Alone in his usual room, lighted by two candles, the condemned monarch gazed sadly on the luxury of his past greatness, just as at the last hour one sees the images of life more mildly brilliant than of yore.
— from Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas

I conceived, however, that I held the distinguished situation I had obtained, however unworthily, rather like the champion of pugilism, 3 on the condition of being always ready to show proofs of my skill, than in the manner of the champion of chivalry, who performs his duties only on rare and solemn occasions.
— from The Lady of the Lake by Walter Scott

It is remarkable, that in this biographical disquisition there appears a very strong symptom of Johnson's prejudice against players; a prejudice which may be attributed to the following causes: first, the imperfection of his organs, which were so defective that he was not susceptible of the fine impressions which theatrical excellence produces upon the generality of mankind; secondly, the cold rejection of his tragedy; and, lastly, the brilliant success of Garrick, who had been his pupil, who had come to London at the same time with him, not in a much more prosperous state than himself, and whose talents he undoubtedly rated low, compared with his own.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by James Boswell

For she will certainly bring about his utter ruin likewise."
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 (of 6) An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek during the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English Form by Cassius Dio Cocceianus

For that reason we find in many cases the arms of the wife borne in preference to the paternal arms of descent, or meet with them quartered with the arms of the husband, and frequently being given precedence over his own; and on the analogy of the coats of arms of wives at present borne with the wife's surname by the husband under Royal Licence, there can be little doubt that at a period when Royal Licences had not come into regular vogue the same idea was dominant, and the appearance of a wife's coat of arms meant the assumption of those arms by the husband as his own, with or without the surname of the wife.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

A las diez; At ten, y en esa calleja estrecha and in that narrow alley hay una reja; llamad there’s a grilled window, call a las diez, y descuidad at ten, and, in the meantime, mientras en mí. rely on me.
— from Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla

Then is the parish church of St. Margaret on Fish street hill, a proper church, but monuments it hath none: a footway passeth by the south side of this church from Fish street hill unto Rother lane.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

Battered, her upperworks riddled like sieves, her decks resembling shambles with their load of dead and wounded, the Vindictive , with her White Ensign streaming proudly in the breeze, returned to Dover.
— from The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge, April 1918 by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

It may begin with a monosyllable, and be followed by an Alexandrine; then come a stuttering halfdozen unequal ribbon lengths, rather shop-soiled, and none of them riming; but suddenly we find the tenth line in rime with the initial monosyllable which you have forgotten.
— from A Garden of Peace: A Medley in Quietude by Frank Frankfort Moore

He would not be condemned to this continual warfare—to this hollow, unsatisfying, restless life.
— from The Honor of the Name by Emile Gaboriau

“He usually reads like that,” the Professor remarked, “when the book’s very interesting: and then sometimes it’s very difficult to get him to attend!”
— from Sylvie and Bruno (Illustrated) by Lewis Carroll

And he would not be condemned to this continual warfare—to this hollow, unsatisfying restless life.
— from Monsieur Lecoq, v. 2 by Emile Gaboriau

How much more dignified leisure hath a mussel glued to his unpassable rocky limit, two inch square!
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 The Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb, 1796-1820 by Charles Lamb

Towards the end of the century, however, under Roman leadership the Latins resumed their expansion at the expense of both these peoples. Veii.
— from A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Arthur E. R. (Arthur Edward Romilly) Boak

These West Saxons have shown themselves worthy foemen, and handled us roughly last year, as this will testify," and he pointed to the scar of a sword-cut across his face.
— from The Dragon and the Raven; Or, The Days of King Alfred by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty