Pray, dearest madam, lay aside your fears, and wait a few days for the issue of Mrs. Jewkes's letter, and mine of thanks to Mr. B——. Things, I hope, must be better than you expect.
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

Well , Cymbeline , and others, depend for their illusion on the character of the various dresses worn by the hero or the heroine; the delightful scene in Henry the Sixth , on the modern miracles of healing by faith, loses all its point unless Gloster is in black and scarlet; and the dénoûment of the Merry Wives of Windsor hinges on the colour of Anne Page’s gown.
— from Intentions by Oscar Wilde

I did this night promise to my wife never to go to bed without calling upon God upon my knees by prayer, and I begun this night, and hope I shall never forget to do the like all my life; for I do find that it is much the best for my soul and body to live pleasing to God and my poor wife, and will ease me of much care as well as much expense.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

The wealth of that prelate was a sufficient evidence of his guilt, since it was neither derived from the inheritance of his fathers, nor acquired by the arts of honest industry.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

Quite different from this is quantitative perfection, the completeness of a thing after its kind, which is a mere concept of magnitude (of totality).
— from Kant's Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant

The honorable merchant of Alexandria, who imported the gems and spices of India for the use of the western world; the usurer, who derived from the interest of money a silent and ignominious profit; the ingenious manufacturer, the diligent mechanic, and even the most obscure retailer of a sequestered village, were obliged to admit the officers of the revenue into the partnership of their gain; and the sovereign of the Roman empire, who tolerated the profession, consented to share the infamous salary, of public prostitutes.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

A minister of state will sometimes keep himself totally estranged from all his colleagues; will differ from them in their councils, will privately traverse, and publicly oppose, their measures.
— from The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 01 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

The Turks were driven from the Isles of Rhodes and Chios: the cities of Ephesus and Smyrna, of Sardes, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, were restored to the empire, which Alexius enlarged from the Hellespont to the banks of the Mæander, and the rocky shores of Pamphylia.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

From the ‘Change I brought him home and dined with us, and after dinner I took my wife out, for I do find that I am not able to conquer myself as to going to plays till I come to some new vowe concerning it, and that I am now come, that is to say, that I will not see above one in a month at any of the publique theatres till the sum of 50s.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

He produced a ‘History of Plants’ in which Botany is treated in a somewhat more concrete and definite fashion than is the case in Aristotle’s writings.
— from Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution: A Chapter in the History of Botany 1470-1670 by Agnes Robertson Arber

“No, no, I shall not go down for this is Katrine’s affair, as I will explain to you.”
— from Tales and Novels — Volume 10 Helen by Maria Edgeworth

Strangers also, who came from other countries, and were not subject to the Jewish laws, might 27 worship God in the temple of Jerusalem, but standing in a place separate and distinct from the Israelites.
— from The Rights of War and Peace by Hugo Grotius

“It was by reason that God the Father loved thee, that He gave Christ to die for thee; it was by reason that Christ loved thee, that He bare for thee the pain and shame of the bitter cross.
— from For the Master's Sake: A Story of the Days of Queen Mary by Emily Sarah Holt

A particle of the treasures of his nephew was sometimes diverted from the indulgence of vice and folly; a school was opened in the palace of Magnaura; and the presence of Bardas excited the emulation of the masters and students.
— from History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5 by Edward Gibbon

The consequences of this form of consideration will not be different from the instinctive action of the most elementary of animals—the wise man and the animal drink.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

The gross negligence of the publishers, or their editor, in this respect materially detracts from the interest of the work.
— from A Treatise on Wood Engraving, Historical and Practical by Henry G. (Henry George) Bohn

"An especially glorious day for the Invincibles," said Colonel Talbot.
— from The Shades of the Wilderness: A Story of Lee's Great Stand by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

It is particularly striking to find in Brugsch's work, that the determinative for time is actually represented, in numerous cases, as close to the single hanging star (fig. 62 , 9).
— from The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilizations A Comparative Research Based on a Study of the Ancient Mexican Religious, Sociological, and Calendrical Systems by Zelia Nuttall