Mrs. Merridew made no difficulty about receiving me at once.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

It may seem strange to some man, that has not well weighed these things; that Nature should thus dissociate, and render men apt to invade, and destroy one another: and he may therefore, not trusting to this Inference, made from the Passions, desire perhaps to have the same confirmed by Experience.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

and then his sitting up two Saturday nights one after another when all were abed doing something to himself, which she now suspects what it was, but did not before, but tells me that he hath been a very bad husband as to spending his time, and hath often told him of it, so that upon the whole I do find he is, whether he lives or dies, a ruined man, and what trouble will befall me by it
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

We agreed that we ought to be unusually cautious and prepared at all times for sallies and for hard fighting, because Hood, though not deemed much of a scholar, or of great mental capacity, was undoubtedly a brave, determined, and rash man; and the change of commanders at that particular crisis argued the displeasure of the Confederate Government with the cautious but prudent conduct of General Jos. Johnston.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. (William Tecumseh) Sherman

Why not lie down and rest myself, and try to quench the fever that consumes me, in sleep?
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

“My late lord the Pantler, the first gentleman of the [pg 43] district, a rich man and of noted family, had but one child, a daughter beautiful as an angel; so not a few of the gentry and the young notables paid their court to the Pantler's daughter.
— from Pan Tadeusz Or, the Last Foray in Lithuania; a Story of Life Among Polish Gentlefolk in the Years 1811 and 1812 by Adam Mickiewicz

Whether Semyon Ivanovitch had been frightened by something, whether he had had a dream, as Remnev maintained afterwards, or there had been some other mischief—nobody knew; all that can be said is, that if the head clerk had made his appearance at that moment in the flat and had announced that Semyon Ivanovitch was dismissed for sedition, insubordination, and drunkenness; if some old draggle-tailed beggar woman had come in at the door, calling herself Semyon Ivanovitch's sister-in-law; or if Semyon Ivanovitch had just received two hundred roubles as a reward; or if the house had caught fire and Semyon Ivanovitch's head had been really burning—he would in all probability not have deigned to stir a finger in any of these eventualities.
— from White Nights and Other Stories The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Volume X by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Support me, by thy Holy Spirit, in the days of weakness, and at the hour of death; and receive me, at my death, to everlasting happiness, for the sake of JESUS CHRIST.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by James Boswell

Wiltshire consists of beautiful and extensive downs, and rich meadow and pasture lands, which support some of the finest dairies and farms that can be met with in the kingdom.
— from The Every-day Book and Table Book. v. 2 (of 3) or Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastimes, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs and Events, Incident to Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-five Days, in past and Present Times; Forming a Complete History of the Year, Month, and Seasons, and a Perpetual Key to the Almanac by William Hone

Oke was with every one a diffident and reserved man, and most of all so with his wife; besides, I can fancy that he would experience a positive impossibility of putting into words any strong feeling of disapprobation towards her, that his disgust would necessarily be silent.
— from A Phantom Lover by Vernon Lee

Women of languid disposition and relaxed muscles are frequently urged to 'take exercise,' and to 'go to work.'
— from The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother by George H. (George Henry) Napheys

“'Won back his watch, won back his money, and went out of the door a rich man,'” added Venn sentence by sentence, as stake after stake passed over to him.
— from The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

A fortuitous event has once more thrown back Europe into its old corners: but we still revolve in a circle, and what is now dark and remote may again come round, when time has performed its great cycle.
— from Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Isaac Disraeli

Having finished my examination, I went on deck, and relieved Marian at the helm, though she declared that she was not tired.
— from Desk and Debit; or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk by Oliver Optic

He ducked as Ralph made a playful pass at him.
— from Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator by J. W. Duffield