I trust that L60,000 will be deemed a very moderate sum for them: and when the services, time, and men, with the expense of fitting the three ships for a voyage to England, are considered, government will save nearly as much as they are valued at.
— from The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson by Robert Southey

The little man fixed on me his spectacles: A resolute compression of the lips, and gathering of the brow, seemed to say that he meant to see through me, and that a veil would be no veil for him.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

Clark, October 28, 1804] Sunday 28th of October 1804 a windey Day, fair and Clear many of the Grosvantres (or Big Bellies) and Watersons Came to See us and hear the Council the wind being So violently hard from the S. W. provented our going into Councel, (indeed the Chiefs of the Manodans from the lower Village Could not Cross, we made up the presents and entertained Several of the Curious Cheifs whome, wished to See the Boat which was verry Curious to them viewing it as great medison, as they also viewed my black Servent The Black Cat Grand Chief of the Mandans, Capt Lewis & my Self with an Interpeter walked up the river about 11/2 miles our views were to examine the Situation & Timbers for a fort, we found the Situation good but the Timber Scerce, or at least Small timbr Such as would answer us-, we Cunsulted the Grand Chief in respect to the other Chiefs of the Defferent Villages he gave the names of 12—George Drewyer Cought 2 Beaver above our Camp last night, we had Several presents from the Woman of Corn boild homney, Soft Corn &c. &c. I prosent ajar to the Chiefs wife who recved it with much pleasure our men verry Chearfull this evening—we Sent the Cheifs of the Gross Vantres to Smoke a pipe with the Grand Chef of the Mandins in his Village, & told them we would Speek tomorrow.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

And we may also take a view of the whole of their system by the writings which some of them have left behind them.
— from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

[Pg 54] in no case will it be wise to invest either of these counselors with more authority than a voice in consultation.
— from The Art of War by Jomini, Antoine Henri, baron de

In the stall next to mine stood a little fat gray pony, with a thick mane and tail, a very pretty head, and a pert little nose.
— from Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

So away home to dinner, and after dinner to my closett, where I spent the whole afternoon till late at evening of all my accounts publique and private, and to my great satisfaction I do find that I do bring my accounts to a very near balance, notwithstanding all the hurries and troubles I have been put to by the late fire, that I have not been able to even my accounts since July last before; and I bless God I do find that I am worth more than ever I yet was, which is L6,200, for which the Holy Name of God be praised!
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Et similis regum pueris, pappare minutum Poscit, et iratus mammae lallare recusat, eftsoons pleased, and anon displeased, as a man that's bitten with fleas, or that cannot sleep turns to and fro in his bed, their restless minds are tossed and vary, they have no patience to read out a book, to play out a game or two, walk a mile, sit an hour, &c., erected and dejected in an instant; animated to undertake, and upon a word spoken again discouraged.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

The Martian astronomers—for there are astronomers on Mars, although they are very different beings from men—were naturally profoundly interested by these things.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

Her waking fancies were more alluring than any vision of dreamland.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

Very little is known regarding earthquake motions, and there are very few seismic elements which are really calculable in conformity to a mathematical theory of probability.
— from The American Type of Isthmian Canal Speech by Hon. John Fairfield Dryden in the Senate of the United States, June 14, 1906 by John F. (John Fairfield) Dryden

The market-crosses of Salisbury, Malmesbury, and Trowbridge, are very noble: standing on six pillars, and well vaulted over with freestone well carved.
— from The Natural History of Wiltshire by John Aubrey

[Pg 325] “That, in further enforcement of the provision of the Constitution prohibiting Slavery, and in order to remove all relics of this wrong from the States where this constitutional prohibition takes effect, it is hereby declared that all laws or customs in such States, establishing any oligarchical privileges, and any distinction of rights on account of race or color, are hereby annulled, and all persons in such States are recognized as equal before the law ; and the penalties provided in the last section are hereby made applicable to any violation of this provision, which is made in pursuance of the Constitution of the United States.”
— from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 17 (of 20) by Charles Sumner

He was the author of several books of merit; among them, "A Voice to the Young," "Austin on the Attributes," "Golden Steps for the Young," and "A Voice to the Married."
— from Fifty Notable Years Views of the Ministry of Christian Universalism During the Last Half-Century; with Biographical Sketches by John G. (John Greenleaf) Adams

I can recall a long rough ricksha drive in the environs of Kyoto, through somewhat uninteresting country, consisting of endless miles of rice-fields—Hiezan, it is true, forming a beautiful background; but though I was armed with credentials which I was assured would gain me admission to a veritable holy of holies, a garden so old that no one knew its origin, my enthusiasm was beginning to wane when we arrived within some large rambling temple grounds.
— from The flowers and gardens of Japan by Florence Du Cane

Better still, neither had an engagement for that evening, and at half-past six o’clock the four faithful friends were seated at their favorite mission alcove table at Vinton’s, ordering their dinner, while Grace tried earnestly to put away her sorrow and be her usual sunny self.
— from Grace Harlowe's Problem by Josephine Chase

The half-breeds, who are all Catholics, held a short service, as it was Sunday morning and they are very particular in this respect.
— from The Barren Ground of Northern Canada by Warburton Pike

She sat down by her mother’s desk and wrote a long letter to Molly Tristram, in which she told Molly that her mother was about to be married again to a very rich man.
— from The School Queens by L. T. Meade