The shops thought it very natural that a man who, by importing direct from the producer, had daringly set aside the first great principle of provincial existence, namely that God made country villages to supply customers to county towns, should have confused ideas about the Decalogue.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Now do they show (in as many words as possible) how during some hours of yesterday evening a very peculiar smell was observed by the inhabitants of the court,
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Her expression became frantic as she spoke; and, he yielding to her, she pulled him down sitting on the bed side, and clung to him fiercely.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker

As soon too as she felt him at home as he could reach, she lifted her head a little from the pillow, and turning her neck, without much straining, but her cheeks glowing with the deepest scarlet, and a smile of the tenderest satisfaction, met the kiss he pressed forward to give her as they were thus close joined together: when leaving him to pursue his delights, she hid again her face and blushes with her hands and pillow, and thus stood passively and as favourably too as she could, whilst he kept laying at her with repeated thrusts and making the meeting flesh on both sides resound again with the violence of them; then ever as he backened from her, we could see between them part of his long white staff foamingly in motion, till, as he went on again and closed with her, the interposing hillocks took it out of sight.
— from Memoirs of Fanny Hill A New and Genuine Edition from the Original Text (London, 1749) by John Cleland

We are still providing photocopies of periodical articles, although our use of paper has diminished slightly, due to the availability of full text articles on the Internet in PDF format.
— from Entretiens / Interviews / Entrevistas by Marie Lebert

The government and religion of Persia have deserved some notice, from their connection with the decline and fall of the Roman empire.
— 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

SYN: Dull, shabby, common, plain, homely, dingy, scrubby. ANT: Stylish, dressy, gay, modish, gorgeous, dandified, tawdry.
— from A Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms or, Synonyms and Words of Opposite Meaning by Samuel Fallows

The painting has descent, signature, or the brush mark of a school to father it.
— from The Oriental Rug A Monograph on Eastern Rugs and Carpets, Saddle-Bags, Mats & Pillows, with a Consideration of Kinds and Classes, Types, Borders, Figures, Dyes, Symbols, etc. Together with Some Practical Advice to Collectors. by William De Lancey Ellwanger

“Good-bye, good dawg,” and she patted his dirty sides.
— from Scamp and I: A Story of City By-Ways by L. T. Meade

Gallant feats of arms were still accomplished, but they only proved how the Portuguese had degenerated since the days of Albuquerque.
— from Rulers of India: Albuquerque by H. Morse (Henry Morse) Stephens

5 V. 2 V. 2 V. 2 V. 2 9 10 11 12 [Pg 34] simple heard granted should carry patch seventh sirs learned chop raining export Sept. heap raised suffer shortly stunt rubber paid invited front sofa ends cared velvet dressed hoops lone dearest goose tear drill render death rates drug thread protest grandpa fruit brain cleaner tooth tile ocean trace clip dream rented chart beach leaves ford dozen giving pride lame packing charge renew tend month opens grown sixth wedding steamer partly temple cheer event pencil handle damp soup eighty folder removed couch Standard Number of Errors III.
— from Lippincott's Horn-Ashbaugh Speller For Grades One to Eight by Ernest J. (Ernest James) Ashbaugh

The owner of the cat, finding it useless to persist in what puss had determined should not be, in humanity consigned the kitten to a watery grave,—the victim of a parent's pride and cruelty.
— from Illustrative Anecdotes of the Animal Kingdom by Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold) Goodrich

He does so resent her knowing and liking people he despises, such as that poor Mr. and Mrs. Ford, for instance, and the Crichells.
— from Happy House by Hutten zum Stolzenberg, Betsey Riddle, Freifrau von

She would sneer, of course: and, in the mood which then possessed him, Dirk said angrily that she had a right to sneer, and would be a fool not to; and yet he hated the thought of it.
— from Ester Ried Yet Speaking by Pansy

Her pretty head drooped so low that now it touched his knee.
— from The Honorable Miss Moonlight by Winnifred Eaton