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Pledge   Listen
verb
Pledge  v. t.  (past & past part. pledged; pres. part. pledging)  
1.
To deposit, as a chattel, in pledge or pawn; to leave in possession of another as security; as, to pledge one's watch.
2.
To give or pass as a security; to guarantee; to engage; to plight; as, to pledge one's word and honor. "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
3.
To secure performance of, as by a pledge. (Obs.) "To pledge my vow, I give my hand."
4.
To bind or engage by promise or declaration; to engage solemnly; as, to pledge one's self.
5.
To invite another to drink, by drinking of the cup first, and then handing it to him, as a pledge of good will; hence, to drink the health of; to toast. "Pledge me, my friend, and drink till thou be'st wise."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Pledge" Quotes from Famous Books



... Dumouriez intended that it should inflict upon the Republic a far heavier blow. Since the execution of the King, he had been at open enmity with the Jacobins. He now proposed to the Austrian commander to unite with him in an attack upon the Convention, and in re-establishing monarchy in France. The first pledge of Dumouriez's treason was the surrender of three commissioners sent by the Convention to his camp; the second was to have been the surrender of the fortress of Conde. But Dumouriez had overrated his influence with the army. Plainer minds than his own knew how ...
— History of Modern Europe 1792-1878 • C. A. Fyffe

... married agin in a twelvemonth. The army plan was the best; after the 'Dead March' in Saul came 'Tow-row-row.'—another so'jer was to be had for a shilling. He did not drink; he thanked me all the same—had taken the pledge from Father Mathew whin he was a boy, and meant to stick by it; but he would accept the price of a singing-bird he had set his mind upon, since it was ...
— Romantic Spain - A Record of Personal Experiences (Vol. II) • John Augustus O'Shea

... jeweller's to see a diamond necklace which I greatly coveted, I was told in confidence that my husband had been pricing it, but had had to give it up because it was a thousand francs too dear for him. I was foolish enough to pay the thousand francs myself, under a pledge of secrecy, and to tell the jeweller to send the necklace to my husband, feeling sure in my simplicity that it ...
— The Woman Thou Gavest Me - Being the Story of Mary O'Neill • Hall Caine

... "on my honour as an Emperor, that I will never oppress or hinder you in the exercise of your religion; and I pledge my word in my own name and also in ...
— History of the Moravian Church • J. E. Hutton

... convinced that it can better be done in another way. Go thou for the physic, for thou canst more readily place hands upon it than I, and at the same time apparel thyself in garments thicker and more suited to the chill of the night than those thou wearest. I will stand watch until thy return, and pledge thee my word that none shall pass, or be the wiser ...
— The Flamingo Feather • Kirk Munroe

... arrears in the first six months of FY98/99, Pakistani officials approached multilateral creditors requesting balance-of-payments relief and structural support. In January 1999, Islamabad received more than $1 billion in loans along with $3 billion in debt relief following the Finance Minister DAR's pledge to implement an economic reform program to reduce the budget deficit, deepen the financial sector, and broaden the industrial base. Although the economy has shown signs of improvement following implementation of some corrective measures, Prime Minister SHARIF—historically—has ...
— The 1999 CIA Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... baptism. When we are going to enter the water, but a little before, in the presence of the congregation and under the hand of the president, we solemnly profess that we disown the devil, and his pomp, and his angels. Whereupon we are thrice immersed, making a somewhat ampler pledge than the Lord has appointed in the gospel.[A] Then when we are taken up (as new-born children) we taste, first of all, a mixture of milk and honey, and from that day we abstain from the daily bath for a whole week. We take also, in congregations before daybreak, and ...
— The Last Reformation • F. G. [Frederick George] Smith

... spread until it was feared the Queen and her husband would be driven out of the country. Suddenly the tide turned; the better portion of the army declared for the Queen, her cause was upheld by the English Government, and peace and the royal authority were restored. But in spite of a pledge that the Cabrals should be excluded from the Government, the elder brother again became Premier, with the old abuse of power. A second revolution was accomplished by Soldanha, to whose control Maria da Gloria had to yield, much against ...
— Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, (Victoria) Vol II • Sarah Tytler

... eye-brow with the back of his hand. "To-morrow morning," he said, "we'll talk of this, and we will talk, too, of your affairs—for we are early starters in the dawn, even when we have the luck to have good beds to sleep in. Will ye not pledge me in a grace cup?" ...
— Rob Roy, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott

... - The priest of Varlungo lies with Monna Belcolore: he leaves with her his cloak by way of pledge, and receives from her a mortar. He returns the mortar, and demands of her the cloak that he had left in pledge, which the good lady returns ...
— The Decameron, Vol. II. • Giovanni Boccaccio

... at the appointed hour to redeem his plighted word. Back of Five-Mile Point is a picturesque rocky gorge called Mohican Canyon, through which a brook ripples, with clumps of fern and rose peeping from the crevices of its rugged walls. Having fulfilled his pledge, Deerslayer soon ventured the dash for liberty that so nearly succeeded; and, after making a circuit of the slope, it was along the ridge of Mohican Canyon that he ran at top speed to try a plunge for the lake, with the whole band of Indians ...
— The Story of Cooperstown • Ralph Birdsall

... unfeeling frown, Must I fond Nature's claim disown? Ah, no—though moralists reprove, I hail thee, dearest child of love, Fair cherub, pledge of youth and joy— A Father ...
— Life of Lord Byron, Vol. I. (of VI.) - With his Letters and Journals. • Thomas Moore

... Hall of Judgment was soon blazing like a torch. The defenders seemed paralyzed by this misadventure. Some ran to the castle well. Some threw themselves desperately from the walls, others crowded to the gates, and through the bars besought our Prince's pledge that mercy would be ...
— Red Axe • Samuel Rutherford Crockett

