The former, Sir John Smythe, found in the public papers a place for his productions, which by their syntactical irregularities and freedom from marks of punctuation, proved their author (as a reviewer of the day once observed) to be a man supra grammaticam , and one possessed of a genius above commas.
— from Toronto of Old Collections and recollections illustrative of the early settlement and social life of the capital of Ontario by Henry Scadding

To talk would be only to irritate.—She wrote to her, therefore, kindly, but decisively, to beg that she would not, at present, come to Hartfield; acknowledging it to be her conviction, that all farther confidential discussion of one topic had better be avoided; and hoping, that if a few days were allowed to pass before they met again, except in the company of others—she objected only to a tete-a-tete—they might be able to act as if they had forgotten the conversation of yesterday.—Harriet submitted, and approved, and was grateful.
— from Emma by Jane Austen

The Protocols claim that the Gentiles are not thinkers, that attractive ideas have been thrown at them so strategically and persistently that the power of thought is almost destroyed out of them.
— from The International Jew : The World's Foremost Problem by Anonymous

The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible The four travelers walked up to the great gate of Emerald City and rang the bell.
— from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

In the beginning of the sixth century, their influence was restored by the introduction of Christianity, which the Mingrelians still profess with becoming zeal, without understanding the doctrines, or observing the precepts, of their religion.
— 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

He had begun an investigation, as he imagined, with the severe and equal integrity of a judge, desirous only of truth, even as if the question involved no more than the air-drawn lines and figures of a geometrical problem, instead of human passions, and wrongs inflicted on himself.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Presently, themseeming they had far foregone the others, they laid themselves down to rest in a pleasant place, full of grass and flowers and shut in with trees, and there fell to taking amorous delight one of the other.
— from The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Giovanni Boccaccio

It is at least certain, that it had some quality or other which rendered it an anchor against popular fluctuations; and that a smaller council, drawn out of the senate, was appointed not only for life, but filled up vacancies itself.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton

To fear this discovery of our thoughts may perhaps appear too ridiculous a nicety to minds not susceptible of all the tendernesses of this delicate passion.
— from Joseph Andrews, Vol. 1 by Henry Fielding

The magician continued: Came the worm and wept before Shamash, Before Ea came her tears: "What wilt thou give me for my food, What wilt thou give me to devour?" One of the deities answered: "I will give thee dried bones and scented ... wood"; but the hungry worm protested: "Nay, what are these dried bones of thine to me?
— from Myths of Babylonia and Assyria by Donald A. (Donald Alexander) Mackenzie

But the darkness is not so great but that the dim outline of the vast amphitheatre can be seen, and the arrangements of the Austrian Lloyd's steamers allow time enough to go on shore and take in the general effect both of the amphitheatre and the other buildings of Pola.
— from Sketches from the Subject and Neighbour Lands of Venice by Edward A. (Edward Augustus) Freeman

Blushing maidens and their swains dropped out of the throng, and from shady vantage points watched the crowd surge back and forth across the field of action.
— from A Texas Matchmaker by Andy Adams

Meanwhile, the troops stood at a respectful distance, out of the range of Nic’s firing, awaiting developments.
— from The Pomp of the Lavilettes, Complete by Gilbert Parker

The sage who takes his gold essays in vain To purge away the old corrupted strain, His baths of blood, that in the days of old The Romans used when their hot blood grew cold, Will never warm this dead man's bloodless pains, For green Lethean water fills his veins.
— from The Poems and Prose Poems of Charles Baudelaire with an Introductory Preface by James Huneker by Charles Baudelaire

Johnson had been labouring in the employment of the booksellers, and always, unlike some more querulous authors, declares that they were fair and liberal patrons—though it is true that he had to knock down one of them with a folio.
— from English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century by Leslie Stephen

During the negotiations of 1805 with Russia he refused to allow the discussion of our title to Malta; and in the parleys with Prussia a little later he distinctly excepted the Cape from the list of the conquered colonies which Britain might be willing to restore at the general peace.
— from William Pitt and the Great War by J. Holland (John Holland) Rose

In this mountain there dwelt one of the earth-born primeval men of that country, whose name was Evenor, and he had a wife named Leucippe, and they had an only daughter who was called Cleito.
— from Critias by Plato

Thus far, he had not encountered a single person; but on approaching the rear of the City Hall, he observed the figure of a man issue from the dark obscurity of the building, and advance directly toward him.
— from City Crimes; Or, Life in New York and Boston by George Thompson