Radburn entered, bringing with him, on a tin plate, a piece of shriveled fried pork, a slice of bread and a cup of water.
— from Twelve Years a Slave Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation near the Red River in Louisiana by Solomon Northup

The tender respect of Augustus for a free constitution which he had destroyed, can only be explained by an attentive consideration of the character of that subtle tyrant.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

He had lived in Marksville three or four years, and in the prosecution of his business as a carpenter; and in consequence, likewise, of his peculiarities, was quite extensively known throughout the parish of Avoyelles.
— from Twelve Years a Slave Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation near the Red River in Louisiana by Solomon Northup

I had no doubt whatever that the absence of the ambassador had been arranged and concerted beforehand.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

Therefore, unless we suppose that the issue was for some reason delayed, or that Saxo spent seven years in polishing—which is not impossible—there is some reason to surmise that he began with that portion of his work which was nearest to his own time, and added the previous (especially the first nine, or mythical) books, as a completion, and possibly as an afterthought.
— from The Danish History, Books I-IX by Grammaticus Saxo

“The buildings are already constructed and only wait to be utilized.
— from The Reign of Greed by José Rizal

It seems a wild idea that this prudent little man, the petty despot of his family, who was, above all things, a sharp man of business and a capitalist, and who was an official too (though he was a Fourierist), should long before have conceived the fantastic project of procuring this passport in case of emergency, that he might escape abroad by means of it if … he did admit the possibility of this if, though no doubt he was never able himself to formulate what this if might mean.
— from The Possessed (The Devils) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The first instance occurs in the cases of Baronets of Nova Scotia, a clause appearing in all the earlier patents which ordained "that the Baronets, and their heirs-male, should, as an additament of honour to their armorial ensigns, bear, either on a canton or inescutcheon, in their option, the ensign of Nova Scotia, being argent , a cross of St. Andrew azure (the badge of Scotland counterchanged), charged with an inescutcheon of the Royal Arms of Scotland, supported on the dexter by the Royal unicorn, and on the sinister by a savage, or wild man, proper; and for crest, a branch of laurel and a thistle issuing from two hands conjoined, the one being armed, the other naked; with the motto, "Munit hæc et altera vincit."
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

I did not enjoy my evening as much as I expected; but I hope I behaved well; that, as Mrs. Treherne's sister, I tried to be attentive and courteous to the people, that no one need have been ashamed of poor Theodora.
— from A Life for a Life, Volume 2 (of 3) by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

For me, henceforth, “coffee-house” will possess anything but an agreeable connotation.
— from The People of the Abyss by Jack London

The horse of the nephew and godson was assigned to the duty of carrying the baggage, and as Cauvignac's commission authorized him to raise a company of infantry, the two raw recruits could say nothing.
— from The War of Women, Volume 1 by Alexandre Dumas

You who see such places only with all the conjuring power of light and dress upon them, have no idea how they look when things are transformed back again, and Cinderella has lost her glass slippers, and the coach is a pumpkin, and the coachman is a rat.
— from Tired Church Members by Anna Bartlett Warner

The old Roman law established, for example, a fundamental difference between "Agnatic" and "Cognatic" relationship, that is, between the Family considered as based upon common subjection to patriarchal authority and the Family considered (in conformity with modern ideas) as united through the mere fact of a common descent.
— from Ancient Law: Its Connection to the History of Early Society by Maine, Henry Sumner, Sir

I reproach myself when everything does not turn out for the best, and am consumed with grief.
— from Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous by Sarah Knowles Bolton

A most charming young person, with a figure, a bearing, and a certain indolent grace in all her movements, such as I had never seen before.
— from In Paradise: A Novel. Vol. I. by Paul Heyse

She then went off a second time as before, and, after crawling a few yards, turned back and moaned, as if to entreat them not to desert their mother.
— from The History of Sandford and Merton by Thomas Day

It is read either from right to left, left to right, or in columns, its commencement being from that side toward which the bird and animal characters face.
— from Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt by Lewis Spence

My thoughts this morning have been engrossed upon the subject of being exchanged or paroled—on being again among congenial friends in the “Old Dominion!”
— from Experience of a Confederate States Prisoner Being an Ephemeris Regularly Kept by an Officer of the Confederate States Army by Beckwith West