Raskolnikov walked straight to X—— Bridge, stood in the middle, and leaning both elbows on the rail stared into the distance.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"He was already describing his life: all the ugliness of a lonely bachelor existence appeared before me.
— from The Bet, and other stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

I filled with occupation every minute of that day, and should have liked to sit up all night if I might have kept a candle burning; the night, however, proved a bad time, and left bad effects, preparing me ill for the next day's ordeal of insufferable gossip.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

By a single edict, he reduced the palace of Constantinople to an immense desert, and dismissed with ignominy the whole train of slaves and dependants, 57 without providing any just, or at least benevolent, exceptions, for the age, the services, or the poverty, of the faithful domestics of the Imperial family.
— 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

Gentlemen, could you, by perseverance, at last be enabled, under God, to lighten in any degree the heavy burthen of the afflicted, no doubt it would, in some measure, be the possible means, under God, of saving the souls of many of the oppressors; and, if so, sure we are that the God, whose eyes are ever upon all his creatures, and always rewards every true act of virtue, and regards the prayers of the oppressed, will give to you and yours those blessings which it is not in our power to express or conceive, but which we, as a part of those captived, oppressed, and afflicted people, most earnestly wish and pray for.
— from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written By Himself by Olaudah Equiano

The cold insolence of Mrs. Ferrars's general behaviour to her sister, seemed, to her, to foretell such difficulties and distresses to Elinor, as her own wounded heart taught her to think of with horror; and urged by a strong impulse of affectionate sensibility, she moved after a moment, to her sister's chair, and putting one arm round her neck, and one cheek close to hers, said in a low, but eager, voice, "Dear, dear Elinor, don't mind them.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

This is a London boot, eh?’ ‘That, sir,’ I replied, ‘is a London boot.’
— from American Notes by Charles Dickens

"What a nice party it was last night," Miss Osborne at length began, encouragingly; "and—and how you're improved in your dancing, Captain Dobbin.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

Never make a call upon a lady before eleven o’clock in the morning, or after nine in the evening.
— from The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness Being a Complete Guide for a Gentleman's Conduct in All His Relations Towards Society by Cecil B. Hartley

As is common with the vast majority of husbands and wives, not a single dinner had in earlier days passed without scenes and fault-finding between Nadyezhda Fyodorovna and Laevsky; but ever since Laevsky had made up his mind that he did not love her, he had tried to give way to Nadyezhda Fyodorovna in everything, spoke to her gently and politely, smiled, and called her “darling.”
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

At length Mary came back on deck with a lantern, bringing each of the men a steaming cup.
— from Highland Ballad by Christopher Leadem

This was particularly true of the area directly in front of us, as a large beanfield extended from the German line nearly to ours.
— from From the St. Lawrence to the Yser with the 1st Canadian brigade by Frederic C. Curry

The two youths then led forward the little girl, her innocent face and large blue eyes wearing a look of childish obedient solemnity, only half understanding what she did, yet knowing it was something great.
— from The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

But a little before eleven o’clock on the night of the third day the gale broke.
— from An Ocean Tragedy by William Clark Russell

He regretted his return; became anxious to be any where else; thought himself not only neglected but derided; and at length became excited to a pitch of frenzy.
— from Stories from the Italian Poets: with Lives of the Writers, Volume 2 by Leigh Hunt

Ishbel spoke at last, breathlessly, eagerly.
— from The Quiver, 2/1900 by Various

We see, therefore, why it is that so many actually do desert Him and are led by evil voices.
— from The Shepherd Of My Soul by Charles J. (Charles Jerome) Callan

Hiram Maxim, the inventor of the Maxim Automatic Gun, donated as a gift one of his wonderful weapons, with shield attached mounted on a light but effective stand.
— from In Darkest Africa, Vol. 1; or, The Quest, Rescue, and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria by Henry M. (Henry Morton) Stanley

It is on the north-western coasts of Scotland, however, that the greatest abundance of these mollusca occurs, and there they form not a luxury, but even a necessary of life to the poor semi-barbarous population.
— from A Year at the Shore by Philip Henry Gosse

In one of our northern coal-pits there was a little boy employed in a lonely and dangerous part of the mine.
— from The Life of Duty, v. 2 A year's plain sermons on the Gospels or Epistles by H. J. (Harry John) Wilmot-Buxton