QuotesCosmos
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 platforms as a convenient summary of Liberal foreign policy" (Fifty Years of British Parliament, Volume Two (1926), p. 264.)
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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.

— Edward Augustus Freeman

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "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." in the context of "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 platforms as a convenient summary of Liberal foreign policy" (Fifty Years of British Parliament, Volume Two (1926), p. 264.)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Edward Augustus Freeman" (Quotes, 1870s) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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Edward Augustus Freeman

About Edward Augustus Freeman

Edward Augustus Freeman (2 August 1823 – 16 March 1892) was an English historian, architectural artist, and Liberal politician during the late-19th-century heyday of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Ewart Gladstone, as well as a one-time candidate for Parliament. He held the position of Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, where he tutored Arthur Evans; later he and Evans would be activists in the Balkan uprising of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1874–1878) against the Ottoman Empire. After the marriage of his daughter Margaret to Evans, he and Evans collaborated on the fourth volume of his History of Sicily. He was a prolific writer, publishing 239 distinct works. One of his best known is his magnum opus, The History of the Norman Conquest of England (published in 6 volumes, 1867–1879). Both he and Margaret died before Evans purchased the land from which he would excavate the Palace of Knossos.