire; / Nor envy such as Bodies only bind, / While they in Truth's soft Chains secure the Mind."

— Wesley, Samuel, The Elder (bap. 1662, d. 1735)

Date: March 30, 1716

"As it is a laudable freedom of thought which unshackles their minds from the poor and narrow prejudices of education, and opens their eyes to a more extensive view of the publick good; the same freedom of thought disposes several of them to the embracing of particular schemes and maxims, and to ...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: February 3, 1788

"The spirit of the Gospel 'proclaims liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound:' but these men rivet the chains of slavery; 'the iron enters into the Negro's soul,' while while his mind is left in all the darkness of ignorance, without one ray of those comforts ...

— Agutter, William (1758-835)