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Benjamin Disraeli, relating his story about Dry Champagne, replying to the member for Louth A M Sullivan, during the course of the Irish Coercion bill of 1875
Illustration from Cassell's Century Edition History of England, pub circa 1901. During the course of the Irish Coercion bill of 1875 in reply to the claims of the member for Louth A M Sullivan that he doubted the existence of Ribbonism (AKA Ribanidsm), Disraeli replied with an apologue: 'In Mr. Canning's time, besides the discovery of a new world, dry champagne was invented, and Mr. Canning once expressed a desire to taste it Charles Ellis, afterwards Lord Seaford, accordingly got up a dinner for the purpose of giving Mr. Canning an opportunity of tasting dry champagne. After taking a glass and thinking a moment, the Minister said, " The man who says he likes dry champagne, will say anything." Now, I do not want to enter into a controversy with any of my honourable friends opposite who doubt the existence of Ribbonism, but this I will say, that the man who maintains that Ribbonism does not exist is a man who ought to drink dry champagne.' Info from wiki: Ribbonism, whose supporters were usually called Ribbonmen, was a 19th-century popular movement of poor Catholics in Ireland. The movement was also known as Ribandism. The Ribbonmen was active against landlords and their agents, and opposed "Orangeism", the ideology of the Protestant Orange Order.
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