When that was done, he awoke to a clear perception that Poll Parroting was solely chargeable with what had passed.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

Tool , sb. tool, weapon, C, Prompt.; toles , pl. , PP; tooles , PP.—AS.
— from A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580 by A. L. (Anthony Lawson) Mayhew

We have seen that in order to have rain the Kaitish pour water over the sacred stone; among certain peoples, the priest pours water over the altar, with the same end in view.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim

It was one of Mr. Beebe’s chief pleasures to provide people with happy memories.
— from A Room with a View by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster

Typos fixed: page 072 —spelling normalized: changed 'midday' to 'mid-day' page 132 —inserted a missing closing quote after 'a child of her age' page 137 —spelling normalized: changed 'careworn' to 'care-worn' page 147 —typo fixed: changed 'physican' to 'physician' page 171 —typo fixed: changed 'vocies' to 'voices' page 262 —removed an extra closing quote after 'the scarlet letter too!' page 291 —spelling normalized: changed 'birdlike' to 'bird-like' page 300 —typo fixed: changed 'intruments' to 'instruments' page 306 —spelling normalized: changed 'deathlike' to 'death-like'
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Only active measures, promptly applied, can provide this poor, pusillanimous poop with the proper pep.
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

backcap [obs3][U.S.]; belittle; sneer at &c. (contemn) 930; criticize, pull to pieces, pick a hole in one's coat, asperse, cast aspersions, blow upon, bespatter, blacken, vilify, vilipend[obs3]; avile|; give a dog a bad name, brand, malign; muckrake; backbite, libel, lampoon, traduce, slander, defame, calumniate, bear false witness against; speak ill of behind one's back.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

"It was only by fits and starts," says Brantôme, "that one was well fed during this reign, for very often circumstances prevented the proper preparation of the repasts; a thing much disliked by the courtiers, who prefer open table to be kept at both court and with the army, because it then costs them nothing."
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob

This being the case, it was plain that the Taepings could preserve the public peace better than the Ta-tsings.
— from Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh: The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (Volume II) by Augustus F. Lindley

If the tube were now cut in the middle, the parts flew asunder, as if with an explosion, the whole of the yellow portion disappeared, and there was a powerful atmosphere of chlorine produced; the pale portion, on the contrary, remained, and when examined, proved to be a weak solution of chlorine in water, with a little muriatic acid, probably from the impurity 212 of the hydrate used.
— from The Life of Sir Humphrey Davy, Bart. LL.D., Volume 2 (of 2) by John Ayrton Paris

Those who walk up and down the Fleet market know of the open window in the wall and the grating, behind which stands a man holding a tin box which he rattles to attract attention while he repeats his parrot cry, 'Pity the Poor Prisoners!
— from The Orange Girl by Walter Besant

Because he had hopes, rather wild hopes, but hopes all the same, that some one would arrive at the island who could pilot that powerful plane.
— from The Galloping Ghost A Mystery Story for Boys by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell

In addition to his undoubted right to grant special commercial privileges to particular places, he long claimed a right to grant special commercial privileges to particular societies and to particular individuals; and our ancestors, as usual, did not think it worth their while to dispute this claim, till it produced serious inconvenience.
— from The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 4 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

Not one of the generals, admirals, statesmen, politicians, and important officials who knew me well, were consulted, nor, of course, President Tassard, President Petit, or any of the numberless magistrates with whom, and with whose wives, I was on terms of close friendship.
— from My Memoirs by Marguerite Steinheil

The next day (13th Nov.) was Sunday; nevertheless, the House sat and received a deputation of Londoners, who, "in the name of the Godly and active part of the city," placed their persons, purses and estates at the command of the House to do with them at its pleasure, and declared that they would "man out every man his man and make their own captains and officers, and live and die with the House of Commons, and in defence thereof."
— from London and the Kingdom - Volume 2 A History Derived Mainly from the Archives at Guildhall in the Custody of the Corporation of the City of London. by Reginald R. (Reginald Robinson) Sharpe

J. F. Hogan, `The Irish in Australia,' p. 126: "There is no unmixed good, it is said, on this mundane sphere, and the evil that has accompanied the extensive settlement of Gipps Land during recent years is to be found in the widespread destruction of the forests, resulting in a disturbance of the atmospheric conditions and the banishment of an ever-active agent in the preservation of health, for these eucalypts, or gum-trees, as they are generally called, possess the peculiar property of arresting fever-germs and poisonous exhalations.
— from Austral English A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia by Edward Ellis Morris

In Holland its principle and practice are freely taught by physicians and nurses to the mothers of the people, with the result that there is in Holland no longer any necessity for unwanted babies, and this small country possesses the proud privilege of the lowest death-rate in Europe.
— from Essays in War-Time: Further Studies in the Task of Social Hygiene by Havelock Ellis