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'Mr. Quin,' said I, in the most dignified tone I could assume, 'may also have satisfaction any time he pleases, by calling on Redmond Barry, Esquire, of Barryville.'
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, Redmond Barry to Captain John Quin
'A man of honour, Mr. Fagan,' says I, 'dies, but never apologises. I'll see the Captain hanged before I apologise.'
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, Redmond Barry to Captain Fagan
I told him frankly that I was a young gentleman in difficulties; that I had killed an officer in a duel, and was anxious to get out of
the country. But I need not have troubled myself with any explanations; King George was too much in want of men then to heed from whence they came, and a fellow of my inches, the sergeant said, was always welcome.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, Redmond Barry to the recruiting Sergeant
Such knaves and ruffians do men in war become! It is well for gentlemen to talk of the age of chivalry; but remember the
starving brutes whom they lead--men nursed in poverty, entirely ignorant, made to take a pride in deeds of blood--men who can have no amusement but in drunkenness, debauch, and plunder.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, Redmond Barry
The life the private soldier led was a frightful one to any but men of iron courage and endurance. There was a corporal to every three men, marching
behind them, and pitilessly using the cane; so much so that it used to be said that in action there was a front rank of privates and a second rank of sergeants and corporals to drive them on.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
'You gWeat scoundWel!' said he, with a multiplicity of oaths; 'you mutinous dog! what do you mean by dWessing yourself in my
Wegimentals? As sure as my name's Fakenham, when we get back to the Wegiment, I'll have your soul cut out of your body.'
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, Captain Fakenham to Redmond Barry
Some
days afterwards, and with rather a grave face, he said to me, 'Redmond, I have been talking to our colonel about you, and as I wondered that a fellow of your courage and talents had not been advanced during the war,
the general said they had had their eye upon you: that you were a gallant soldier, and had evidently come of a good stock; that no man in the regiment had had less fault found with him; but that no man merited
promotion less. You were idle, dissolute, and unprincipled; you had done a deal of harm to the men; and, for all your talents and bravery, he was sure would come to no good.'
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, Captain Potzdorff to Redmond Barry
No man can suppose that to a person of my fashion the waiting in antechambers, the conversation of footmen and hangers-on, was
pleasant. But it was not more degrading than the barrack-room, of which I need not say I was heartily sick. My protestations of liking for the army were all intended to throw dust into the eyes of my employer. I
sighed to be out of slavery. I knew I was born to make a figure in the world.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
You who have never been out of your country, know
little what it is to hear a friendly voice in captivity; and there's many a man that will not understand the cause of the burst of feeling which I have confessed took place on my seeing my uncle. He never for a
minute thought to question the truth of what I said. 'Mother of God!' cried he, 'it's my brother Harry's son.' And I think in my heart he was as much affected as I was at thus suddenly finding one of his kindred;
for he, too, was an exile from home, and a friendly voice, a look, brought the old country back to his memory again, and the old days of his boyhood.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
It was agreed that I should keep my character of valet; that in the presence of strangers I should not know a word of English; that I
should keep a good look-out on the trumps when I was serving the champagne and punch about; and, having a remarkably fine eyesight and a great natural aptitude, I was speedily able to give my dear uncle much
assistance against his opponents at the green table.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
They cry fie now upon men engaged in play; but I should like to know how much
more honourable THEIR modes of livelihood are than ours. The broker of the Exchange who bulls and bears, and buys and sells, and dabbles with lying loans, and trades on State secrets, what is he but a gamester? The
merchant who deals in teas and tallow, is he any better? His bales of dirty indigo are his dice, his cards come up every year instead of every ten minutes, and the sea is his green table.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
We always played on parole with anybody: any person, that is, of honour and noble lineage. We never pressed for our winnings or
declined to receive promissory notes in lieu of gold. But woe to the man who did not pay when the note became due! Redmond de Balibari was sure to wait upon him with his bill, and I promise you there were very few
bad debts: on the contrary, gentlemen were grateful to us for our forbearance, and our character for honour stood unimpeached.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
But
one day he said, 'If you marry such a woman as my Lady Lyndon, mark my words, you will regret it. You will pine after the liberty you once enjoyed.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, Sir Charles Lyndon to Redmond Barry
Let the man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim. ATTACKING is his only secret. Dare, and the world always
yields: or, if it beat you sometimes, dare again, and it will succumb.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
I am, indeed, one of those born to make, and not to keep
fortunes; for the qualities and energy which lead a man to effect the first are often the very causes of his ruin in the latter case: indeed, I know of no other reason for the misfortunes which finally befell me.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
My son, little Castle Lyndon, was a prince; his breeding and manners, even at his early age, showed him to be worthy of the two
noble families from whom he was descended: I don't know what high hopes I had for the boy, and indulged in a thousand fond anticipations as to his future success and figure in the world. But stern Fate had
determined that I should leave none of my race behind me, and ordained that I should finish my career, as I see it closing now--poor, lonely, and childless.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
I have seen many and many a man dying, and there's a look about the eyes which you cannot mistake. There was a little drummer-boy I
was fond of who was hit down before my company at Kuhnersdorf; when I ran up to give him some water, he looked exactly like my dear Bryan then did--there's no mistaking that awful look of the eyes.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
It is not your feeble easy husbands who are loved best in the world; according to my experience of it. I do think the women like a
little violence of temper, and think no worse of a husband who exercises his authority pretty smartly.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, The character of Redmond Barry
As long as Lady Lyndon
lived, Barry enjoyed his income, and was perhaps as happy in prison as at any period of his existence; when her Ladyship died, her successor sternly cut off the annuity, devoting the sum to charities: which, he
said, would make a nobler use of it than the scoundrel who had enjoyed it hitherto. At his Lordship's death, in the Spanish campaign, in the year 1811, his estate fell in to the family of the Tiptoffs, and his title
merged in their superior rank; but it does not appear that the Marquis of Tiptoff (Lord George succeeded to the title on the demise of his brother) renewed either the pension of Mr. Barry or the charities which the
late lord had endowed. The estate has vastly improved under his Lordship's careful management. The trees in Hackton Park are all about forty years old, and the Irish property is rented in exceedingly small farms to
the peasantry; who still entertain the stranger with stories of the daring and the devilry, and the wickedness and the fall of Barry Lyndon.
William Makepeace Thackeray, Barry Lyndon
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