‘She’s a fine creature,’ said Mr. Magnus.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Halfdan was consulted whether the match should be entertained, and advised that a feigned consent should be given, promising that he would baulk the marriage.
— from The Danish History, Books I-IX by Grammaticus Saxo

sălikwâ′yĭ—bear-grass ( Eryngium ); also the greensnake, on account of a fancied resemblance; the name of a former Cherokee settlement on Sallacoa creek of Coosawatee river, in Gordon county, Georgia. Sa′nigilâ′gĭ (abbreviated Sanʻgilâ′gĭ )—Whiteside mountain, a prominent peak of the Blue ridge, southeast from Franklin, Macon county, North Carolina.
— from Myths of the Cherokee Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology by James Mooney

But what does this rich man do, this father of a family, compelled, so he says, to neglect his children?
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

One day, as he entered the field of exercise, the troops either from a sudden impulse, or a formed conspiracy, saluted him emperor, silenced by their loud acclamations his obstinate refusal, and hastened to consummate their rebellion by the murder of Alexander Severus.
— 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

“Anyone can sing like that—sit in the church porch and sing ‘Give me alms, for Christ’s sake!’
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

She was a tiny woman, with the general physiognomy of a Dutch doll, looking, in comparison with Bob's mother, who filled up the passage in the rear, very much like one of those human figures which the artist finds conveniently standing near a colossal statue to show the proportions.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

Only seventy-two of them were returned by vote; one hundred and thirty-three sat for “nomination” or “close” boroughs, absolutely controlled by a few peers; ninety-five were similarly sent to the Parliament by about fifty commoners; so that, out of the three hundred members of the house, two hundred and twenty-eight were wholly and solely dependent for their seats on less than half their own number.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 19, April 1874‐September 1874 by Various

Then the reader, whether citizen or public functionary, reads as follows:— "Acting upon the advice of our well-beloved and faithful chevalier, Sieur Dambray, Lord Chancellor of France, whom we charge to carry out our orders, we hereby command as follows ..." "Ah! now let us see what the king orders," says the reader. " Article 1.
— from My Memoirs, Vol. I, 1802 to 1821 by Alexandre Dumas

But I know that their Maker can challenge each breaker, And still every wave by His word; And o'er me a feeling comes silently stealing Of awe at the might of the Lord.
— from The Song of the Exile—A Canadian Epic by Wilfred S. Skeats

The French, instead of making any resistance in these wild and thickly wooded glens, adopted a more prudent line of conduct, and, not having any particular appetite for cold steel, scampered off to the next range of heights at the moment when we expected to have had a brush, leaving us, by way of a legacy, their half extinguished fires, their broken huts, and all the rubbish of a deserted camp.
— from The Adventures of Captain John Patterson With Notices of the Officers, &c. of the 50th, or Queen's Own Regiment from 1807 to 1821 by John Patterson

A volunteer nurse was gathering the hard little apples for cooking; she turned, her apron full, as the Special Messenger passed, and the two women, both young, looked at one another through the sunshine—looked, and turned away, each to her appointed destiny.
— from Special Messenger by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

As the position was exceedingly strong, the enemy determined to hold it to the last, and maintained a furious cannonade, supported by a heavy fire of musketry.
— from The Battles of the British Army Being a Popular Account of All the Principal Engagements During the Last Hundred Years by Robert Melvin Blackwood