" "But what if the handwriting is a very uncommon one, presenting marked peculiarities by which it may be recognized among a hundred?" "Why, in that case the coincidence is rather curious," answered my lady; "but it is nothing more than a coincidence.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

Afterwards, though the boat continued to be profitably employed, somehow or other all her earnings were consumed in repairs, &c., and for several years I never received a penny for my shares.
— from Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie

Success in war, like charity in religion, covers a multitude of sins.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

Seen now, in broad daylight, she looked tall, fair, and shapely; brown eyes with a benignant light in their irids, and a fine pencilling of long lashes round, relieved the whiteness of her large front; on each of her temples her hair, of a very dark brown, was clustered in round curls, according to the fashion of those times, when neither smooth bands nor long ringlets were in vogue; her dress, also in the mode of the day, was of purple cloth, relieved by a sort of Spanish trimming of black velvet; a gold watch (watches were not so common then as now) shone at her girdle.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë

She was the daughter of a clergyman in reduced circumstances, and at his death, which had occurred several years before this date, she boldly avoided penury by taking over a little shop of church requisites and developing it to its present creditable proportions.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

The Secretary of War could issue rations, clothing, and fuel to the destitute, and all abandoned property was placed in the hands of the Bureau for eventual lease and sale to ex-slaves in forty-acre parcels.
— from The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois

The Rural Beaus are not yet got out of the Fashion that took place at the time of the Revolution, but ride about the Country in red Coats and laced Hats, while the Women in many Parts are still trying to outvie one another in the Height of their Head-dresses.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

A Cornish Historian’s Testimony I was privileged to make my first call in rural Cornwall at the pretty country home of Miss Susan E. Gay, of Crill, about three miles from Falmouth; and Miss Gay, who has written a well-known history of Falmouth ( Old Falmouth , London, 1903), very willingly accorded me an interview on the subject of my inquiry, and finally dictated for my use the following matter:
— from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. (Walter Yeeling) Evans-Wentz

In a discourse which he once delivered at the conventicle in Russel Court, against drunkenness, some of his hearers began to yawn at the end of the second glass.
— from Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 1 (of 3) by John Ireland

I being thus well started, there comes to me the before-mentioned colonel in Russian clothes and nobly escorted by many servants; without doubt by such a show of glory to persuade me to go over to that religion.
— from The Adventurous Simplicissimus being the description of the Life of a Strange vagabond named Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim by Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen

If the damper is kept open, coal is rapidly consumed, and the additional heat passes out through the chimney, and is lost to use.
— from General Science by Bertha May Clark

Principal, and compound interest rigorously computed; and the interest is at a terrible rate per cent in these cases!
— from Latter-Day Pamphlets by Thomas Carlyle

Every man wore the sign of the Cross upon his shoulder, cut in red cloth, and many adventurers assumed that sacred emblem in the belief that it would afford a perpetual absolution for any crime they might commit.
— from Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8) From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses by Anonymous

In this case the grantor retains only in name the property of the territory, the transfer of the land concerned is really cession all but in name, and it is certain that only the grantee exercises sovereignty there.
— from International Law. A Treatise. Volume 1 (of 2) Peace. Second Edition by L. (Lassa) Oppenheim

A junk-shop, I'd call it," Rod chuckled, as he settled her into the big red-cushioned rocker, before the roaring cannon stove.
— from The Hallowell Partnership by Katharine Holland Brown

—This furnace consists of a cast iron revolving cylinder, averaging 25 feet in length and 4 ft. 4 in.
— from Getting Gold: A Practical Treatise for Prospectors, Miners and Students by J. C. F. (Joseph Colin Francis) Johnson

Mhtoon Pah, wealthy and respected; Mhtoon Pah, the builder of shrines; Mhtoon Pah, who spoke with high Sahibs and had the ear of the Head of the Police himself, and Leh Shin clad in ragged clothes, and only able to keep his hungry soul in his body by means of his opium traffic, how could he strike at his foe's prosperity?
— from The Pointing Man A Burmese Mystery by Marjorie Douie

It is lacking in districts where the colonization is recent (Chubut and Santa Cruz), where the sheep-breeders have had a free run as far as the Andes.
— from The Argentine Republic: Its Development and Progress by Pierre Denis