All the morning at the Office, busy upon an Order of Council, wherein they are mightily at a loss what to advise about our discharging of seamen by ticket, there being no money to pay their wages before January, only there is money to pay them since January, provided by the Parliament, which will be a horrid disgrace to the King and Crowne of England that no man shall reckon himself safe, but where the Parliament takes care.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

It had not seemed wise to object to going with them, even if we could have; our one chance was friendliness—a civilized attitude on both sides.
— from Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

So I began a careful reexamination of our cell.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne

With their liberty the Romans might doubtless have restored the appellation and office of consuls; had they not disdained a title so promiscuously adopted in the Italian cities, that it has finally settled on the humble station of the agents of commerce in a foreign land.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

In K——the Baptists and Presbyterians unite because the thirteen members of one church and the seven of the other feel lonely in their great refrigerators and are inclined to make friends and preserve life.
— from The Heart-Cry of Jesus by Byron J. (Byron Johnson) Rees

She said, however, ‘This plan of ours cannot be consummated to-day; let us separate for the present and make plans for our union in the future.’
— from Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Faries by Yuk Yi

And with brilliant schemes I stock me; And all this time that horrible lout, The Farmer, makes money, week in, week out, Of chicken and capon, or roasts or boils; Whilst I, who surpass him in wit and sense, Would be glad if I could but carry from hence The toughest old hen, as reward for my toils.
— from The Fables of La Fontaine Translated into English Verse by Walter Thornbury and Illustrated by Gustave Doré by Jean de La Fontaine

Theoretically, the Tiyan has the power to give or withhold māttu, and thus keep any one out of caste in a state of impurity; but it is a privilege which is seldom if ever exercised.
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston

He who, in these Epochs of our Europe, founds on garnitures, formulas, culottisms of what sort soever, is founding on old cloth and sheep-skin, and cannot endure.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

As the troops were to escort this officer, of course he was consulted about the direction of the march, the time for camping, and concerning many other details of greater or less importance, but he never took formal command.
— from Indian Fights and Fighters: The Soldier and the Sioux by Cyrus Townsend Brady

He was delighted to find a full strong company of artillery, subject to his orders, well supplied with clothing and money in all respects, and, much to the disgust of our Captain Tompkins, he took half of his company clothing and p
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. (William Tecumseh) Sherman

Other extracts shall be from letters of our Chinese brethren.
— from The American Missionary — Volume 43, No. 01, January, 1889 by Various

There was now no path of any kind; which added to our courage all it lessened of our comfort, because it proved that the robbers were not in the habit of passing there.
— from Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore

The tree, by means of its leaves and its young herbaceous twigs, presents a considerable surface for absorption and evaporation; it abstracts the carbon of carbonic acid, and solidifies it in wood, fecula, and a multitude of other compounds.
— from Man and Nature; Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action by George P. (George Perkins) Marsh

On the 26th of October comes the next allusion to this subject [36] : the Emperor had learnt from the English newspapers—always his best source of intelligence—that La Romana with a large part of his forces has marched on Lisbon to join Wellington, and that he has been able to do so without molestation.
— from A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. 4, Dec. 1810-Dec. 1811 Massena's Retreat, Fuentes de Oñoro, Albuera, Tarragona by Charles Oman

Tharfer, our best, our only chance, air by the water,” he affirms.
— from The Land of Fire: A Tale of Adventure by Mayne Reid

But when their family goddess Chaṇḍí, the bestower of boons, saw that that couple had met their death in this way, she restored them to life out of compassion.
— from The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story by active 11th century Somadeva Bhatta

They either weary of the monotony of drinking physic, especially if, as is often the case, they are relieved for the time, or other circumstances prevent their carrying out the regimen to its full extent.
— from A Statistical Inquiry Into the Nature and Treatment of Epilepsy by Alexander Hughes Bennett

But it is remarkable for an admirably conducted inn and a church unique (in my experience of old churches) in its interior for a prettiness that is little short of aggressive.
— from Highways and Byways in Sussex by E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas