For some minutes the room seemed quite in an uproar; the rage of Madame Duval, the astonishment of M. Du Bois, and the angry interrogatories of Mr. Branghton, on one side; the convulsive tittering of the sisters, and the loud laughs of the young men, on the other, occasioned such noise, passion and confusion, that had any one stopped an instant on the stairs, he must have concluded himself in Bedlam.
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney

Whether a democratic government will have the foresight, the keen sensitiveness to national position and credit, the willingness to insure its prosperity by adequate outpouring of money in times of peace, all which are necessary for military preparation, is yet an open question.
— from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

If on the other hand we find that in our supposed knowledge of the world of nature propositions are commonly taken to be universally true, which yet seem to rest on no other grounds than that we have a strong disposition to accept them, and that they are indispensable to the systematic coherence of our beliefs,—it will be more difficult to reject a similarly supported assumption in ethics, without opening the door to universal scepticism.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick

Rather they have been poor chroniclers for the public; but their official reports, hidden away in government archives, are rich in their thorough investigations, oftentimes more nearly perfect and complete than the equivalents in our own language, where it takes no long argument to prove that great attention given to the public and popular account, has been at the expense of the similar qualities in the official report; while many expeditions, American and British, have not been under official patronage at all, which has seldom been the case with Russian research.
— from Vitus Bering: the Discoverer of Bering Strait by Peter Lauridsen

At Grunth also some apprehension and alarm could be felt, but the nearer Prince Andrew came to the French lines the more confident was the appearance of our troops.
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Then we named the mine “Monarch of the Mountains” (modesty of nomenclature is not a prominent feature in the mines), and Mr. Ballou wrote out and stuck up the following “notice,” preserving a copy to be entered upon the books in the mining recorder’s office in the town.
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain

He turned from his new position and captured the forts on both heights in that quarter.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) Grant

They wear their fur neck pieces and carry their muffs in their hands, if they choose, or they leave them in the hall or dressing-room.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

Fighting between Hancock and Hill continued until night put a close to it.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) Grant

From such facts it would appear (viewing the matter from the Christian stand-point) that God is indifferent as to what kind of religion, or what sort of religious nonsense, people are converted to, or whether it is truth or error they embrace, or whether it is a true religion or a false one they imbibe, so he gets them converted.
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves

We have no passports, and cannot travel without them; and my scheme includes an arrangement for getting them.
— from The Underground World: A mirror of life below the surface by Thomas Wallace Knox

A few years ago you could not persuade a Chinaman to talk into a telephone, for, as one of them said, "No can see talkee him," meaning he could not see the speaker.
— from Byways Around San Francisco Bay by William E. Hutchinson

Four of the humours are entirely new; and, without vanity, I may say I never produced a comedy that had not some natural humour in it, not represented before, nor, I hope, ever shall.
— from The Works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 10 by John Dryden

"Now pay attention!" cautioned the aunt, as she
— from Heimatlos: Two stories for children, and for those who love children by Johanna Spyri

A mile and a half above Fredericksburg the Rappahannock cuts through a range of hills, which courses on the north side in a southeasterly direction, nearly parallel, and close to its margin.
— from From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America by James Longstreet

No body can be healthful without exercise, neither natural body nor politic; and certainly to a kingdom or estate, a just and honorable war, is the true exercise.
— from The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral by Francis Bacon

Perhaps, had she been capable of looking into it, the self-evident honesty might have resolved itself into this—that he thoroughly believed in himself; that he meant what he said; and that he offered her nothing he did not prize and cleave to as his own.
— from Thomas Wingfold, Curate by George MacDonald

She marked the increase of care on the brow of her master; noted that it was always greater after he and Mr. Simon had had a talk at which Cosmo, the beloved of both, was not present; and concluded that their talk, and the laird's trouble, must be about Cosmo.
— from Warlock o' Glenwarlock: A Homely Romance by George MacDonald

Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better.
— from The Life of King Henry V by William Shakespeare