He must know that the Woodhouses had been settled for several generations at Hartfield, the younger branch of a very ancient family—and that the Eltons were nobody.
— from Emma by Jane Austen

Having obtained, therefore, leave to make him a visit, and finding him in a very melancholy mood, which she considerably heightened by telling him there were scarce any hopes of the volunteer's life, she proceeded to throw forth some hints, which the other readily and eagerly taking up, they soon came to a right understanding; and it was at length agreed that the ensign should, at a certain signal, ascend the chimney, which communicating very soon with that of the kitchen, he might there again let himself down; for which she would give him an opportunity by keeping the coast clear.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

Her father's life had a value apart from his personal achievements, or perhaps it would not have had much.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy

A vagueness, a flaccidity, of conception betrays itself in their language.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon A revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations by J. B. (Joseph Barber) Lightfoot

The girl brought him a plate of grocer’s hot peas, seasoned with pepper and vinegar, a fork and his ginger beer.
— from Dubliners by James Joyce

I needn't tell you, Lizzie, that I am under great obligations to Mr Headstone, and that I am very anxious for Mr Headstone to succeed in all he undertakes.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

The station-master, however, wired up and down the line, and assured him that a strict watch would be kept for her, and, after having bought a hat for the little Duke from a linen-draper, who was just putting up his shutters, Mr. Otis rode off to Bexley, a village about four miles away, which he was told was a well-known haunt of the gipsies, as there was a large common next to it.
— from The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

Anne and Charlotta the Fourth accordingly betook themselves back to Mr. Kimball’s pasture, a green remote place where the air was as soft as velvet and fragrant as a bed of violets and golden as amber.
— from Anne of Avonlea by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

"The house of everyone is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence as for his repose."
— from A Little Rebel: A Novel by Duchess

A beautiful parable of the Persian poet Yellaladeen (quoted by the late Mr. Lowell) narrates that “One knocked at the beloved's door, and a voice asked from within, ‘Who is there?’
— from Studies in Judaism, First Series by S. (Solomon) Schechter

"Remember your telling me about visiting at Fort Riley when you were quite a youngster?
— from The Visioning: A Novel by Susan Glaspell

And so the book draws to a verbose and feeble close.
— from The Life and Beauties of Fanny Fern by William U. Moulton

The great virtues, the great vices excite strong enthusiasm, vehement horror, but after all it is not so necessary to warn the generality of mankind against these, either by precept or example, as against the lesser faults; we are all sufficiently aware that we must not break the commandments, and the reasons against all vices all feel even to the force of demonstration, but demonstration does not need and cannot receive additional force from fiction.
— from The Life and Letters of Maria Edgeworth, Volume 2 by Maria Edgeworth

He started to count—one, two, and his hand began to shake; at three his hand was moving about violently; at four the bomb fell.
— from Private Peat by Harold Reginald Peat

suddenly shouted a voice, as Fide-Yori turned his blade against himself.
— from The Usurper: An Episode in Japanese History by Judith Gautier

The windows were filled with parodies of the pamphlet, entitled, "The Last Speech and Dying Words of Alexander Hamilton," "Hamilton's Last Letter and His Amorous Vindication," "A Free Examination of the Morals, Political and Literary Characters of John Adams and Alexander Hamilton."
— from The Conqueror: Being the True and Romantic Story of Alexander Hamilton by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

At the end of May the proposed comare , having procured a segment of the bark of a cork tree, fashions it in the shape of a vase, and fills it with rich light mould in which are planted some grains of barley or wheat.
— from Fishes, Flowers, & Fire as Elements and Deities in the Phallic Faiths & Worship of the Ancient Religions of Greece, Babylon, Rome, India, &c. by Anonymous