Whether derived historically from the guild or the monastic corporation of the Middle Ages is a question merely of academic importance, for the business corporation rapidly became a very different thing from either; and, indeed, its most important characteristic, that of relieving the members of responsibility for the debts of the corporation, is an invention of very modern times indeed, the first statute of that sort having been invented in the State of Connecticut, enacted in May, 1818.
— from Popular Law-making A study of the origin, history, and present tendencies of law-making by statute by Frederic Jesup Stimson

His ravings made it clear that, on returning to the old haunts after years of absence, he had missed the trail he used to know, and wandered wearily in the dense woods about the foot of Katahdin before he escaped from the prison of trees, and climbed to the hut he sought.
— from Camp and Trail: A Story of the Maine Woods by Isabel Hornibrook

In matters of city government Sancho wisely followed the example of the Mohammedans in continuing the old Roman system of municipal administration, which left all matters of internal government entirely in the hands of the citizens, and when he granted the lordship of a city to a bishop, baron, or military order, he carefully regulated their functions, and allowed them only to take a fixed share of the municipal revenue for fulfilling {66} certain fixed duties, such as leading the contingent of the city in war, or holding courts of justice.
— from The Story of the Nations: Portugal by H. Morse (Henry Morse) Stephens

And when she heard me, and I said I must go to him, she sat down as if in despair; but a moment after looked almost cheerful as she said: "You must start to-night, my dear, and I must get all the little medicines I can think of ready for you to take, and as soon as he is able he must come home.
— from The Harvest of Years by Martha Lewis Beckwith Ewell

But the extent of municipal immunities conceded to, or rather assumed by, the Italian cities at this early period, is very equivocal; for their indefatigable antiquarian confesses that all, or nearly all their archives, previous to the time of Frederick I., (the latter part of the twelfth century,) had perished amid their frequent civil convulsions.
— from The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 1 by William Hickling Prescott

The kindness from men, I can, therefore, only return on their fellow men, and I can only show my gratitude for those mercies from God, by a readiness to help his other children, and my brethren.
— from The Life of Benjamin Franklin With Many Choice Anecdotes and admirable sayings of this great man never before published by any of his biographers by M. L. (Mason Locke) Weems

Taking at random the daily Official Cause List for London there will be found on a given day sitting at the Law Courts in the Strand alone, twenty-one judges of the High Court, eight masters, seven Chancery registrars, twelve masters in Chancery, three official referees, two registrars in bankruptcy and one official presiding over "companies winding up"—exactly fifty-four men simultaneously performing judicial duty in one building.
— from A Philadelphia Lawyer in the London Courts by Thomas Leaming

In a word, Madam, I cannot too often repeat it, [Pg 232] every system of religion appears to be designed for the utility of the priests; the morality of Christianity has in view only the interests of the priesthood; all the virtues that it teaches have solely for an object the church and its ministers; and these ends are always to subject the people, to draw a profit from their toil, and to inspire them with a blind credulity.
— from Letters to Eugenia; Or, A Preservative Against Religious Prejudices by Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'

It is natural to ask what purpose is served by the pain associated with labor; and a moment's reflection will make it clear that one reason for the discomfort is the warning which it gives of the approach of birth.
— from The Prospective Mother, a Handbook for Women During Pregnancy by J. Morris (Josiah Morris) Slemons

We should like to go straight on with their story; but to make it clear to our readers we must go back and offer a short extract from earlier history.
— from Historic Tales: The Romance of Reality. Vol. 10 (of 15), Greek by Charles Morris