... as possible. Accumulate all the possible circumstances which shall reenforce right motives; put yourself assiduously in conditions that encourage the new way; make engagements incompatible with the old; take a public pledge, if the case allows; in short, develop your resolution with every aid you know. This will give your new beginning such a momentum that the temptation to break down will not occur as soon as it otherwise might; and every day during which ...
— The Mind and Its Education • George Herbert Betts

... his Brobdignagian Majesty, as the difference of merit between my writings and Swift's. If any man takes a fancy to like my book, let him freely enjoy the entertainment it gives him, and drink to my memory in a bumper. If another likes Gulliver, let him toast Dr. Swift. Were I upon earth I would pledge him in a bumper, supposing the wine to be good. If a third likes neither of us, let him silently pass the ...
— Dialogues of the Dead • Lord Lyttelton

... natural selection. Meanwhile I am engaged only in presenting the general arguments which support the theory, and therefore mention these objections to one of them merely en passant. And I do so in order to pledge myself effectually to dispose of them later on, so that for the purposes of my present argument both these objections may be provisionally regarded as non-existent; which means, in other words, that we may provisionally regard the analogy ...
— Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol. 1 and 3, of 3) • George John Romanes

... the humblest person in the commonwealth, when accused of crime, to be heard in answer to the accusation, it would be an atrocious crime to deprive the mother of the emperor of that privilege. Postpone, therefore, pronouncing judgment in this case until we can learn the facts more certainly. I pledge myself to execute sentence of death on Agrippina, if after a fair hearing, this charge is proved ...
— Nero - Makers of History Series • Jacob Abbott

... any rate, seemed to agree perfectly; and at a certain moment she saw her husband and M. de Thaller strike each other's hand, as people do who exchange a pledge. ...
— Other People's Money • Emile Gaboriau

... such strong liquors before me? However, to show you that I have some childish tastes left, and am not so depraved as you have been trying to make me out for the last hour—I will drink your health in it. It would serve you right if I made you pledge me in ...
— From the Memoirs of a Minister of France • Stanley Weyman

... had become animated and had regained his self-possession. He believed in his scheme, and was ready to pledge his future. He argued that his aunt could not blame him for giving proof of his energy and daring, and ...
— Serge Panine, Complete • Georges Ohnet

... could have the impudence to be driving sheep on to the Buller's Creek range? It seemed more than probable that Lu Hudson had broken his pledge, and was again trespassing on his neighbour's property. Lenox and I looked at each other. If Spanish Lu were within short distance of us, the sooner we got Darkie safely home, ...
— A harum-scarum schoolgirl • Angela Brazil

... "I must have thy pledge that thou wilt not do towards me otherwise than is just, and when I have gotten that which I shall name, my ...
— Celtic Fairy Tales • Joseph Jacobs (coll. & ed.)

... that brings out with marvellous truth, both the soft parts of the cheeks and the harder structure of the face, under which one can follow the bones of the nose and forehead.... Everything in the picture is spontaneous, and one can see that it is a pledge of friendship given by one artist to another; there is nothing here of that artificial arrangement that spoils commissioned portraits even when they are the work of a painter as independent as Velasquez was. One feels here the assurance of an artist who knows that ...
— Six Centuries of Painting • Randall Davies

... to do Tom justice, he always kept his promise, especially after the word had passed of "honour bright." Had there been gallons of spirits under his charge he would not have tasted a drop after that pledge. ...
— Jacob Faithful • Captain Frederick Marryat

... convulsively to her breast in the first overwhelming tide of possession which had ever swept over her. These were her own people, flesh of her flesh! They had dared to love against insuperable odds, and, succumbing at last, had left her as the pledge of that love! She would prove worthy ...
— The Fifth Ace • Douglas Grant

... remark, in reply, that I come before you this evening, not as a philologist, but simply as a student of geological fact, who, believing his Bible, believes also, that though theologians have at various times striven hard to pledge it to false science, geographical, astronomical, and geological, it has been pledged by its Divine Author to no falsehood whatever. I occupy exactly the position now, with respect to geology, that the mere Christian geographer would have occupied with ...
— The Testimony of the Rocks - or, Geology in Its Bearings on the Two Theologies, Natural and Revealed • Hugh Miller

... which the wonders he has done evinces. I am almost assured you will have the victory, if you permit him to combat the enemy." The Sultan remonstrated to her the difference of their religions, and the little assurance he could have in the faith of a Christian. "I'll be the pledge of his fidelity; and the better to assure you, I'll keep the two other captives, who are, I know, very dear to him, as hostages." The Sultan seemed satisfied with these words, and granted her request, leaving her absolute ...
— The Princess of Ponthieu - (in) The New-York Weekly Magazine or Miscellaneous Repository • Unknown

... snarled Gage. "Try to take ore out of here. No man shall be a partner in this claim and live to spend any of the money he gets out of this mine! I've said it, and I'll pledge myself ...
— The Young Engineers in Nevada • H. Irving Hancock

... Victory declared for those who had been so long subdued. In turn they conquered France, and in 1814 were in possession beyond dispute. The Charter acknowledged this fact, proclaimed that it was founded on right, and guaranteed that right by the pledge of representative government. The King, by this single act, established himself as the chief of the new conquerors. He placed himself in their ranks and at their head, engaging himself to defend with them, and for them, the conquests of the Revolution, which ...
— Memoirs To Illustrate The History Of My Time - Volume 1 • Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot

... appear a tomb, its sky a pall. Every heart echoed the deep lament, and my only consolation was in the praise and earnest love that each voice bestowed and each countenance demonstrated for him we had lost,—not, I fondly hope, for ever; his unearthly and elevated nature is a pledge of the continuation of his being, although in an altered form. Rome received his ashes; they are deposited beneath its weed-grown wall, and 'the world's sole monument' is enriched ...
— Notes to the Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley • Mary W. Shelley

... (Vol. iii., p. 328.).—Festing is, I presume, without doubt, a Saxon word. A "Festing-man," among the Saxons, was a person who stood as a surety or pledge for another. "Festing-penny" was the money given as an earnest or ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 81, May 17, 1851 • Various

