Some thoughts on the cessation of the slave trade

      I think he was right; by the way, and I speak from experience, having shirked responsibility too often to count. But the Balllantynes and Legerwoods didn’t, and if the slave trade has been swept off the face of the seas, it hasn’t really been the work of reformers and statesmen with lofty ideals in London and Paris and Washington, but because a long-forgotten host of fairly feckless young Britons did it for fun. And you may tell the historians I said so.


Flashman on the March, p.20, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


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Free of all restraint

It’s the usual way, with civilians suddenly plunged into war and given the chance to kill; for the first time, after years of pushing pens and counting pennies, they’re suddenly free of all restraint, away from wives and families and responsibility, and able to indulge their animal instincts. They go a little crazy after a while, and if you can convince ’em they’re doing the Lord’s work, they soon start enjoying it.

Flashman in the Great Game, p.185, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.

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The burdens of monarchy

Well, thinks I, they may talk about cares of State, and uneasy lies the head and all that tommy-rot, but this is the life for old Flashy. You may take my word for it, next time you hear about the burdens of monarchy, that royalty do themselves damned proud.

Royal Flash, p.143, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1978.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,royalty, monarchy.