[76] The extravagance of this requirement rendered it practically a law to prevent conviction, not unlike the law excluding testimony.
— from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 11 (of 20) by Charles Sumner

Same time, I says it is no use to leave ’em to spoil.”
— from To Win or to Die: A Tale of the Klondike Gold Craze by George Manville Fenn

If this were the case, why was it necessary, until the last expiring throb of Paganism, to preserve its temples and pay the hierophants?
— 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

She had to see after many things which a young man of more wealth, or more independent habits, would have done for himself—his linen, his portmanteau, most of the things he wanted, except the tailor part of the business; but it was not until the last evening that there was any of the confidential consultation, for which her heart had longed.
— from The Wizard's Son, Vol. 1 (of 3) by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

A daisy closed for the night upon the lawn, eyes tightly shut, hands folded….
— from The Centaur by Algernon Blackwood

I should find it very difficult to steal time to write, if she was not now at church, where I cannot wait on her, not understanding the language enough to pay my devotions in it.
— from Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M—y W—y M—e Written during Her Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa to Persons of Distinction, Men of Letters, &c. in Different Parts of Europe by Montagu, Mary Wortley, Lady