... been made at the school to the boys and girls to give whatever they could to this home. At that time George had nothing to give. No one knew how badly the boy felt, so as his cabbages grew the lad made a pledge with himself to give one quarter of his cabbage to this home. One evening in late October, George had hitched up an old farm horse, loaded his cabbage in, and had driven over to ...
— The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. • Ellen Eddy Shaw

... two kinds, and he Was of the kind I'd like to be. No door at which he ever knocked Against his manly form was locked. If ever man on earth was free And independent, it was he. No broken pledge lost him respect, He met all men with head erect, And when he passed I think there went A soul to yonder firmament So white, so splendid and so fine It came ...
— A Heap o' Livin' • Edgar A. Guest

... importuned, she answered plainly, 'I almost feel convinced thou wilt never come back!' Protestations from the Fraulein were not wanting:—'Well then,' said Elizabeth, 'if thou art so sure of it, leave me thy jewels in pledge. Why not?' The poor Fraulein could not say why; had to leave her jewels, which were her whole fine fortune, 'worth 100,000 rubles' (20,000 pounds); and is now the brave Wife of Winterfeld;—but could never, by direct entreaty or circuitous interest and negotiation, get back the least item of ...
— History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XII. (of XXI.) • Thomas Carlyle

... of thirty braves, and explained to them the object of my making this war party, it being to avenge the death of my adopted son, who had been cruelly and wantonly murdered by the whites. I explained to them the pledge I had made to his father, and told them that they were the last words that he had heard spoken. All were willing to go with me to fulfill my word. We started in canoes, and descended the Mississippi, until we arrived ear the place where Fort Madison had stood. It had been abandoned ...
— Autobiography of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Black Hawk • Black Hawk

... swung the sword around his head. His eyes flashed. "Gracias. Friends, I solemnly pledge my life to the great cause of the people. Our hero is dead. We mourn him and devote ourselves anew to the principles for which he fought. Never shall I lay down this sword until I have won for you the rights of a free nation. I promise you land ...
— Steve Yeager • William MacLeod Raine

... will pledge the repose of the spirits of his venerated ancestors practically back to prehistoric times," agreed Lao Ting readily. "From the third to the ninth day he will be absent from the city and will take no part in anything therein. Should he eat his words, may his body ...
— Kai Lung's Golden Hours • Ernest Bramah

... oath." This they did by forcing them on their knees and compelling them, at the point of the pistol and with horrible execrations, to "wish their eyes might drop out if they told their officers which way they, the smugglers, were gone." Having extorted this unique pledge of secrecy as to their movements, they rode away into the Forest, unaware that Mr. Midshipman Goodave, snugly ensconced in the neighbouring ditch, had seen and heard all that passed—a piece of discretion on his part that later on brought at least one of the smugglers into distressing contact with ...
— The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore • John R. Hutchinson

... lend money to any of my people with thee that is poor, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor; neither shall ye lay upon him usury. If thou at all take thy neighbor's garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it unto him before the sun goeth down; for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? And it shall come to pass when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; ...
— Hebrew Life and Times • Harold B. Hunting

... borrow the same stone, alleging that they wanted to accomplish some business of importance, which 'could not very well be done without the aid of the stone.' I told him it was of no particular worth to me, but I merely wished to keep it as a curiosity, and if he would pledge me his word and honour that I should have it when called for, he might have it; which he did, and took the stone. I thought I could rely on his word at this time, as he had made a profession of religion; but in this I was disappointed, ...
— Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet • Captain Marryat

... dome above us, and the landscape, swept across by the free winds of heaven, unrolled in all its dreamy beauty about us, our little company gripped hands and swore our fealty to the Stars and Stripes. And then and there we gave sacred pledge and promise to stand by one another and to give our lives if need be for the protection and welfare of the ...
— The Price of the Prairie - A Story of Kansas • Margaret Hill McCarter

... while with thee, I breathe, as from the heart, thy dear And dedicated name, I hear A promise and a mystery, A pledge of more than passing life, 5 Yea, in that very ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Vol I and II • Samuel Taylor Coleridge

... declaring that he was having the time of his life, and arguing that he injured nobody. In the end the girl prevailed upon him to stop drinking, and then bound him to further sobriety by means of a sacred pledge. When, perhaps a week later, he disappeared into the hills Rouletta and her corps of self-appointed ...
— The Winds of Chance • Rex Beach

... what this meeting is for," said Jean Violette, a stocking-maker, who had recently bought the Beauvisage house, "it is to pledge ourselves to support, by employing every means in our power, Monsieur Simon Giguet at the elections as deputy in place of Comte Francois Keller. If each of us intends to coalesce in this manner we have only to say plainly Yes ...
— The Deputy of Arcis • Honore de Balzac

... made, and heartily agreed to by all present, that the young unmarried ladies should form themselves into an association by the name of the 'Whig Association of Unmarried Young Ladies of America,' in which they should pledge their honor that they would never give their hand in marriage to any gentleman until he had first proved himself a patriot, in readily turning out when called to defend his country from slavery, by a spirited and brave conduct, ...
— An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America • J. P. MacLean

... foster-mother, chanced to be made an ally in a solemn covenant to a rover, Lysir, by a certain man of great age that had lost an eye, who took pity on his loneliness. Now the ancients, when about to make a league, were wont to besprinkle their footsteps with blood of one another, so to ratify their pledge of friendship by reciprocal barter of blood. Lysir and Hadding, being bound thus in the strictest league, declared war against Loker, the tyrant of the Kurlanders. They were defeated; and the old man aforementioned took Hadding, as he fled on horseback, to his own house, and ...
— The Danish History, Books I-IX • Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Learned")

