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Quote#Desire

You closed your speech with some eloquent expressions of your desire…

Quote byRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury · 1830–1903

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to Lord Carnarvon (21 March 1890), quoted in Peter Gordon, 'Select Document: Lord Carnarvon's memoirs relating to his lord lieutenancy, c. 29 March to 7 April 1886', Irish Historical Studies, Volume 40, Issue 158 (November 2016), p. 252.

English (original)

You closed your speech with some eloquent expressions of your desire to satisfy the national aspirations of Ireland. Rightly or wrongly, I have not the slightest wish to satisfy the national aspirations of Ireland and I remained silent because if I had spoken I must have spoken to that extent against you.

— Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

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