My solemn asseverations that my patroness—no doubt only in fun—was deliberately distorting my account of my former visit to him, apparently pacified him so far as I was concerned, and, on the other hand, he had no doubt already formed his own opinion of the impulsive singer.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

I thanked him, and praised his honesty, begging him to accept several bales of merchandise in token of my gratitude, but he would take nothing.
— from The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang

His name was dear to the senate and people; his tender age promised a long impunity of military license; and the submission of Rome and the provinces to the choice of the Praetorian guards, saved the republic, at the expense indeed of its freedom and dignity, from the horrors of a new civil war in the heart of the capital.
— 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

Upon this, sending some soldiers to dispatch Galba and Piso, he said nothing else in his address to the soldiery, to secure their affections, than these few words: “I shall be content with whatever ye think fit to leave me.” VII.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

After, him seemed there came out of the orient, a grimly boar all black in a cloud, and his paws as big as a post; he was rugged looking roughly, he was the foulest beast that ever man saw, he roared and romed so hideously that it were marvel to hear.
— from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Malory, Thomas, Sir

For which preservation of them, he told him he had received the authority over them, and had been made high priest; but that, in case he was so great a lover of money, as to endure to see his country in danger on that account, and his countrymen suffer the greatest damages, he advised him to go to the king, and petition him to remit either the whole or a part of the sum demanded.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

It's a pity, but nothing goes right this week, and Pip has had the worst of the experiment.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Every one of them, in short, constantly dwelling on wants, avidity, oppression, desires and pride, has transferred to the state of nature ideas which were acquired in society; so that, in speaking of the savage, they described the social man.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

This would also prove highly beneficial to cherry-trees on land where they might be exposed to too much moisture.
— from Soil Culture Containing a Comprehensive View of Agriculture, Horticulture, Pomology, Domestic Animals, Rural Economy, and Agricultural Literature by J. H. Walden

Then she would call up a quiet dignity, until she could steal for a few moments away, unobserved, and press her hands tightly upon her heart, saying: "If he would only love me!
— from Fairy Tales from Gold Lands by May Wentworth

But 349 Æneas saw it coming, and put his shield over him, resting on his knee.
— from Stories of the Old World by Alfred John Church

Nature in these parts is bountiful, and provides her human creatures with a spontaneous supply of every want.
— from Odd People: Being a Popular Description of Singular Races of Man by Mayne Reid

At Typasus, in Mauritania Cæsariensis, certain Catholics who had assisted at the celebration of the divine mysteries in a private house, were informed against; and by the king’s order had their tongues plucked out, and their right hands cut off; yet they spoke as well as ever, as St. Victor Vitensis, an eye-witness, assures us.
— from The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Vol. 7. July by Alban Butler

A West Indian, and the son of a planter, he was born on one of his father's little islands, Van Dyke, near Tortola, in the year 1744.
— from A Book About Doctors by John Cordy Jeaffreson

,” said Dutocq, “married a Demoiselle de Chargeboeuf and has caught the opinions of the nobility; he wants a fortune at any price; his wife spends money regally.”
— from The Works of Balzac: A linked index to all Project Gutenberg editions by Honoré de Balzac

If, for instance, Jane were a perfect heroine, she would have loved and trusted him at first sight, as he had her.
— from Lonesome Town by E. S. (Ethel Smith) Dorrance