... punch, of which I drank so plentifully that I began to feel myself very merry. I forgot all about the matches and my resolution to test them that night. The Frenchman, enjoying my condition, continued to pledge me till his little eyes danced in his head. Luckily for me, being at bottom of a very jolly disposition, drink never served me worse than to develop that quality in me. No man could ever say that I was quarrelsome in my cups. My progress was marked by stupid smiles, terminating in unmeaning laughter. ...
— The Frozen Pirate • W. Clark Russell

... has been the shame and the reproach of the Catholic Church. It was a tribunal utterly incompetent to sit upon his case, since it was ignorant of science. In 1615 it was decreed that Galileo should renounce his obnoxious doctrines, and pledge himself neither to defend nor publish them in future. And Galileo accordingly, in dread of prison, appeared before Cardinal Bellarmine and declared that he would renounce the doctrines he had defended. This cardinal ...
— Beacon Lights of History, Volume VI • John Lord

... become the law and standard for all attempts at original composition. The darkness of night, it is usually said, grows deeper as it approaches the dawn; and the very enormity of that prostration under which the German intellect at this time groaned, was the most certain pledge to any observing eye of that intense reaction soon to stir and kindle among the smouldering activities of this spell-bound people. This re-action, however, was not abrupt and theatrical. It moved through slow stages and by equable ...
— Biographical Essays • Thomas de Quincey

... unnecessary to add long comments to this clear and explicit state paper which forms a veritable pledge on the part of France to secure Czecho-Slovak independence. It is a recognition of Bohemia's right to independence and of the National Council as the supreme organ of the Czecho-Slovak nation abroad. At the same time it is also an acceptance of our programme of the reorganisation ...
— Independent Bohemia • Vladimir Nosek

... merchants as from those of England. But it can be borrowed from our people. They will give you all the necessaries of war they produce, if, instead of the bankrupt trash they now are obliged to receive for want of any other, you will give them a paper-promise funded on a specific pledge, and of a size for common circulation. But you say the merchants will not take this paper. What the people take the merchants must take, or sell nothing. All these doubts and fears prove only the extent of the dominion which the banking institutions have obtained over the ...
— Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson - Volume I • Thomas Jefferson

... trees in the darkness, the hooting of an owl, the awful purity of the moonlight in the glades, the cold sheen of the water, were to her troubled conscience omens of judgment. Had it not been for the kindness of Peter Bruce, which was a pledge of human forgiveness, there would have been no heart in her to dare that wood, and it was with a sob of relief she escaped from the shadow and looked upon the old glen once more, bathed from end to ...
— Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush • Ian Maclaren

... discouragements you have met with lately. I need not tell you how much your friends in Paris and I in particular interest ourselves in all the events that may befall you. Our old friendship ought to be a sure pledge of my sincere sentiments for you, and of my best wishes for your good success in all your undertakings. I believe you can do no better but to keep strictly to the rules you have laid down for your conduct, and I don't doubt but you'll find it will answer ...
— Baron d'Holbach - A Study of Eighteenth Century Radicalism in France • Max Pearson Cushing

... head, and goes his way. All the golden hope that life of death would borrow, How, if death require again, may life repay? Earth endures no darkness whence no light yearns thorough; God in man as light in darkness lives, they say: Yet, would midnight take assurance of the morrow, Who shall pledge the faith or seal the ...
— Astrophel and Other Poems - Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles - Swinburne, Vol. VI • Algernon Charles Swinburne

... Caron," he observed, with a certain whimsical regret of tone. "That, no doubt, is what has made a statesman of you. You had chosen more wisely had you elected to serve the Republic with your sword instead. Come, my friend," and he pointed to the wine, "let us pledge the Nation." ...
— The Trampling of the Lilies • Rafael Sabatini

... considers what meekness is, feels the truth of that blessedness. It may smooth the way, and prevent impediments, which a different temper raises to temporal felicity: it certainly assures that Heaven which is within: and is a pledge and anticipation of the ...
— The Farmer's Boy - A Rural Poem • Robert Bloomfield

... rose! The vine will give but twice eight times Its rich black clusters, Sweet ripe clusters, Grapes of the land of the Ricaras, Ere thy squab shall be an eagle, Ere my little dove shall wear The feathers and plumes of a full-grown bird. Let us pledge them now To each other, That when thy son has become a man, And painted his face as a brave man paints, Red on the cheek, Red on the brow, And wears but the single lock[C], That is graced with the plumes of the Warrior-bird, And has stolen thy bow for the field of strife, ...
— Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 1 (of 3) • James Athearn Jones

... struggle; in which hot irritation and wounded feeling would have carried him away at once from the stern superior who required the sacrifice of all his family, and gave not a word of sympathy in return. It was the crusading vow alone that detained the youth. He could not throw away his pledge to the wars of the Cross, and it was plain that if he went now to seek out Guy, he should never be allowed to return to the crusading army. But that vow once fulfilled, proud Edward should see, that not merely sufferance but friendliness was needed to bind the son of his ...
— The Prince and the Page • Charlotte M. Yonge

... much intensified by the decision of the executive of the Labour Party (in order to retain the legal right to use trade-union funds for political purposes) to relieve Labour members of Parliament of their pledge to follow a common policy. This decision again was opposed by the majority of the "Independent" section including Hardie and Barnes, but favored by a minority, led by MacDonald. With the aid of the non-Socialistic element, however, it was carried by a large majority ...
— Socialism As It Is - A Survey of The World-Wide Revolutionary Movement • William English Walling

... the same question Vittoria put to me, when I last saw her. I make you the same answer. That was not A pledge of love, but of pure gratitude. Recall the adventure of that dreadful night When Barbarossa with two thousand Moors Landed upon the coast, and in the darkness Attacked my castle. Then, without delay, The Cardinal came hurrying down from Rome To rescue and protect me. ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

... in truth I don't think she will come, and I believe were she under your very nose you would not see her—you shall tell me and I will leave at once; that is, if you wish me to leave. After you see Dorothy Vernon if you still wish me to go, I pledge my faith no power can keep me. Now is not that fair? I like you very much, and I want to remain here, if you will permit me, and talk to you for a little ...
— Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall • Charles Major

