" Thus did he lament and bemoan himself, with tears in his eyes; whereupon God heard his prayer.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

And in reply to some faint objections of Mrs. Amelia's (taken from certain theological works like the Washerwoman of Finchley Common and others of that school, with which Mrs. Osborne had been furnished during her life at Brompton) he told her an Eastern fable of the Owl who thought that the sunshine was unbearable for the eyes and that the Nightingale was a most overrated bird.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

When Philip declared his love and blamed himself for having formed so strong an attachment before he had become financially able to support a wife in the style to which his sweetheart's refinement and cleverness entitled her, the young woman, who was quite as deep in love as he, replied that in so [13] large a city no one knew the affairs of inconspicuous people, so there was no reason why they should not marry, and she retain her business position and salary under the only name by which her employers and business associates would know her, and together they would earn a modest competence against the glorious by and by.
— from Caleb Wright: A Story of the West by John Habberton

Doubling himself like a ball, he rolled several feet over the smooth ice.
— from The Camp in the Snow; Or, Besieged by Danger by William Murray Graydon

This he hummed to the avocat in a tone all silver, for he had that one gift of Heaven as recompense for his deformity, his long arms, big head, and short stature, a voice which gave you a shiver of delight and pain all at once.
— from When Valmond Came to Pontiac: The Story of a Lost Napoleon. Volume 1. by Gilbert Parker

The doctor had larger and bigger hopes, though his philosophy of life was not much different from that of Brand’s.
— from Back to Life by Philip Gibbs

"And the young man you speak of," Mary asked, "does he live all by himself—out on that island?"
— from Donald Ross of Heimra (Volume 1 of 3) by William Black

Dan Heeley was diverted, he laughed aloud, but he had a cautious eye on his victims the while, for all he held them cheaply.
— from The Missing Link by Edward Dyson

Major Long says, “if the deceased has left a brother, he takes the widow to his lodge after a proper interval and considers her as his wife.”
— from Diary in America, Series Two by Frederick Marryat

He seemed terribly in earnest, however, as he stood up again and declared his love, and beat his breast and pretended to tear at his hair: "'Ef you-all refuse me
— from Polly and Eleanor by Lillian Elizabeth Roy

There, in the dark, he lay a bitter hour Gnawing his nails, and then arose unseen And crept away with murder in his soul.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 88, February, 1865 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various