For, though I looked upon myself as perfectly secure of a good reception, imagining that a patentee would be as eager to receive as I to present my production, I did not know whether or not he might be pre-engaged in favour of another author, a circumstance that would certainly retard my success.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

Thus not the tenderness of friendship, nor the beauty of earth, nor of heaven, could redeem my soul from woe: the very accents of love were ineffectual.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

‘You can,’ replied Mr. Snodgrass.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

But if any came near I would call, and shriek, And adown the steep like a wave I would leap From the diamond-ledges that jut from the dells; For I would not be kiss'd 4 by all who would list, Of the bold merry mermen under the sea; They would sue me, and woo me, and flatter me, In the purple twilights under the sea; But the king of them all would carry me, Woo me, and win me, and marry me, In the branching jaspers under the sea; Then all the dry pied things that be In the hueless mosses under the sea Would curl round my silver feet silently, All looking up for the love of me.
— from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson by Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron

Now at last, I had Poirot to myself, and could relieve my still burning curiosity.
— from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Circa ripam Tiberis, quo armis abiectis totum sinistrum cornu refugit, magna strages facta est, multosque imperitos nandi aut invalidos, 10 graves loricis aliisque tegminibus, hausere gurgites .
— from Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Edmund Luce

To those who have looked at Rome with the quickening power of a knowledge which breathes a growing soul into all historic shapes, and traces out the suppressed transitions which unite all contrasts, Rome may still be the spiritual centre and interpreter of the world.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot

But I fear my advice had little effect upon the unfortunate young lady; and, finding I could render myself so little serviceable, my residence at Ashby Park became doubly painful.
— from Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

It was not till the evening, twenty-four hours after the duel, that I could completely recall my senses; then I did, and motioned to Cross that I wanted drink.
— from Percival Keene by Frederick Marryat

While John, the baby last but one, Clings round my skirts till day is done; When fat, good-tempered Jane is glum, And butcher's man forgets to come.
— from The Verse-Book of a Homely Woman by Fay Inchfawn

It represents a tribute to the Christian religion more sensational than the breaking of seals or the falling of stars.
— from Varied Types by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

Chamberlain, Rev. Mr., Salt Lake City, Utah.
— from Crimes of Preachers in the United States and Canada by M. E. Billings

"Certainly, certainly," responded Master Skyffington, somewhat embarrassed, "my dear young lady . . .
— from The Nest of the Sparrowhawk: A Romance of the XVIIth Century by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

Upon requisition of the Postmaster-General the Commission shall certify for reinstatement in a grade or class no higher than that in which he was formerly employed any person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has, through no delinquency or misconduct, been separated from the classified railway mail service.
— from A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Volume 8, part 3: Grover Cleveland, First Term by Grover Cleveland