He bethought himself of course that it had been a small kindness to his father to wish that, of the two, the active rather than the passive party should know the felt wound; he remembered that the old man had always treated his own forecast of an early end as a clever fallacy, which he should be delighted to discredit so far as he might by dying first.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James

The throng of merchants was here—the quick pulse of gain—and here some forms of business are still kept up, though the soul be long since fled.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb

The youthful Baletti was a beginner, and so knew nothing of these things.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

I don't mean of the melting sort, but a sound kernel, that you may be sure of.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot

He was qualified for it not merely by a solid knowledge of the law, and by great natural abilities, but by his thorough kindness of heart; and, perhaps, it may also be added, by his long years of queer experience on (as Mr Carlyle would have said) the "burning marl" of the London Bohemia.
— from Joseph Andrews, Vol. 1 by Henry Fielding

BETTY, a skeleton key, or picklock.—
— from A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words Used at the Present Day in the Streets of London; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; the Houses of Parliament; the Dens of St. Giles; and the Palaces of St. James. by John Camden Hotten

At the time we have now reached, this is an old story, for Gonzalez had been married many a year, and had determined that Castile should be a separate kingdom, no longer under the suzerainty of Leon.
— from The Moors in Spain by Stanley Lane-Poole

"A most interesting and convincing experience," said Challenger, as we halted beside the brook and he bathed a swollen knee.
— from The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

It not being handsome for our servants to sit so equal with us It is a strange thing how fancy works It may be, be able to pay for it, or have health Jane going into the boat did fall down and show her arse Jealous, though God knows I have no great reason Jealousy of him and an ugly wench that lived there lately John Pickering on board, like an ass, with his feathers John has got a wife, and for that he intends to part with him Joyne the lion’s skin to the fox’s tail Just set down to dinner, and I dined with them, as I intended Justice of God in punishing men for the sins of their ancestors Justice of proceeding not to condemn a man unheard Keep at interest, which is a good, quiett, and easy profit King is at the command of any woman like a slave King shall not be able to whip a cat King was gone to play at Tennis King hath lost his power, by submitting himself to this way King do resolve to declare the Duke of Monmouth legitimate King himself minding nothing but his ease King is not at present in purse to do King is mighty kind to these his bastard children King the necessity of having, at least, a show of religion King be desired to put all Catholiques out of employment King still do doat upon his women, even beyond all shame King is offended with the Duke of Richmond’s marrying King of France did think other princes fit for nothing King governed by his lust, and women, and rogues about him King, Duke and Duchess, and Madame Palmer, were King dined at my Lady Castlemaine’s, and supped, every day King, “it is then but Mr. Pepys making of another speech to them” King do tire all his people that are about him with early rising King’s service is undone, and those that trust him perish King’s Proclamation against drinking, swearing, and debauchery Kingdom will fall back again to a commonwealth Kiss my Parliament, instead of “Kiss my [rump]” Kissed them myself very often with a great deal of mirth Know yourself to be secure, in being necessary to the office L’escholle des filles, a lewd book L100 worth of plate for my Lord to give Secretary Nicholas L10,000 to the Prince, and half-a-crowne to my Lord of Sandwich Lady Castlemaine’s interest at Court increases Lady Castlemayne is compounding with the King for a pension Lady Duchesse the veryest slut and drudge Lady Castlemaine hath all the King’s Christmas presents Lady Castlemaine do speak of going to lie in at Hampton Court Lady Batten to give me a spoonful of honey for my cold Lady Castlemaine is still as great with the King Lady Castlemayne’s nose out of joynt Lady Batten how she was such a man’s whore Lady Castlemayne is now in a higher command over the King Lady Castlemayne do rule all at this time as much as ever Laissez nous affaire—Colbert Last day of their doubtfulness touching her being with child Last act of friendship in telling me of my faults also Last of a great many Presbyterian ministers Lately too much given to seeing of plays, and expense Laughing and jeering at every thing that looks strange Law and severity were used against drunkennesse Law against it signifies nothing in the world
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

It was then that his mother showed herself a good mother, if ever she was one, and said [Pg 23] she thought it was a shame to put Pony back and mortify him before the other boys, and she knew that it must just have happened that he did not read very well that afternoon because he was sick, or something, for usually he read perfectly.
— from The Flight of Pony Baker A Boy's Town Story by William Dean Howells

THE LAST ALLIES "They have looked each other between the eyes, and there they have found no fault, They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on leavened bread and salt." Kipling.
— from The Disturbing Charm by Berta Ruck

Those time-honoured appellations are recommended not only by their antiquity but by their candour, and we would have every extravagant Inn, that is, almost every Inn in the kingdom, that does not rejoice in one of them, denoted and commonly called and known by a similar kind of title; as, The Crocodile, The Boa Constrictor, The Hyena, The Condor, The Wolf, The Ogre, in order to signify that it is the den of a ravenous monster that subsists by devouring travellers.
— from Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various

Selfishness and ignorance, the two great Powers of discord and separation, are his ministers; the earth is his theatre of convulsive hatreds and soul-racking passion; and our mortal life, instead of being the fair channel of cosmic activities, becomes a “stricture knot,” as Whitman calls it, and a symbol of disease.
— from The Drama of Love and Death: A Study of Human Evolution and Transfiguration by Edward Carpenter

By Albert S. Kinsella.
— from U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1972 January - June by Library of Congress. Copyright Office

As for the young man, who was, to begin with, in that state which so often follows on the long confinement of illness, when the light seems brighter and scents keener and experience sharper than at other times, he was inwardly confessing that Mrs. Thornburgh had not been romancing.
— from Robert Elsmere by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.

And yet my Star, because a sugared kiss In sport I sucked while she asleep did lie, Doth lower, nay chide, nay threat, for only this.— Sweet, it was saucy Love, not humble I!
— from The Flower of the Mind by Alice Meynell