When the blaze shot up and burned clearly old Mombi scattered a handful of magical powder over the fire, which straightway gave off a rich violet vapor, filling all the tent with its fragrance and forcing the Saw-Horse to sneeze—although he had been warned to keep quiet.
— from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

A rasping voice at his elbow said, with sedate scorn: “Fasten yourself upon the woman for all she’s worth.”
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad

After receiving various orders from him, I ventured to ask permission to spend Sunday in town.
— from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Harriet A. (Harriet Ann) Jacobs

It was a pretty invention, and received into most governments of the world, to institute certain vain and in themselves valueless distinctions to honour and recompense virtue, such as the crowns of laurel, oak, and myrtle, the particular fashion of some garment, the privilege to ride in a coach in the city, or at night with a torch, some peculiar place assigned in public assemblies, the prerogative of certain additional names and titles, certain distinctions in the bearing of coats of arms, and the like, the use of which, according to the several humours of nations, has been variously received, and yet continues.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

It must be autumn at home now—the harbour is a-dream and the old Glen hills blue with haze, and Rainbow Valley a haunt of delight with wild asters blowing all over it—our old "farewell-summers."
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

It is thus that the objects themselves get a religious value which is really not inherent in them but is conferred from without.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim

I do nothing but go and come; my judgment does not always advance—it floats and roams:— Velut minuta magno Deprensa navis in mari vesaniente vento.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

“It was only out of generosity, madame,” he said in a resonant voice, “and because I would not betray a friend in an awkward position, that I did not mention this revision before; though you heard him yourself threatening to kick us down the steps.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Emelyan told them that in old days he had been in the choir in the Lugansky works, and that he had a remarkable voice and read music splendidly, while now he had become a peasant and lived on the charity of his brother, who sent him out with his horses and took half his earnings.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

He was received at the Queen's, the Prince of Benavente's, and the Duchess d'Alba's; and lived in the same grand style as Rubens, Van Dyck, and Velasquez—a mode of existence so highly favourable to the development of picturesque genius.
— from Wanderings in Spain by Théophile Gautier

Vines in a rich valley soil will grow much larger than on a poor hillside.
— from Manual of American Grape-Growing by U. P. Hedrick

The atmosphere became dun-coloured, thickened at places into opaque and rushing veils.
— from In Mesopotamia by Maurice Nicoll

Not to dwell upon the phenomenon of the arcus senilis, which though of a certain value is confessedly only very partially reliable, we may mention the sphygmographic character of the pulse as possessing a real value in deciding the physiological status of the arterial system.
— from Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Francis Edmund Anstie

When it was opened, two soldiers appeared upon the threshold, stationed to prevent all egress of the inhabitants; and one of them, placing his arquebuse across the door-stall, cried, in a rude voice— " On ne passe pas. "
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 363, January, 1846 by Various

But even as he spoke Griffeth saw the change that came over his brothers' faces as they looked past him to something behind; then as he himself turned quickly to see what it was, he beheld their father and two of the servants approaching; and Res Vychan pointed sternly to the two dark-leaded boys, now involuntarily quailing beneath the fiery indignation in his eyes, and said: "Bind them hand and foot and carry them to the castle.
— from The Lord of Dynevor: A Tale of the Times of Edward the First by Evelyn Everett-Green

The criminal may be presumed to have a greater sense of responsibility than the insane person, and to be more able to take a rational view of his position.
— from The Criminal & the Community by James Devon

A striking case of a rare variety, strictly intermediate between two other well-marked female varieties, is given by Mr. Wallace.
— from The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin

An alloy of lead and copper was issued at a reduced value; but the profit to be made by coining was still so great that counterfeit coins speedily found their way into circulation.
— from The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe Being Sketches of the Domestic and Religious Rites and Ceremonies of the Siamese by Ernest Young