“And so,” said he, “I came laughing away, rejoicing in my sleeve that I had disappointed the avaricious old cheat.”
— from Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie

"You know not what I have of steady and resolute in me," said he, "but you shall see; the event shall teach you.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

The well-trained high-class servant is faultlessly neat in appearance, reticent in manner, speaks in a low voice, walks and moves quickly but silently, and is unfailingly courteous and respectful.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

The young gentleman soon discerned the symptoms of a reconciliation in my softened looks, and hastening to receive the seal of it from my lips, pressed them tenderly to pass his pardon in the return of a kiss so melting fiery, that the impression of it being carried to my heart, and thence to my new discovered sphere of Venus, I was melted into a softness that could refuse him nothing.
— from Memoirs of Fanny Hill A New and Genuine Edition from the Original Text (London, 1749) by John Cleland

And then he mounted upon his horse, and rode into many strange and wild countries, and through many waters and valleys, and evil was he lodged.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

“Why, yes, Ma’am, yes,” said Mr. Smith: who, brightening up at this application, advanced towards us with an air of assumed importance, which, however, sat very uneasily upon him, and begged to know what he should explain first: “For I have attended,” said he, “to all these paintings, and know every thing in them perfectly well; for I am rather fond of pictures, Ma’am; and, really, I must say, I think, a pretty pictures is a-a very-is really a very-is something very pretty-” “So do I too,” said Madame Duval; “but pray now, Sir, tell us who that is meant for,” pointing to a figure of Neptune.
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney

"Of all romances in miniature," says Schlegel, the great German critic, "the 'Vicar of Wakefield' is the most exquisite."
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Really I ought to go and see old Uncle Trevor after his illness; at any rate, I must speak to Eugene, and make personal inquiries."
— from Mary Seaham: A Novel. Volume 1 of 3 by Mrs. (Elizabeth Caroline) Grey

To my mind the attainments and the talents required in civil service are as well worthy to be recognized as those that are required in military service, and I see no reason for a rule that shall allow talent to be taken without any reference to geographical limit in the military service which is not equally applicable to the civil service.
— from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 17 (of 20) by Charles Sumner

But, as Machiavelli says of political institutions, that life may be preserved and renewed, if men should arise capable of bringing back the drama to its principles.
— from English literary criticism by Charles Edwyn Vaughan

So I slipped the shilling into his hand and received in mine something smooth, large, and round, twice the size of an ordinary watch.
— from Beggars by W. H. (William Henry) Davies

And while his smiling auditors all drew nearer, and leant, with parted lips to catch every syllable, the words of the strange melody trailed unhesitatingly into the line; literally, as here subjoined: "One gloomy day in the airly Fall, Whin the sunshine had no chance at all— No chance at all for to gleam and shine And lighten up this heart of mine: " 'Twas in South Bend, that famous town, Whilst I were a-strollin' round and round, I met some friends and they says to me: 'It's a hunt we'll take on the Kankakee!'
— from The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley — Volume 10 by James Whitcomb Riley

If a mere trivial drawing-room amusement, associated by some with an absurd ‘animistic hypothesis,’ can, when explained by Dr. Carpenter, throw such unexpectedly blinding light on human nature, who knows how much light may be obtained from a research into more serious and widely diffused superstitious practices?
— from Cock Lane and Common-Sense by Andrew Lang