The Club of Thinkers, anonymous caricature dating to c. 1820.

The plaque on the left bears the inscription : ‘‘Teh most important question of today’s meeting : How long will thinking be allowed to us?’’

The board on the right lists the rules of the Club which include the following :

1. Silence is the first commandment of this learned society.

2. To avoid the eventuality whereby a member of this club may succumb to the temptation of speech, muzzles will be distributed to members upon entering.

The caricaturist is depicting the club of liberal nationalists which dates back 1820. Conservative regimes were set up in 1815. These regimes were autocratic they were not ready to tolerate criticism and dissent. They curbed all the actions which put a question mark on the legitimacy of autocratic governments. Most of the regimes had imposed censorship law to have control over freedom of the press and over songs motivating the ideas of liberty.