'What business is it of yours?' 'Why, my dear—' urged Mr. Bumble submissively.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

It was in the Orphan House in Wilson Street, 1846, that first the light of life dawned upon my benighted soul.
— from A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings with George Müller. Part 4 by George Müller

But you're real heavy, baby, I do declare," said Mattie, as she sank exhausted on the first seat with her burden; and although any one else would have considered that, judging from the said baby's appearance, such a statement was decidedly unfounded, Mattie being small for her own not very advanced age, might, for obvious reasons, have been excused for making the rash charge.
— from For John's Sake, and Other Stories. by Annie Frances Perram

[page 106] allowed to germinate in damp air, and now a thin flat disc was developed all round the base of the hypocotyl and grew to an extraordinary breadth, like the frill described under Mimosa, but somewhat broader.
— from The Power of Movement in Plants by Darwin, Francis, Sir

Andre-Louis’ smouldering eyes turned to discharge upon M. Binet such a fulmination of contempt that the old scoundrel shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
— from Scaramouche: A Romance of the French Revolution by Rafael Sabatini

Large as was the establishment, everything looked so costly that I became cautious lest what I sat down upon might become soiled, in which event I might be compelled to pay the shot with a short locker; or, should the case go before Pierce, he might in the profundity of his wisdom exile me to some remote spot on the Mosquito coast.
— from The Adventures of My Cousin Smooth by Timothy Templeton

I had left enough of the rope, between the bit-ring and the girths, to enable me to check and guide the animal—in case the drag upon my body should be too painful.
— from Harper's New Monthly Magazine No. XVI.—September, 1851—Vol. III. by Various