He was the bane of my life, the curse laid upon me by Providence.
— from Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

This command, laid upon me by the only woman who had complete authority over me, and whose orders I was accustomed to obey blindly, caused me to remember the vision, and to store it, with the seal of secrecy, in the inmost corner of my dawning memory.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

Two days after the sort of command laid upon me by the marchioness, I presented myself at her reception.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

I cannot look upon my book, for I must look upon Miss Shepherd.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Another, apparently an influential layman, about half a century later urges Melito bishop of Sardis to compile a volume of extracts from the scriptures; and to him this father dedicates the work when completed [710] .
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon A revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations by J. B. (Joseph Barber) Lightfoot

“I must acquaint you, though it pains me deeply to do so, that lately you have not treated me with 36 such respect or attention as you certainly lavished upon me before the announcement of our engagement, and for what reason or reasons I now wish to be apprised.
— from Irene Iddesleigh by Amanda McKittrick Ros

I have all that wealth can buy and love can lavish upon me, but, God help me!
— from Pretty Madcap Dorothy; Or, How She Won a Lover by Laura Jean Libbey

"Forrest, learning of the command laid upon me by King Richard foully to murder both his nephews whilst they did sleep, procured quittance of the keys from Brakenbury and smothered the younger prince before I rushed, with Dighton, my groom, into the Tower room.
— from The Red Tavern by C. R. (Charles Raymond) Macauley

It was needed that this silence, this evil spell, should for once be broken, and the daylight let in, that the dark cloud lying under might be scattered to the winds.
— from The Letters of Anne Gilchrist and Walt Whitman by Walt Whitman

The appearance of the apparatus required for composting, and the compost laid up, may be better shown by the following figure.
— from The Elements of Agriculture A Book for Young Farmers, with Questions Prepared for the Use of Schools by George E. (George Edwin) Waring

I have been used from a child to carry loads upon my back along ledges and places where an Englishman would shrink from going.
— from The Crystal Hunters: A Boy's Adventures in the Higher Alps by George Manville Fenn

That Declaration smote my heart, as particularly addressed to me; and I took it as a command laid upon me by God himself.
— from The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660 Narrated in Connexion with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of His Time by David Masson

“This accident was extremely lucky, as it gave my quarrel with the king a popular color, and so ingratiated me with the people, that when I set up my standard, which I soon after did, they readily and cheerfully listed under my banners and embraced my cause, which I persuaded them was their own; for that it was to protect them against foreigners that I had drawn my sword.
— from A Journey from This World to the Next by Henry Fielding

In this confusion let us, my brethren, look to ourselves, each to himself.
— from Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII (of 8) by John Henry Newman