The captain, with an affectation of candour, observed, that men of illiberal minds were produced in every soil; that in supposing those were the sentiments of the English in general, he should pay too great a compliment to is own country, which was not of consequence enough to attract the envy of such a flourishing and powerful people.
— from The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by T. (Tobias) Smollett

Wrote many letters by the post to ease my mind of business and to clear my paper of minutes, as I did lately oblige myself to clear every thing against the end of the month.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

In the 44th of Edward III., Quinborough, Kingston-upon-Hull, and Boston, were made staples of wool; which matter so much offended some, that in the 50th of his reign, in a parliament at London, it was complained that the staple of wool was so removed from Callis to divers towns in England, contrary to the statute, appointing that citizens and merchants should keep it there, and that the king might have the profits and customs, with the exchange of gold and silver, that was there made by all the merchants in Christindome (esteemed to amount to eight thousand pounds by year), the exchange only; and the citizens and merchants so ordered the matter, that the king spent nothing upon soldiers, neither upon defence of the town against the enemies; whereas now he spent eight thousand pounds by year.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

If you abandon me—I should not have courage even to attempt to extricate myself from this maze of embarrassments in which I am so cruelly involved: I should resign myself to my fate—I should sink into despair!”
— from The Mysteries of London, v. 4/4 by George W. M. (George William MacArthur) Reynolds

—In gout such is not the case, the body loses to a certain extent the ability to eliminate [ Pg 418] the uric acid, hence it is retained within the body, causing an excess in the blood stream, and it is this excess uric acid in the blood which causes the acute attacks and general pain and discomfort which inevitably occur in chronic gout.
— from Dietetics for Nurses by Fairfax T. (Fairfax Throckmorton) Proudfit

We have noted in this history how the Sumerians were swamped and overcome by such Semitic waves, how the Semitic Phœnicians and Canaanites established themselves along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, how the Babylonians and Assyrians were settled Semitic peoples, how the Hyksos conquered Egypt, how the Arameans established themselves in Syria with Damascus as their capital, and how the Hebrews partially conquered their “Promised Land.”
— from The Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

His views, certainly, so far as I can estimate them, are trite enough.
— from William Hickling Prescott by Harry Thurston Peck

Having lived all their lives in a temperate climate, the tropical beauty of the Florida country entranced them and they exclaimed again and again as beautiful new panoramas opened before them.
— from Nan Sherwood at Palm Beach; Or, Strange Adventures Among The Orange Groves by Annie Roe Carr

Nor were the conquerors even then allowed to enjoy their prize in peace.
— from The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races With Particular Reference to Their Respective Influence in the Civil and Political History of Mankind by Gobineau, Arthur, comte de

I was playing chess as he said this, and, turning my head quietly around, I said, “The secret is not worth half the money, sir; and if it really interests you, you shall have it for the asking.” He muttered out a mass of apologies and confused excuses, to all the embarrassment of which I left him most pitilessly, and the incident ended.
— from That Boy Of Norcott's by Charles James Lever