Quote#Wisdom
Any insult offered to His Majesty's flag, however small the vessel…
Quote byHenry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston · 1784–1865
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to Lord William Russell, who was on a special mission in Portugal (15 September 1832), quoted in Jasper Ridley, Lord Palmerston (1970), p. 170.
English (original)
Any insult offered to His Majesty's flag, however small the vessel which bears it, would be resented and avenged by all the means which Great Britain can command, [and] any hindrance opposed to the execution of these orders will be considered as an act of hostility.
— Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
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