"But we are told that English interests demand it; that our dominion in India will be imperilled, that the civilized world will crumble into atoms, if a Russian ship should be seen in the Mediterranean Sea. If it be so, then I say, perish the interests of England, perish our dominion in India, rather than that we should strike a blow or speak a word on behalf of the wrong against the right."

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Historians from EnglandLiberal Party (UK) politiciansPeople from BirminghamUniversity of Oxford facultyUniversity of Oxford alumni
Original Language: English

Sources

Speech to the National Conference on the Eastern Question in St. James's Hall, London, protesting against a war for Turkey against Russia after the Bulgarian atrocities (8 December 1876), quoted in The Times (16 December 1876), p. 8. Freeman was quoted as saying "Perish India" by Stafford Northcote on 13 December in a speech in Devon (The Times, 14 December 1876, p. 8). H. H. Asquith said that: "In the condensed form, “Perish India”, Freeman's phrase, for a long time did service on Tory platform