... the feeling of insult, self-condemning, and ill-satisfied in every way, Bold returned to his London lodgings. Ill as he had fared in his interview with the archdeacon, he was not the less under the necessity of carrying out his pledge to Eleanor; and he went about his ungracious ...
— The Warden • Anthony Trollope

... dark, not golden. Still it might have been cut in youth, before its hue had deepened. And what a world of mystery, of feeling, of associations there was in that scentless and withered rose-bud! What fair hand had first plucked it? What pledge did it carry? Was the subtile aroma of love ever blended with its fragrance? Had her father borne it with him in his wanderings? The secret was in his coffin. The struggling lips could not utter it before they were stiffened into marble. Yet she could not believe that these relics were ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Number 9, July, 1858 • Various

... of the Cross waged Holy War, With courage high, and hearts that did not quail Before the foe, in olden times they saw The blessed vision of the Holy Grail. Tho' Christ was gone, His pledge was with them yet, For, borne on wings of angels, from the skies, They saw the chalice that once held the wine As emblem of the Saviour's sacrifice For men, and knew that still the Master met, With His own ...
— The Comrade In White • W. H. Leathem

... Lesley—or thought he had. They had grown up together from childhood. He was an only son and she an only daughter. It had always been an understood thing between the two families that the boy and girl should marry. But Marian's father had decreed that no positive pledge should pass between ...
— Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1896 to 1901 • Lucy Maud Montgomery

... of a child, the pledge of our mutual love; I can no longer have any doubt of it, my beloved, and I forewarn you that I have made up my mind to quit Rome alone, and to go away to die where it may please God, if you refuse to take care of me and save me. I would suffer anything, do anything, ...
— The Memoires of Casanova, Complete • Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

... not quite so much romance in my plot," replied De Valette; "but if you permit me to execute it, I pledge myself to return before midnight; and though you are not a lover, I am sure you are far from being indifferent to the intelligence ...
— The Rivals of Acadia - An Old Story of the New World • Harriet Vaughan Cheney

... Her for a day or two. And gently speak Unto the merchant and his wife, and say Concessions will be granted to the priests And strangers in their quarter, should she come. Console Lila Djouhara thus, and pledge That he may come to see his child whene'er His heart impelleth him." An escort went With them, and the dyangs bowed low before The merchant and his wife, and greeted, too, Fair Bidasari. But the merchant ...
— Malayan Literature • Various Authors

... most generous of you, sir. I will not, however, take the beef, your Excellency. But for the sails and the repairs to my poor little vessel I thank you, sir, most heartily and sincerely. And I pledge you my word of honour, as well as giving you my written bond, that I will redeem my obligations ...
— John Corwell, Sailor And Miner; and, Poisonous Fish - 1901 • Louis Becke

... again, and Pierre wiped his forehead furtively and stared up with fascinated eyes. "An unwilling pledge is better than none at all. To you, gentleman, much happiness; to you, Pierre le ...
— Riders of the Silences • John Frederick

... "I pledge your Imperial Majesties, who shine upon the world like twin stars in the sky. All hail to your Majesties!" and I drank, ...
— The Wanderer's Necklace • H. Rider Haggard

... remains its president and as long as those men whose names you have seen there remain its directors. This is my pledge. When the Consolidated Companies, intrusted with the power, credit, and resources of the many corporations which are and will be included in it, but which are not agencies of its own creation and do not belong to it, begins ...
— The Lever - A Novel • William Dana Orcutt

... to me. I think you would feel for me if you knew all that I have gone through. I pledge you my solemn word that I had no intention of asking you for the money when you took the horse;—indeed I had not. But you remember that affair of Lufton's, when he came to you at your hotel in London and was so ...
— Framley Parsonage • Anthony Trollope

... have hitherto made no mention. What was this but a little Portrait of my Beloved Protectress, which I carried with me next my Heart? Not that I had ever ventured to be so bold as to Ask her for such a pledge, or that she had been complaisant enough to give it me; but while I was in Paris there had been limned by the great French Painter, Monsieur Boucher, a Picture of one of the Opera Ballets, not Orpheus's Story, but something ...
— The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 3 of 3 • George Augustus Sala

... very weighty responsibility, which required him to leave his home and State to meet it. He seemed loath to go. He expressed fear that things would not go on in his absence as they had in his presence. Finally, however, he secured a pledge from every member of the Athenian court that no change in the order of government and the laws should be made during his absence. He went; but such was his love for his country that he never returned. Brethren, the time is not far distant when I, your ...
— Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary - Collated from his Diary by Benjamin Funk • John Kline

... never has been a moment that my heart has not been reaching out in search of yours. You have glorified me, dearest, by the promise you made a week ago. I know that you will not renounce that precious pledge. It is in your eyes now—the eyes I shall worship to the end of eternity. Tell me, though, with your own lips, your own voice, that you will be my wife, mine to ...
— Beverly of Graustark • George Barr McCutcheon

... in the Scriptures and the teaching of the Scriptures concerning Christ. Nor have you done all that is needful when clasping Him, and clinging simply to His Cross, you recognise in it the means and the pledge of your acceptance with God, and the ground and anchor of all your hope. There is something more to be done. The Gospel is a commandment, and commandments require not only assent, not only trust, but practical obedience. The 'old commandment' is ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture - Ephesians; Epistles of St. Peter and St. John • Alexander Maclaren

... drinke to thee for this deuice, Which hath pleasde both the embassador and me: Pledge me, Hieronimo, ...
— The Spanish Tragedie • Thomas Kyd

