Marianne was to have the best place by the fire, was to be tempted to eat by every delicacy in the house, and to be amused by the relation of all the news of the day.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Thus relieved of a grievous load, I from that hour set to work afresh, resolved to pioneer my way through every difficulty: I toiled hard, and my success was proportionate to my efforts; my memory, not naturally tenacious, improved with practice; exercise sharpened my wits; in a few weeks I was promoted to a higher class; in less than two months I was allowed to commence French and drawing.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë

Contrary to their usual custom, the Chinese did not think it necessary to hang up any elaborate decorations in the hall, and the attention of the spectators was concentrated on the dignitaries who managed the affair.
— from Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and China by Thomas Wallace Knox

Supposing, as we must, that the primitive sense of the Iliad-myth had as entirely disappeared in the Homeric age, as the primitive sense of the Hamlet-myth had disappeared in the times of Elizabeth, the fit ground for wonder is that such inconsistencies are not more numerous.]
— from Myths and Myth-Makers Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology by John Fiske

The sufferings of poverty are not confined to those of the common, squalid, every day inured to hardships, and ready, with open hand, to receive charity, let it come to them as it will.
— from The May Flower, and Miscellaneous Writings by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Instead of a shuttle the yarn is wound round a slender stick, of the necessary length, and passed through the opening formed by the rising of one of the sleys and the falling of the other; the contrary treadle is then pressed down, and a slender piece of hard heavy wood, longer than the breadth of the cloth, is passed across, and the weaver taking hold of both ends drags it towards her and compresses the thread.
— from Historical and Descriptive Narrative of Twenty Years' Residence in South America (Vol 1 of 3) Containing travels in Arauco, Chile, Peru, and Colombia; with an account of the revolution, its rise, progress, and results by Stevenson, William Bennet, active 1803-1825

Owen looked at Béclère again, thinking that he liked the broad, flat strip of forehead between the dark eyebrows, and the dark hair, streaked with grey, the eyes deep in the head, and of an acrid blackness like an Arab's; the long, thin nose like an Arab's—a face which could have had little difficulty in acquiring the Arab cast of feature; and there had been time enough to acquire it, though Béclère was not more than forty-five.
— from Sister Teresa by George Moore

Lady Emily delighted in tormenting her aunt and cousin, and she saw that she had completely succeeded.
— from Marriage by Susan Ferrier