Pots and pans—perhaps I ought to say vases and goblets—were rolled here and there on the foreground; a perfect rubbish of flowers was mixed amongst them, and an absurd and disorderly mass of curtain upholstery smothered the couch and cumbered the floor.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

It was observed that each physical state in which he found himself, excluded certain memories and brought with it a definite modification of character.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James

They were empowered to offer him the friendship and alliance of the western princes, to cement their union by a double marriage; of Constantius with the daughter of Magnentius, and of Magnentius himself with the ambitious Constantina; and to acknowledge in the treaty the preeminence of rank, which might justly be claimed by the emperor of the East.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

This indeed is the public cookery, and is very convenient to the city, and a distinguishing mark of civilisation.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

During the whole course of his life, he suffered, at times, dangerous fits of sickness, especially after the conquest of Cantabria; when his liver being injured by a defluxion (131) upon it, he was reduced to such a condition, that he was obliged to undergo a desperate and doubtful method of cure: for warm applications having no effect, Antonius Musa 232 directed the use of those which were cold.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

Traveling —Traveling dresses should be made always of some quiet color, perfectly plain, with a deep mantle or cloak of the same material.
— from The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness A Complete Hand Book for the Use of the Lady in Polite Society by Florence Hartley

William Lambe, gentleman and clothworker, in the year 1577, built a water-conduit at Oldborne cross to his charges of fifteen hundred pounds, and did many other charitable acts, as in my Summary .
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

We, in fact, have made writing a definite mode of composition, and have treated it as a form of elaborate design.
— from Intentions by Oscar Wilde

Maggie felt a deep movement of compunction; for the moment, her mind ceased to contend against what she felt to be cruel and unreasonable, and in her self-blame she justified her brother.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

Apicius cannot resist being pleased, if you give him an Account of a delicious Meal; or Clodius , if you describe a Wanton Beauty: Tho' at the same time, if you do not awake those Inclinations in them, no Men are better Judges of what is just and delicate in Conversation.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

From the ovaries in this form are detached masses of cells ( Fig. 71 ) which float free in the stomach pockets among the developing embryos, and to judge from the vacuolation that appears, are used up in their favor.
— from The Cubomedusæ by Franklin Story Conant

In both plants and animals, as will be pointed out in the following chapter, practically all the vital activities of the cell protoplasm are definite manifestations of colloidal phenomena.
— from The Chemistry of Plant Life by Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher

From this issue a number of repulsive-looking, half-naked wretches, men and women, with dark scowling faces, and dirty masses of coarse black hair.
— from A Ride to India across Persia and Baluchistán by Harry De Windt

The confidence then established was never lost; and when Jackson was on his death-bed, being visited by a gentleman from the North (himself formerly a democratic member of Congress), the old hero spoke with energy of Franklin Pierce’s ability and patriotism, and remarked, as with prophetic foresight of his young friend’s destiny, that “the interests of the country would be safe in such hands.”
— from Sketches and Studies by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Far in the distance, faintly penciled against the misty sky, rise headlands to what seems an enormous height, about them a dark mass of clouds, like some giant's garment caught upon the peaks and blown about at the will of the wind.
— from Brother Against Brother; or, The Tompkins Mystery. A Story of the Great American Rebellion. by John R. (John Roy) Musick

A deep mist of conceit, fed by the shallow breath of parasites, players, and pedants, wrapt that unhappy court in blind security, till ‘the breaking was as the swelling out of a high wall, which cometh suddenly in an instant.’
— from Plays and Puritans by Charles Kingsley

'Max O'Rell supplies, not for the first time, a delightful mixture of commonplace and common-sense.'— Daily Chronicle.
— from Her Royal Highness Woman by Max O'Rell

It will be seen that the immediate friends and advisers of Mr. Jefferson, until within a few hours of the balloting, had no confidence in certain leading and distinguished members of Congress, whose names shall be given, but who, on his coming into power, promptly received the most substantial evidence of his kind feelings by appointments to office.
— from Memoirs of Aaron Burr, Complete by Aaron Burr

Colonel: Simon Fraser of Lovat; Lieutenant-Colonel: Sir William Erskine of Torry; Majors: John Macdonell of Lochgarry and Duncan Macpherson of Cluny; Captains: Simon Fraser, Duncan Chisholm of Chisholm, Colin Mackenzie, Francis Skelly, Hamilton Maxwell, John Campbell, Norman Macleod of Macleod, Sir James Baird of Saughtonhall and Charles Cameron of Lochiel; Lieutenants: Charles Campbell, John Macdougall, Colin Mackenzie, John Nairne, William Nairne, Charles Gordon, David Kinloch, Thomas Tause, William Sinclair, Hugh Fraser, Alexander Fraser, Thomas Fraser, Dougald Campbell, Robert Macdonald, Alexander Fraser, Roderick Macleod, John Ross, Patrick Cumming, and Thomas Hamilton; Ensigns: Archibald Campbell, Henry Macpherson, John Grant, Robert Campbell, Allan Malcolm, John Murchison, Angus Macdonell, Peter Fraser; Chaplain: Hugh Blair, D.D.; Adjutant: Donald Cameron; Quarter-Master: David Campbell; Surgeon: William Fraser.
— from An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America by J. P. (John Patterson) MacLean

Among them was Thomas Green Davidson, a distinguished member of Congress, (still living, and long may he live!)
— from The Memories of Fifty Years Containing Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished Americans, and Anecdotes of Remarkable Men; Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly Spent in the Southwest by W. H. (William Henry) Sparks