have something end

[shootingstar]

I could not but reflect what a strange manner of man this was, to be living unremarked there as a private merchant, and to be so feared by a whole city; and if I was disappointed, in my character of looker-on, to have the matter end ingloriously without the firing of a shot or the hanging of a single millionaire, philosophy tried to tell me that this sight was truly the more picturesque.
(The Wrecker by R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, chapter viii, published 1892)

Please, what does have the matter end mean there, and what does have + object + infinitive without to mean in general?

 

[emsr2d2]

It's an old-fashioned way of saying "if I was disappointed ... that the matter ended ingloriously".

 

[shootingstar]

It's an old-fashioned way of saying "if I was disappointed ... that the matter ended ingloriously".

Do you mean have + object + infinitive without to is old-fashioned? Please have a look at these sentences:

We had a strange woman come to the door selling pictures.
or
I had my friends turn against me.

Are these sentences old-fashioned as well?

 

[emsr2d2]

No. They're in fairly common use. It would be unlikely for the specific use in your original context to be used today.

 

[shootingstar]

Thank you.
However, there is still an open question. What does have + object + infinitive without to mean in general? What meanings does this structure have? Please give examples. I'm not sure of its meanings.