merit

That bell that you carry is not, believe me, any order of merit, but on the contrary a mark of disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an ill mannered dog.”

Seventeen months’ captivity to a sailor accustomed to the boundless ocean, is a worse punishment than human crime ever merited.

My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit.

I can only claim the merit that I instantly reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not come either from the window or the door.