In these dialogues, my sister spoke to me as if she were morally wrenching one of my teeth out at every reference; while Pumblechook himself, self-constituted my patron, would sit supervising me with a depreciatory eye, like the architect of my fortunes who thought himself engaged on a very unremunerative job.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Already excited by the wonderful stories related of the count by de Morcerf, it is no wonder that Madame Danglars eagerly listened to, and fully credited, all the additional circumstances detailed by Debray.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated by Alexandre Dumas

At this time the two sons of Ancus, though they had before that always considered it the highest indignity that they had been deprived of their father's crown by the treachery of their guardian, that a [Pg 54] stranger should be king of Rome, who was not only not of a civic, but not even of an Italian family, yet now felt their indignation rise to a still higher pitch at the notion that the crown would not only not revert to them after Tarquin, but would descend even lower to a slave, so that in the same state about the hundredth year [50] after Romulus, descended from a deity, and a deity himself, occupied the throne as long as he lived, a slave, and one born of a slave, should now possess it.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy

The principal articles we could get from our neighbouring Indians, were turtle oil, and shells, little silk grass, and some provisions; but they would not work at any thing for us, except fishing; and a few times they assisted to cut some trees down, in order to build us houses; which they did exactly like the Africans, by the joint labour of men, women, and children.
— from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written By Himself by Olaudah Equiano

These wretches do frequently degenerate from men, and of sociable creatures become beasts, monsters, inhumane, ugly to behold, Misanthropi ; they do even loathe themselves, and hate the company of men, as so many Timons, Nebuchadnezzars, by too much indulging to these pleasing humours, and through their own default.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

La Bruyère determined to be less exacting and yet more exact; he would sink to describing emotions less tremendous and to designing figures of more trifling value, but he would paint them with a vivid detail hitherto unsolicited.
— from Three French Moralists and The Gallantry of France by Edmund Gosse

During early life they ate all kinds of meat, but as they approached the age of maturity, they began to display much of their natural disposition.
— from Nests and Eggs of Birds of the United States Illustrated by Thomas G. (Thomas George) Gentry

Think you his High and Mightiness in those far-off days ever looked twice at a village lad so that he would know him again four years later?
— from Lord Tony's Wife: An Adventure of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

The [Pg 134] latter, after due examination, laid the affair before the king.
— from Vikram and the Vampire; or, Tales of Hindu Devilry by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

These examinations confer upon successful candidates one of four literary degrees, commencing with a district examination, leading to a departmental one, to a provincial one, and finally to a Pekin examination, from which members of the Han-lin college are selected.
— from Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh: The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (Volume I) by Augustus F. Lindley

No place was allowed for charts and plans: valuable original surveys, of which no duplicates existed, lay tossed amongst the brick and mortar with which the Marine Office was being rebuilt.
— from First Footsteps in East Africa by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

Just in time, too, for another step would have taken him straight on to the Deadly Desert, which destroys every living thing and keeps all intruders away from Oz.
— from The Royal Book of Oz In which the Scarecrow goes to search for his family tree and discovers that he is the Long Lost Emperor of the Silver Island by Ruth Plumly Thompson