"...begging him to urge all those concerned to exact promptitude, to give an example himself..."--Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 176
The women, so used to cry without grief, as they are to laugh without reason, by mere force of example (confound their promptitudes!) must needs pull out their handkerchiefs.Lovelace to Belford, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
"...begging him to urge all those concerned to exact promptitude, to give an example himself..."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 176
The women, so used to cry without grief, as they are to laugh without reason, by mere force of example (confound their promptitudes!) must needs pull out their handkerchiefs.
Lovelace to Belford, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson