Here was a relative of mine, awakened to a sense of her shortcomings towards others, under the influence, not of conviction and duty, but of sentiment and impulse!
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

But the memorial to the Privy Council, which we have traced to Knox, prevailed also so far as to secure a modification of the article on ceremonies, which, originally numbered as the 38th, came out owing to some minor condensations as the 35th, and took this ultimate shape—(we give Lorimer's translation from { 56} the Latin)—"The book which of very late time was given to the Church of England by the king's authority and the Parliament, containing the manner and form of praying and ministering the sacraments in the Church of England, likewise also the book of ordering ministers of the Church set forth by the foresaid authority, are godly, and in no point repugnant to the wholesome doctrine of the gospel, but agreeable thereunto, furthering and beautifying the same not a little; and therefore of all faithful members of the Church of England, and chiefly of the ministers of the Lord, they ought to be received and allowed with all readiness of mind and thanksgiving, and to be commended to the people of God."
— from John Knox by William M. (William Mackergo) Taylor

We may hear profanity as we pass along the street, or we may see iniquity before our eyes daily as we come in contact with the world, we may pick up a secular paper and read of murder and theft, and thus these evil thoughts may enter into our minds, but they do not conceive or take root in our hearts.
— from Sanctification by J. W. Byers

Cultivation and refinement of manners are, to a good degree, evidence of a pure spirit, and high and honorable feelings.
— from Golden Steps to Respectability, Usefulness and Happiness Being a Series of Lectures to Youth of Both Sexes, on Character, Principles, Associates, Amusements, Religion, and Marriage by John Mather Austin

There are in him several traces of the idea which began with Irenæus, and was developed by Origen, that the devil through the Fall acquired an actual right over man, and that a kind of pious fraud was practised upon him to deprive him of this right through the Incarnation and death of Jesus.
— from Saint John Chrysostom, His Life and Times A sketch of the church and the empire in the fourth century by W. R. W. (William Richard Wood) Stephens

Their fears grew more and more, as Isabelle, in her private conversations, endeavoured to sound her father on this point; and although the suspicions of affection are often more apparent than real, in this they were not mistaken; for, without consulting his child—and as if her soul had been in his hand—he promised her in marriage to a rich old miser, ay, twice as rich, and nearly as old as himself.
— from The Life of Mansie Wauch Tailor in Dalkeith, written by himself by D. M. (David Macbeth) Moir

In all sentences containing the statement of a reciprocal or mutual action there are in reality two assertions, viz.
— from The English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham

285 her soul had been in his hand—he promised her in marriage to a rich old miser, ay, twice as rich, and nearly as old as himself.
— from The Life of Mansie Wauch tailor in Dalkeith by D. M. (David Macbeth) Moir

Among unprejudiced observers there are still some who are inclined to attribute to optical delusion the sudden disappearance of young snakes; arguing from their astonishing rapidity of motion, and the almost inappreciable space into which they can creep and hide in their mother’s coils.
— from Snakes: Curiosities and Wonders of Serpent Life by Catherine Cooper Hopley

It is said to be the most unsafe hour; for men are coming into Tetuan, and if they can waylay and rob or murder a traveller, and make their way into the city before the gates shut, half an hour after sunset, and sleep there, who shall suspect them of dark deeds done outside in the evening?
— from In the Tail of the Peacock by Isabel Savory

Was Colonel of a regiment of militia at the age of nineteen, and marched for the seat of war at the first news of the battle of Lexington.
— from Ten Years Among the Mail Bags Or, Notes from the Diary of a Special Agent of the Post-Office Department by James Holbrook