He tells me the Duchesse is a devil against him, and do now come like Queen Elizabeth, and sits with the Duke of York’s Council, and sees what they do; and she crosses out this man’s wages and prices, as she sees fit, for saving money; but yet, he tells me, she reserves L5000 a-year for her own spending; and my Lady Peterborough, by and by, tells me that the Duchesse do lay up, mightily, jewells.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

So he put her up at the table, opened the great dictionary she had brought, and gave her a paper and pencil, and she scribbled away, turning a leaf now and then, and passing her little fat finger down the page, as if finding a word, so soberly that I nearly betrayed myself by a laugh, while Mr. Bhaer stood stroking her pretty hair with a fatherly look that made me think she must be his own, though she looked more French than German.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

So leave we Sir Tristram in Brittany, and speak we of Sir Lamorak de Galis, that as he sailed his ship fell on a rock and perished all, save Sir Lamorak and his squire; and there he swam mightily, and fishers of the Isle of Servage took him up, and his squire was drowned, and the shipmen had great labour to save Sir Lamorak's life, for all the comfort that they could do.
— from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Malory, Thomas, Sir

He folded his arms and prayed, and soon sunk himself into healthful sleep; therefore he did not notice that his wife arose, threw on her clothes, and glided silently from the house, to go where her thoughts constantly lingered—to the grave of her child.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. (Hans Christian) Andersen

Nothing is so perfectly amusement as a total change of ideas; no ideas are so totally different as those of Ministers, and innocent Lovers: for which reason, when I come to talk of Statesmen and Patriots, and set such marks upon them as will prevent confusion and mistakes concerning them for the future—I propose to dedicate that Volume to some gentle Shepherd, Whose thoughts proud Science never taught to stray, Far as the Statesman's walk or Patriot-way; Yet simple Nature to his hopes had given Out of a cloud-capp'd head a humbler heaven; Some untam'd World in depths of wood embraced— Some happier Island in the wat'ry-waste— And where admitted to that equal sky, His faithful Dogs should bear him company.
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

A dapper clerk of perhaps nineteen or twenty years, with hair accurately parted and surprisingly slick, came bustling up and leaned over with a pretty smile and an affable— “Can I—was there any particular book you wished to see?” “Have you Taine’s England?” “Beg pardon?” “Taine’s Notes on England.”
— from The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Charles Dudley Warner

Catherine, who was the grand epitome Of that great cause of war, or peace, or what You please (it causes all the things which be, So you may take your choice of this or that)— Catherine, I say, was very glad to see The handsome herald, on whose plumage sat Victory; and pausing as she saw him kneel With his despatch, forgot to break the seal.
— from Don Juan by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

False notions of beauty and delicacy stop the growth of their limbs and produce a sickly soreness, rather than delicacy of organs; and thus weakened by being employed in unfolding instead of examining the first associations, forced on them by every surrounding object, how can they attain the vigour necessary to enable them to throw off their factitious character?—where find strength to recur to reason and rise superior to a system of oppression, that blasts the fair promises of spring?
— from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects by Mary Wollstonecraft

In the beginning of his reign, he gave up the study of the liberal sciences, though he took care to restore, at a vast expense, the libraries which had been burnt down; collecting manuscripts from all parts, and sending scribes to Alexandria 839 , either to copy or correct them.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

Swazi Sweden: noun: Swede(s) adjective: Swedish Switzerland: noun: Swiss (singular and plural) adjective: Swiss Syria: noun: Syrian(s) adjective: Syrian Tajikistan: noun: Tajikistani(s) adjective:
— from The 2001 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

The Premier has hinted that if the House insisted on having fuller information than it receives at present another Secret Session might be held.
— from Mr. Punch's History of the Great War by Charles L. (Charles Larcom) Graves

As we were sitting there watching the group in the water nearby, a Jap guard came out of the woods behind us, his bayonet dripping with blood; he raised his rifle and put a shot straight through Cy's heart, his chest spouting blood.
— from Blood Brothers: A Medic's Sketch Book by Eugene C. Jacobs

I remember her well, as she stayed on a few days in order to hand over the place to us—an excessively fat, inactive woman, who sat most of the day in an easy-chair, surrounded by her pets—lap-dogs, Amazon parrots, and several shrieking parakeets.
— from Far Away and Long Ago: A History of My Early Life by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson

A plain and simple structure, it was undoubtedly fitted up quickly by their own labor, to meet the exigency of the times.
— from The Bay State Monthly — Volume 1, No. 2, February, 1884 by Various

Another pause, and some strophes of unbridled gayety burst forth; then again the principal phrase, detaching itself like a flower from its stem, among myriads of winged notes, clusters of vaporous sounds, long spirals of transparent fioritures .
— from Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 15, No. 86, February, 1875 by Various

That the said ship or other vessel shall lay in, in proportion to the ship's company of the said vessel, and the number of negroes registered, a full and sufficient store of sound provision, so as to be secure against all probable delays and accidents, namely, salted beef, pork, salt-fish, butter, cheese, biscuit, flour, rice, oat-meal, and white peas, but no horse-beans, or other inferior provisions; and the said ship shall be properly provided with water-casks or jars, in proportion to the intended number of the said negroes; and the said ship shall be also provided with a proper and sufficient stock of coals or firewood.
— from The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 06 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

So in dancing, the [Greek omitted] represents the shape and figure, the [Greek omitted] shows some action, passion, or power; but by the [Greek omitted] are properly and significatively shown the things themselves, for instance, the heaven, earth, or the company.
— from Complete Works of Plutarch — Volume 3: Essays and Miscellanies by Plutarch