It has a dingy cover."
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

[The Magic Skin.] BROCHON, a half-pay soldier who, in 1822, tended the horses and did chores for Moreau, manager of Presles, the estate of the Comte de Serizy.
— from Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z by Anatole Cerfberr

All this was gall and wormwood to the heart of Gabriel Grub; and when groups of children bounded out of the houses, tripped across the road, and were met, before they could knock at the opposite door, by half a dozen curly-headed little rascals who crowded round them as they flocked upstairs to spend the evening in their Christmas games, Gabriel smiled grimly, and clutched the handle of his spade with a firmer grasp, as he thought of measles, scarlet fever, thrush, whooping-cough, and a good many other sources of consolation besides.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

And note that this is most filthy and deadening and brutalizing work; that it is a cause of anemia, nervousness, ugliness, and ill-temper; of prostitution, suicide, and insanity; of drunken husbands and degenerate children—for all of which things the community has naturally to pay.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

‘I knew Mrs. Linton’s nature to be headstrong and domineering,’ cried I: ‘but I didn’t know that you wished to foster her fierce temper!
— from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Up and to the office, where sat long, and at noon to dinner at home; after dinner comes Mr. Pen to visit me, and staid an houre talking with me.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Be not distressed, my friend, but contrive to be present at this sacrifice, and if that cannot be prevented by my words, I have a dagger concealed which will prevent more deliberate violence, putting an end to my life and giving thee a first proof of the love I have borne and bear thee.'
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Liquorice boiled in fair water, with some Maiden-hair and figs, makes a good drink for those that have a dry cough or hoarseness, wheezing or shortness of breath, and for all the griefs of the breast and lungs, phthisic or consumptions caused by the distillation of salt humours on them.
— from The Complete Herbal To which is now added, upwards of one hundred additional herbs, with a display of their medicinal and occult qualities physically applied to the cure of all disorders incident to mankind: to which are now first annexed, the English physician enlarged, and key to Physic. by Nicholas Culpeper

[ The difference between the low situation and moist air of Batavia, and the high and dry country of the Mattiaci, will sufficiently justify this remark, in the opinion of those who allow anything to the influence of climate.
— from The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus by Cornelius Tacitus

To escape from the moral and intellectual imperfections of his nature, there is but one way; the creature must humbly and devoutly cast himself into the ever-open arms of the Creator and seek for knowledge where none knocketh in vain.
— from The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races With Particular Reference to Their Respective Influence in the Civil and Political History of Mankind by Gobineau, Arthur, comte de

But if the first appearance of the Gipsies in Europe had a different complexion from what I have conjectured, there are other causes to which may be attributed the fact of its not being known.
— from A History of the Gipsies: with Specimens of the Gipsy Language by Walter Simson

Harry and Dalton could make nothing of it.
— from The Star of Gettysburg: A Story of Southern High Tide by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

They heard a drunken cough, and a tall, black-bearded peasant wearing a winter cap came into the hut, and was the more terrible because his face could not be seen in the dim light of the little lamp.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Had he been the commonplace spendthrift, one knows pretty well on what lines his subsequent life would have run; but poor Mr. Musselwhite was at heart a domestic creature.
— from The Emancipated by George Gissing

F. Müller, to whom Chopin dedicated his Allegro de Concert op.
— from Frederic Chopin: His Life, Letters, and Works, v. 2 (of 2) by Maurycy Karasowski

With many interesting hints and directions concerning breakfast breads, fruits, beverages, and dainty dishes.
— from Fifty Soups by Thomas J. (Thomas Jefferson) Murrey

The Venetian is indeed the most splendid of the schools of elegance; and it is not without reason, that the best performances in this lower school are valued higher than the second-rate performances of those above them: for every picture has value when it has a decided character, and is excellent in its kind.
— from Fifteen Discourses by Reynolds, Joshua, Sir

In a moment he was on the ground beside her, and Dora Conboy was handing him his own rifle, pride and relief in her blue eyes.
— from Trail's End by George W. (George Washington) Ogden

THE WAY OF HOLINESS: a Devotional Commentary on the 119th Psalm.
— from Hurrell Froude: Memoranda and Comments by Louise Imogen Guiney