... after his estates of Copsley and Dunena, secondly: and in the first place, to nurse and be a companion to his wife. He had left her but four times in five months; he had spent just three weeks of that time away from her in London. No one could doubt of his having kept his pledge, although his wife occupied herself with books and notions and subjects foreign to his taste—his understanding, too, he owned. And Redworth had approved of his retirement, had a contempt for soldiering. 'Quite as great as yours for civilians, I can tell you,' Sir Lukin said, dashing ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... this ward of yours—it is impossible, sir; I know my duty." "I am not come to offer bail for my ward," said Dr. Campbell, "but to prove his innocence." "We must hope the best," said Mr. W——; and, having forced the doctor to pledge him in a bumper of port, "Now I am ready to proceed again to the ...
— Tales And Novels, Volume 1 • Maria Edgeworth

... of Caxton," he reminded himself, "and yet he embraced vice. He found, as all young men find, that there is much misleading talk and writing on the subject. The business men he knew did not part with able assistance because it did not sign the pledge. Ability was too rare a thing and too independent to sign pledges, and the lips-that-touch-liquor- shall-never-touch-mine sentiment among women was reserved for the lips that did ...
— Windy McPherson's Son • Sherwood Anderson

... and I have no means of extracting you therefrom save one. This will perhaps make you more unhappy still. But I shall be as unhappy as yourself, and this gives me the courage to do what I am required to do. They would have me, by engaging myself to another, give a pledge never to be yours: 'tis at this price that M. de Comminge sets your liberty. It will cost me perhaps my life, certainly my peace. But I am resolved. I shall in a few days be married to the Marquis de Benavides. What I know of his character ...
— A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 - From the Beginning to 1800 • George Saintsbury

... into his plate. After dinner De Musset tried to restore it to her, but she refused to take it back: he urged and insisted, when she, suddenly falling on her knee with that sovereign charm of seduction for which she was as renowned as for her tragic power, entreated him to keep it as a pledge for the piece he was to write for her. The poet took the ring, and went home excited and wrought up to the resolve that nothing should interfere with the completion of his task. But it was the old story again—whims and postponements on Rachel's part, possibly temper and pique on his—until ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, October, 1877, Vol. XX. No. 118 • Various

... one penny to the credit side. I summoned my two partners to a conference that afternoon. Somewhat to my surprise they seemed cheerful. "Things are not so bad as they look," they said. "We have a real 'dead bird' for the Melbourne Cup. We are going to borrow every penny we can, pledge any credit we have with the bookmakers, and on Tuesday evening, after the race, we shall have enough to pay our liabilities on the Tissue and plenty more besides. So cheer up; just raise as much money as you can, and we shall put it all on on Monday evening. On the ...
— The Chronicles of a Gay Gordon • Jose Maria Gordon

... Greek church as indispensable. Why the disputes concerning this sacrament were carried on with more decency and less lasting rancour among Christians, than those which related to the other great pledge of our pardon, the communicating with our Saviour Christ in his last Supper, I know not, nor can imagine. Every page of ecclesiastical history exhibits the tenaciousness with which the smallest attendant circumstance on this last-mentioned sacrament has been ...
— Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany, Vol. I • Hester Lynch Piozzi

... yourself of every dollar to comply with her wishes. I wonder the idea never occurred to me before; but it is so hard to think ill of a brother! I ask no questions, for I see you are determined not to answer them—perhaps have given a pledge to your sister to that effect: but we cannot live under this disgrace; and the day I am twenty-one, this grievous, grievous wrong must be repaired. I know that Grace's fortune had accumulated to more than twenty thousand ...
— Miles Wallingford - Sequel to "Afloat and Ashore" • James Fenimore Cooper

... such a moment. I do not purpose to speak of the depth, the sacredness of the bond that unites a great many of us together. I think we can take that for granted without saying any more about it. But, dear brethren, I do want to pledge you and myself to this, that our solicitude and our affection should find voice in prayer, and that when we are parted we may be united, because the eyes of both are turned to the one Throne. There is a reality in ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts • Alexander Maclaren

... of State had urged our claims to all the country as far as the Rio del Norte, under the Treaty of 1803. In spite of these just boundary claims and our solemn promise to admit the inhabitants of the Louisiana purchase to citizenship, we had violated that pledge by ceding Texas to Spain in 1819. These people had protested against this separation, only a few months after the signing of the treaty; they now asked us to redeem our ancient pledge. Honor and violated faith required the immediate ...
— Stephen A. Douglas - A Study in American Politics • Allen Johnson

... for their support through life, no imputation of chicanery—no supposition of dishonesty will attach itself to them, and your word will be taken. When their religious observances are known, they will be appreciated; and your pledge of honour as a Jew will be guarantee for the quality of your commodity. Thus everything is to be gained, and the accomplishment is within your own power. Will you quietly sit by and hear vituperation heaped upon your creed and upon yourselves, without ...
— Suggestions to the Jews - for improvement in reference to their charities, education, - and general government • Unknown

... to die. And now I know that I shall die—to myself. But thereby shall I live. Yes, I shall live! And here before this altar, in the sight of that God whom she knows so well, I pledge my new-found life to Carmen. My mind, my thought, my strength, are henceforth hers. May her God direct me in their right use ...
— Carmen Ariza • Charles Francis Stocking

... a sinner from a penitent merely by the savor of his presence, would never suspect a servitor of Don Camillo Monforte in this dress. Cospetto! but I have half a mind to visit that knave of a Jew, who has got thy golden chain in pledge, and give him a hint of what may be the consequences, should he insist on demanding double the rate ...
— The Bravo • J. Fenimore Cooper

... everlasting distance we see beyond them the promise of the morning on which mystery and justice shall be made one; when righteousness and omnipotence at last shall kiss each other. But on the horizon of Shakespeare's tragic fatalism we see no such twilight of atonement, such pledge of reconciliation as this. Requital, redemption, amends, equity, explanation, pity and mercy, are words without a ...
— Shakespearean Tragedy - Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth • A. C. Bradley

... just so," answered the editor. "Everything depends upon the public—everything, I pledge you my word ...
— After Dark • Wilkie Collins

