When we reached the lofty portal we found that the quarrymen had already hewn a passage through it, and near by I observed a pile of massive blocks of ice, crystal clear.
— from Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey by Ingersoll Lockwood

“'The janitor, Pierre Courtin, an old soldier.' “'It's not he.' “'A stable-boy, son of farmers whom I know, and a groom whom you have just seen.' “'It's not he.' “'Then, monsieur, you see that you must be mistaken.' “'Excuse me, madame, but I am positive that I am not making a mistake.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

Upon which so strange a spectacle, the people of the city gathered apace together upon the sands, to wonder; and so after put themselves into a number of small boats, to go nearer to this marvellous sight.
— from New Atlantis by Francis Bacon

In the Athenian process there is also, no doubt, to be traced a different thought.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes

But, as the fool that in reforming days Would go to Mass in jest (as story says) Could not but think, to pay his fine was odd, Since ’twas no formed design of serving God; So was I punished, as if full as proud As prone to ill, as negligent of good, As deep in debt, without a thought to pay, } As vain, as idle, and as false, as they } Who live at Court, for going once that way!
— from An Essay on Man; Moral Essays and Satires by Alexander Pope

For we cannot in other respects equal those distinguished men in their ability and virtue, nevertheless we must, like initiating priests of the gods and torchbearers of wisdom, attempt as far as possible to imitate and nibble at their practice.
— from Plutarch's Morals by Plutarch

You know it well and indeed taught it to me, but I have set down the speech which runs something like this, and offer it as a proof that I am not really indolent.
— from The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 2 by Emperor of Rome Julian

This abbess, when her sister had been buried sixteen years, thought fit to take up her bones, and, putting them into a new coffin, to translate them into the church.
— from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Bede, the Venerable, Saint

Then, to Ganimard’s great astonishment, I muttered: “What a pity that I am not an honest man!”
— from The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar by Maurice Leblanc

Really, gentlemen, this is so peculiar a proposition that I am not disposed to weary you with further argument.
— from Justice by John Galsworthy

We are aware that Leibnitz, a great name in philosophy, defines substance to be an active force, a vis activa , but we do not recollect that he anywhere pretends that its activity necessarily extends beyond itself.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 07, April 1868 to September, 1868 by Various

"Another paragraph of the same act provides, 'that if any negro, mulatto, or Indian servant or slave, shall be found abroad from home, in the night season, after nine o'clock, without a special order from his or their master or mistress, it shall be lawful for any person or persons to apprehend and secure such negro, mulatto, or Indian servant or slave, so offending, and him, her, or them, bring before the next assistant or justice of the peace, which authority shall have full power to pass sentence upon such servant or slave, and order him, her, or them, to be publicly whipped on the naked body, not exceeding ten stripes, &c.'" "Pretty tight laws you had, sir," said Mr. Chapman, addressing Mr. Perkins.
— from Aunt Phillis's Cabin; Or, Southern Life As It Is by Mary H. (Mary Henderson) Eastman

A philosopher, that is, a nominal philosopher without imagination, is a coiner .
— from Anima Poetæ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Round the [Pg 76] burning lamp, and within the circle formed by the procession, danced the Fakirs in their black dresses, with solemn pace timed to the music, raising and swinging to and fro their arms after the fashion of Eastern dancers, and placing themselves in attitudes not less decorous than elegant.
— from Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon by Austen Henry Layard

They say it is a pity that I am not a priest.
— from The Forest Schoolmaster by Peter Rosegger

Your third criticism is directed against what is said of the law of the Medes and Persians, that it altereth not ; where I find nothing to admire, but the extreme rigour of Asiatic despotism.
— from The Works of Richard Hurd, Volume 5 (of 8) by Richard Hurd

Those who best know what I lose by this will give me credit for it; and I shall be sufficiently rewarded for my forbearance if it afford them a proof that I am not unworthy the flattering kindness I have received.
— from Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. 1) by Frances Milton Trollope