[a. Fr. expédience, f. expédient: see EXPEDIENT.]
† 1. a. Haste, speed, dispatch. b. That which requires speed; an enterprise, expedition. Obs.
a. 1593. Shaks., Rich. II., II. i. 287. Eight tall ships, three thousand men of warre Are making hither with all due expedience. Ibid. (1599), Hen. V., IV. iii. 70. The French … will with all expedience charge on vs.
b. 1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., I. i. 33. In forwarding this deere expedience. Ibid. (1606), Ant. & Cl., I. ii. 185. I shall breake The cause of our Expedience to the Queene.
2. = EXPEDIENCY 1. ? Obs.
1619. W. Sclater, Exp. 1 Thess. (1630), 577. Those expediences, which the Lord hath reuealed himselfe willing to make knowne.
1638. Chillingw., Relig. Prot., I. vi. § 50. 371. The lawfulnesse and expedience of Latine Service.
a. 1714. Sharp, Serm., vii. (1754), I. 184. The expedience of actions; that is to say, whether it be best and fittest for a man to do them or no.
1781. Cowper, Lett. Johnson, 27 Nov. I have doubts about the expedience of mentioning the subject on which that paragraph is written.
1804. Wellington, in Owen, Disp., 432. The expedience of admitting the Peishwa to a participation in our late conquests.
3. = EXPEDIENCY 2. pl. Interested motives or considerations.
1608. Bp. Hall, Char. Virtues & Vices, I. 13. Justice is his [the honest man’s] first guide, the second law of his actions is expedience.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 253. Expedience may operate to continue the privilege.
1834. J. H. Newman, Par. Serm. (1837), I. xxiv. 365. They have sacrificed Truth to expedience.
1848. Lytton, Harold, VI. v. Expediences began to dim to his conscience the healthful loveliness of truth.
