The former of these will blame his prudence in neglecting an opportunity to possess himself of Mr Western's fortune; and the latter will no less despise him for his
backwardness to so fine a girl, who seemed ready to fly into his arms, if he would open them to receive her.
"But a large number of monasteries and churches is always a sign of the
backwardness of a people," said Napoleon, turning to Caulaincourt for appreciation of this remark.
But Ikey was timid, and his hopes remained insoluble in the menstruum of his
backwardness and fears.
"I have long shrunk from children, because they often show a distrust -- a
backwardness to be familiar with me.
Willoughby's behaviour in taking leave of them, his embarrassment,and affectation of cheerfulness, and, above all, his unwillingness to accept her mother's invitation, a
backwardness so unlike a lover,so unlike himself, greatly disturbed her.
Monsieur will then, I am sure, have the goodness to be considerate with her at first, and not expose her
backwardness, her inevitable deficiencies, before the young ladies, who, in a sense, are her pupils.
He, too, was sorry then that, owing to her
backwardness, he had not observed her; and with that in his mind he left the pasture.
But Charles, accustomed to the
backwardness of the common Americans to receive more than the price stipulated, still extended his hand towards the man.
I have consulted eminent men in the metropolis, and I am painfully aware of the
backwardness under which medical treatment labors in our provincial districts."
There was a little
backwardness in complying, for the freight looked too much for the boat; but on Riderhood's protesting 'that he had had half a dozen, dead and alive, in her afore now, and she was nothing deep in the water nor down in the stern even then, to speak of;' they carefully took their places, and trimmed the crazy thing.
My friend, when we made up this account, smiled at me: "Well, now," said he, with a sort of friendly rebuke on my indolent temper, "is not this better than walking about here, like a man with nothing to do, and spending our time in staring at the nonsense and ignorance of the Pagans?"-- "Why, truly," said I, "my friend, I think it is, and I begin to be a convert to the principles of merchandising; but I must tell you, by the way, you do not know what I am doing; for if I once conquer my
backwardness, and embark heartily, old as I am, I shall harass you up and down the world till I tire you; for I shall pursue it so eagerly, I shall never let you lie still."
You mean, I said, those gentlemen who tease and torture the strings and rack them on the pegs of the instrument: might carry on the metaphor and speak after their manner of the blows which the plectrum gives, and make accusations against the strings, both of
backwardness and forwardness to sound; but this would be tedious, and therefore I will only say that these are not the men, and that I am referring to the Pythagoreans, of whom I was just now proposing to enquire about harmony.