No murmur arose from its bed, and so gently it wandered along, that the pearly pebbles upon which we loved to gaze, far down within its bosom, stirred not at all, but lay in a motionless content, each in its own old station, shining on gloriously forever.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe

The ownership of a falcon was considered sacred, and, by an ancient barbaric law, the stealer of a falcon was condemned to a very curious punishment.
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob

As "thunderbolts" come from a secret lassitude in what the catechism calls Virtue, and from boredom brought on by the uniformity of perfection, I should be inclined to think that it would generally be the privilege of what is known in the world as "a bad lot" to bring them down.
— from On Love by Stendhal

Although many analyses of the whole coffee bean are available, but little work has been reported upon the aqueous extracts.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

A poor house and a bare larder, quotha! ’
— from Ulysses by James Joyce

Passing over the treaty made with Hasdrubal, as not having ever been made, and, if it had, as not being binding on them because made without their consent (and on this point they quoted the precedent of the Romans themselves, who in the Sicilian war repudiated the terms agreed upon and accepted by Lutatius, as having been made without their consent)—passing over this, they pressed with all the vehemence they could, throughout the discussion, the last treaty made in the Sicilian war; in which they affirmed that there was no clause relating to Iberia, but one expressly providing security for the allies of both parties to the treaty.
— from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius

The woman sits and sews as long as it is novel and amusing, but later, when she is bored, she begins to receive men secretly, or runs back to where she can sleep till three in the afternoon, drink coffee, and eat till she is full.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

My arguments are based less on theories than on facts, and I think I can find no better way to bring the facts home to you than by quoting continually some example from the observations which suggested my arguments.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

He found her, as he always did, lying on her sofa with a French volume before her and a beautiful little inlaid writing-case open on her table.
— from Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

The first, a chapel, as at Winchester; second, a wall recess, usually in the north side of the chancel, as at Bottesford, Lincolnshire, and Stanton St. John; third, a temporary structure, sumptuously enriched, as at St. Mary, Redcliffe, Bristol; fourth, a tomb, under which a founder, by special privilege, was buried; fifth, a vaulted enclosure, as at Norwich, which, like a sepulchre at Northwold, has an aperture for watching the light, without requiring the person so employed to enter the choir.
— from Old Church Lore by William Andrews

He was indeed conciliatory and apologetic, but Lucy only saw that he was kind.
— from Sir Tom by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

A narrow-gauge railway, starting from Johnson City, follows up the narrow gorge of the Doe River, and pushes into the heart of the iron mines at Cranberry, where there is a blast furnace; and where a big company store, rows of tenement houses, heaps of slag and refuse ore, interlacing tracks, raw embankments, denuded hillsides, and a blackened landscape, are the signs of a great devastating American enterprise.
— from On Horseback by Charles Dudley Warner

I'm not in a place where I can expect people to pick out their words; but, as he says, I am a bad lot.
— from The Exiles and Other Stories by Richard Harding Davis

Sometimes the circular fence was made of bricks, an aperture being left between every alternate brick.
— from India Impressions, With some notes of Ceylon during a winter tour, 1906-7. by Walter Crane

And beyond, and again beyond, lay the naked strength and desolation of northern Rajputana—white with poppy-fields, velvet-dark with scrub, jagged with outcrops of volcanic rock; the gaunt warrior country, battered by centuries of struggle and slaughter; making calamity a whetstone for courage; saying, in effect, to friend and enemy, 'Take me or leave me.
— from Far to Seek A Romance of England and India by Maud Diver

The ant and bee learned generosity, the butterfly and bird contentment, the mole and worm confidence in the love of others; and each went to their home better for the little time they had been with Violet.
— from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott

And, although they had been so very quiet about it all, and, although said porter had followed said quiet lady about among the hovels every day for two or three months, and, although both lady and porter saw me frequently, and always kept profoundly mum about things, that I presumed I had heard all about their doings and sayings among their parishoners, almost every day, from the time I took the porter in my carriage down Marble Street, one fine morning, on purpose to get him a situation, up to the time when said black-whiskered porter came into my office one evening, and revealed unto me as follows— "My friend, do you remember that Miss Dinsmore, to whom you introduced me one morning, down in the mud in Marble Street?"
— from Our Girls by Dio Lewis