Open strings are clearer and more powerful but less expressive than stopped strings.
— from Principles of Orchestration, with Musical Examples Drawn from His Own Works by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

That gravel page upon which I might have read so much has been long ere this smudged by the rain and defaced by the clogs of curious peasants.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

The luxury of Italy had been less effectual to soften the temper, than to relax the courage, of the Goths; and they had imbibed the vices, without imitating the arts and institutions, of civilized society.
— 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

However, this false report did not put his mother to pain, nor afford merriment to the robbers, long; for Josephus soon recovered of his wound, and came out, and cried out aloud, That it would not be long ere they should be punished for this wound they had given him.
— from The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus

X. How Pope Boniface, by letter, exhorted the same king to embrace the faith.
— from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Bede, the Venerable, Saint

The evening was so far advanced, when M. Barreaux left Emily, that she could not visit the garden that night; but, on the following morning, she traced its long-regretted scenes with fond impatience; and, as she walked beneath the groves, which her father had planted, and where she had so often sauntered in affectionate conversation with him, his countenance, his smile, even the accents of his voice, returned with exactness to her fancy, and her heart melted to the tender recollections.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

Well, if my wind were but long enough to say my prayers, would repent.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

On the one hand, for example, books like Ezekiel, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes, were only declared to be Holy Writ in virtue of the interpretation put upon them by the Rabbis: and, on the other hand, it was the veto of the Rabbis which excluded from the canon the works that now pass under the name of Apocrypha.
— from Studies in Judaism, First Series by S. (Solomon) Schechter

It may be that very little can be done by law, except to see that they are not absolutely abused; to see that the mines in which they work are supplied with air and with means of escape in time of danger; to prevent the deforming of children by forcing upon them the labor of men; to shorten the hours of toil, and to give all laborers certain liens, above all other claims, for their work.
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 08 (of 12) Dresden Edition—Interviews by Robert Green Ingersoll

Then a council was held, and the commandant said Direst peril was near; they must summon swift aid From the Marshal, or all would be lost ere the sun Of to-morrow went down in the west.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 20, October 1874‐March 1875 by Various

When he had reached the sluice again he found that all Scowl Austin wanted, apparently, was to show him how, when he held the water back with the whisk, it eddied softly at each side of the broad little broom, leaving exposed the swept-up pile.
— from The Magnetic North by Elizabeth Robins

"You are indeed a brave lad," exclaimed the stranger, as he repressed a smile.
— from Nye and Riley's Wit and Humor (Poems and Yarns) by Bill Nye

Yes, if these indignant youths were looked at superficially and timorously, they would seem to be little else than Schiller's robbers: their talk sounded so wild to the anxious listener that Rome and Sparta seemed mere nunneries compared with these new spirits.
— from On the Future of our Educational Institutions; Homer and Classical Philology Complete Works, Volume Three by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

"I've just arrived," he said, "and through letters from friends in St. Louis, members of one of the old French families there, I've been lucky enough to secure a room at Madame Delaunay's inn." "Fortune has been with us both," said Harry, somewhat doubtfully, but not knowing what else to say.
— from The Guns of Bull Run: A Story of the Civil War's Eve by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

While searching volcanic sand, Mr. Mantell came upon an immense egg-shell, for which he said that his hat would hardly have been large enough to serve as cup.
— from Chatterbox, 1906 by Various