... thou hast deigned to question thy vassals, obtain from them only an answer. It is not to contradict such minions that the knights of the Temple pledge ...
— The Pilgrims Of The Rhine • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... has given me this idea: it is his will. Have pity on me, I beseech you. Let us fly, unless you wish that our marriage-hour should strike above my grave! I have pledged my honour to return to Derbend; and I must keep that pledge, I must keep it soon: but to depart without the hope of seeing you, with the dread of hearing that you are the wife of another—this would be dreadful, this would be insupportable! If not from love, then from pity, share ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 53, No. 331, May, 1843 • Various

... derived from this, though they stretch as far as Cairo and North India. See Clouston, Book of Noodles, pp. 205, 214. In some of the folk-tales, there is an introduction in which the Foolish Wife sells three cows, but keeps one of the three as a pledge. Thereupon her husband leaves her until he can find any one as silly, which he does by posing as a Visitor from Paradise. This is more suitable for an introduction for "The ...
— Europa's Fairy Book • Joseph Jacobs

... remember, too, how strong a hold the externals of worship had on the devout Jew. His faith was much more tied to form than ours ought to be, and the restoration of the sacrificial implements as a pledge of the re-establishment of the Temple worship would seem the beginning of a new epoch of closer relation to Jehovah. It is almost within the lifetime of living men that all Scotland was thrilled with emotion by the discovery, in a neglected chamber, of a chest in which lay, forgotten, the crown ...
— Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren

... Pennsylvania purchased what are known as the Union Bank bonds, it was within the power of any stock dealer to learn that they had been issued in disregard of the Constitution of the State whose faith they assumed to pledge. By the Constitution and laws of Mississippi, any creditor of the State may bring suit against the State, and test his claim, as against an individual. To this the bondholders have been invited; but conscious that they have no valid claim, have not sought their remedy. Relying upon empty ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 2, August, 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... any question about national honour—when the country for whom it speaks is insulted or bullied, or defrauded of its just rights; when treaties are torn up and disregarded; when its plighted word has been given and another nation acts as though no such pledge had been made; when its territory is menaced with invasion ...
— Armageddon—And After • W. L. Courtney

... awful summons, and offers the outpourings of a heart full of gratitude to the Eternal, who made him, and this beautiful world for his enjoyment; and responds to the voice of God, speaking through nature, with an intensity of feeling which is the sure pledge of its sincerity. ...
— Journal of a Visit to Constantinople and Some of the Greek Islands in the Spring and Summer of 1833 • John Auldjo

... to you, Senor Englishman? Do you believe, now, that I hold that golden tress as a pledge of future favours? The lady on whose faith you were ready to stake your soul is here to answer for herself, and she has thrown in her lot with me—with ...
— Margaret Tudor - A Romance of Old St. Augustine • Annie T. Colcock

... them that I would do my best for them, but that for the months of June, July and August this might amount to nothing; that I was not allowed, and ought not to be, to use the resources of the new year to meet any deficits from the old one, and that I was under solemn pledge to one of our chief benefactors never to let the mission run in debt. Consequently I could not and would not blame them if they ceased work and closed the schools. I am proud to say that not one teacher was found to accept my proposal. One of them wrote: "I am ...
— The American Missionary — Vol. 48, No. 10, October, 1894 • Various

... asked him about it. I've pumped him. He never heard of the transaction, never; I pledge you my word," cried out the Major, in some alarm. "And, my dear, I think you had much best not talk to him about it—much best not—of course not: the subject ...
— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray

... importance, however, that the exact facts should be ascertained and promulgated that I have appointed a competent commission to make a thorough investigation of the subject. Its members have shown their public spirit by accepting their trust without pledge of compensation, but I trust that Congress will see in the national and international bearings of the matter a sufficient motive for providing at least for reimbursement of such expenses ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 8: Chester A. Arthur • James D. Richardson

... we put anything down in writing. I am convinced that it is necessary to make it quite clear that this document must contain everything about which there is anything in the form of a pledge." ...
— Three Years' War • Christiaan Rudolf de Wet

... therefore, we always would incline this way, and whenever we are unsuccessful, would lay the fault on ourselves, and remember that there is no cause of perturbation and inconstancy but wrong principles, I pledge myself to you that we should make some proficiency. But we set out in a very different way from the very beginning. In infancy, for example, if we happen to stumble, our nurse does not chide us, but beats the stone. Why, what harm has the stone done? Was it to move out of its ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume I (of X) - Greece • Various

... with the duke of Glocester, and likewise with king Richard, & so discouered the dukes counsell to the king, as a traitor to his maister, and that he said he would with his bodie prooue against him, throwing downe his hood as a pledge. [Sidenote: The lord Morlie appeleth the earle of Salisburie.] The earle of Salisburie sore mooued herewith, told the lord Morlie, that he falslie belied him, for he was neuer traitor, nor false ...
— Chronicles (3 of 6): Historie of England (1 of 9) - Henrie IV • Raphael Holinshed

... the heavens, swearing to the Most High God. Here might you have seen our dear brethren, the noble and learned Commissioners of Scotland, willingly coming into this covenant of truth, as the representatives of, and a pledge for the whole kingdom. Here might you have seen the grave and reverend Assembly of Divines, forwardly countenancing others, willingly submitting themselves to this bond of the Lord. What I then saw, and now ...
— The Covenants And The Covenanters - Covenants, Sermons, and Documents of the Covenanted Reformation • Various

... meant. I think if you write Clement a letter, telling him that you cannot help fearing that you two are not perfectly adapted to each other, on account of certain differences for which neither of you is responsible, and that you propose that each should release the other from the pledge given so long ago,—in that case, I say, I believe he will think no worse of you for so doing, and may perhaps agree that it is best for both of you to seek your happiness elsewhere than in ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 121, November, 1867 • Various

... curiosity which always interests itself in newly-married people, and partly by an exciting rumor that Charlton was not guilty of the offense for which he had been imprisoned. Mrs. Ferret had told the story to everybody, exacting from each one a pledge of secrecy. Just as Albert started his horses, Whisky Jim, on top of his stage-box, called out to the crowd, "Three cheers, by thunder!" and they were given heartily. ...
— The Mystery of Metropolisville • Edward Eggleston

... strong, would have attacked and murdered us all, that is dear. Not daring to do that, he has stolen Percival, and detains him, to return him at his own price. Now, sir, the Young Otter has come to us, and offers to come again. We had given him no pledge of safe conduct, and, therefore, when he comes again, we must have an ambush ready for him and make him prisoner; but then you see, sir, we must have the assistance of the Colonel, for he must be confined at the fort; we could ...
— The Settlers in Canada • Frederick Marryat

... the evening Frank and the Justice were sitting together, when all of a sudden Squire Inglewood called upon his companion to pledge a bumper to "dear Die Vernon, the rose of the wilderness, the heath-bell of Cheviot, that blossom transported to ...
— Red Cap Tales - Stolen from the Treasure Chest of the Wizard of the North • Samuel Rutherford Crockett

... joy if on its edge Fall soft that holiest ray, Joy will be grief if no faint pledge ...
— Laddie • Gene Stratton Porter

... by the pledge of its faith in Christ, becomes free from all sin, fearless of death, safe from hell, and endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of its Husband Christ. Thus He presents to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle, cleansing her with ...
— Concerning Christian Liberty - With Letter Of Martin Luther To Pope Leo X. • Martin Luther

... it to you to-day as the precious pledge of their favor. You shall keep it, and wear it as a token of their heavenly forbearance, and when you turn back from the erroneous ways into which the Illuminati have led you, send it to the circle of Berlin directors, either Bischofswerder or Wollner, ...
— Old Fritz and the New Era • Louise Muhlbach

... momentum of habit there was the official pledge to the people—Mayor Monroe's and Commanding-General Lovell's—that if they would but keep up this tread-mill gait, the moment the city was really in danger the wires of the new fire-alarm should strike the tidings from all ...
— Kincaid's Battery • George W. Cable

... was getting a little hot, too, and talked more than I ought. "Mr. Genz here has our pledge that he's not given away, or he'd ...
— In the Arena - Stories of Political Life • Booth Tarkington

... rising sun, and hinted even thus early that Elizabeth might marry her powerful Spanish brother-in-law. But she resented his patronage, and though she coquetted, as usual, with the proposal of marriage, she took care not to pledge herself or submit England to foreign dictation. To Spain it was vital that England should be at her bidding. If the queen could not marry Philip, surely she could only wed one of his Austrian cousins; or, if not, then England must be conquered by the sword. All that Elizabeth wanted was time, ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol X • Various

... wonderful bouquet of wax flowers that adorned it; a hair-cloth rocking-chair, and a comfortable wooden one with a delightful creak, without which Martha would not have felt at home. On the walls were some bright prints, and a framed temperance pledge (Martha had never tasted anything stronger than shrub, and considered that rather a dangerous stimulant); and the Deathbed of Lincoln, with a wooden Washington diving out of stony clouds to ...
— Hildegarde's Holiday - a story for girls • Laura E. Richards

... supply of firewood, we placed our backs to a tree and commended ourselves to the care of that great God who had so mercifully preserved our lives. We agreed that one should watch while the other slept, and most faithfully did we keep our pledge to each other. Several days passed without any great variation in our mode of proceeding. We cut the bear up into thin slices, and dried them in the sun. Obed also went round about the wood and drove in the wild turkeys, racoons, squirrels, and other small game, which I shot. We were thus supplied ...
— Dick Onslow - Among the Redskins • W.H.G. Kingston

... Christ's mercy healing you. Give up the idea of growing out of your sickly into a healthy state, of growing out from under the law into a life under grace. A few days ago I heard a student plead the cause of the Volunteer Pledge. "The pledge calls you," he said, "to a decision. Do not think of growing into a missionary: unless God forbids you, take the step; the decision will bring joy and strength, will set you free to grow up in all needed for a missionary, and will be a help to others." It is even so in the Christian ...
— The Ministry of Intercession - A Plea for More Prayer • Andrew Murray

... and I pledge on my royal faith and word that I will order it kept and observed in every particular, according to the contents herewith. I order this present instrument given, signed with my name. Given at Valladolid, March twenty-two, one thousand ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 • Emma Helen Blair

... above them Is marked with a crimson sign, Pledge of a great compassion And the rifted ...
— Rhymes of the Rookies • W. E. Christian

... that bound her heart had made up to the feet of her King? That joyful thanksgiving, and expression of love, and pledge of obedience, and prayer for help? It was something better than the meal often to Daisy; something sweeter and happier. Was it silly? and must she do so no more ...
— Melbourne House • Elizabeth Wetherell

... king had satisfied his curiosity, he requested of the general, since he would not go himself into the city, to permit two of his men to go and see the palace, offering to leave his own son, and one of his chief priests, which they named Cacis[42], in pledge for their safe return. To this request the general consented, and sent two of our men along with the king: He, at his departure, requested that the general would next day, in his boat, come close to the shore, when he should be gratified with a sight of the ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. II • Robert Kerr

... of Odysseus although she might not help him openly because of a wrong he had done Poseidon, the god of the sea. But she spoke at the council of the gods, and she won from Zeus a pledge that Odysseus would now be permitted to return to his own land. On that day she went to Ithaka, and, appearing to Telemachus, moved him, as has been told, to go on the voyage in search of his father. And on that day, too, Hermes, by the will of Zeus, went ...
— The Adventures of Odysseus and The Tales of Troy • Padriac Colum



Words linked to "Pledge" :   promise, warrant, vow, reward, wassail, collateralize, oblige, warrantee, hold, honor, warranty, member, charge, vouch, consign, drink, guarantee, plight, fuddle, pledge taker, subscribe, commitment, booze, troth, toast, dedication, honour, assurance, covenant



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