but she had been seduced by some rascal, who had been infinitely more to blame than herself, and very probably had prevailed with her by a promise of marriage, or some other treacherous proceeding.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

And here to digress a little (by occasion offered), I find that, in times before passed, all great sums were paid by weight of gold or silver, as so many pounds or marks of silver, or so many pounds or marks of gold, cut into blanks, and not stamped, as I could prove by many good authorities which I overpass.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

To every right-feeling person of my own sex, volumes could say no more.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

It is a part of the essence of judicial power to attend to private interests, and to fix itself with predilection on minute objects submitted to its observation; another essential quality of judicial power is never to volunteer its assistance to the oppressed, but always to be at the disposal of the humblest of those who solicit it; their complaint, however feeble they may themselves be, will force itself upon the ear of justice and claim redress, for this is inherent in the very constitution of the courts of justice.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 2 by Alexis de Tocqueville

Children, in too many instances, are looked on as anything but a blessing; they are treated as incumbrances, or worse; and the neglect in which they are brought up, renders it almost impossible for them, when they grow older, to know anything properly of moral or social duties.
— from The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness Being a Complete Guide for a Gentleman's Conduct in All His Relations Towards Society by Cecil B. Hartley

ON PRESSING, OR MARKING, OR SCRATCHING WITH THE NAILS.
— from The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana Translated From the Sanscrit in Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks by Vatsyayana

The contrary case is not indeed unexampled; there has sometimes been a religious repugnance to any limitation of the power of a particular line of rulers; but, in general, the doctrine of passive obedience meant only submission to the will of the powers that be, whether monarchical or popular.
— from Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill

I had turned my long leisure to good account, had largely increased my sources of employment, and had placed our means of subsistence on surer grounds.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

They may denote an abstract notion or a concrete thing; they may signify the action itself regarded as complete, or the product of | Meaning of substantives in -μα.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon A revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations by J. B. (Joseph Barber) Lightfoot

The whole question of population could be practically disposed of off hand with the observation that there is no danger of over-population within sight: we find ourselves in front of such a superabundance of food, which even threatens to increase, that the greatest worry, now afflicting the producers of means of subsistence, is to furnish this wealth of food at tolerable prices.
— from Woman under socialism by August Bebel

Tintagel was visited, and no part of mountain or sea consecrated by the legends of Arthur was left unexplored.
— from The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete by John Forster

It contained a large proportion of men of Slavonic race; and Magdeburg, where Dettmar had been trained, was the great home of such learning and culture as were then to be found in Germany.
— from Bohemia, from the earliest times to the fall of national independence in 1620 With a short summary of later events by C. Edmund (Charles Edmund) Maurice

Paris, that great theatre on which, for fifty years, so much sublime and common-place republicanism, so many monarchic, imperial, constitutional, and other dramas had been represented—Paris, about the end of 1818, two years after the occurrence of the events described in the last chapter, presented a strange aspect, over which we will cast a retrospective glance for the purpose of making our story intelligible.
— from The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1, April, 1851 by Various

There are natural disabilities, physical or mental or social weaknesses and embarrassments, regarding which we sometimes cannot but cry out to God for relief, and yet as we cry we feel that they will not be removed, and that we must learn to bear the burden cheerfully.
— from How to become like Christ by Marcus Dods

'Well,' said the fat lady, 'I guess you will all see: for every body knows the two young folks is dead in love, and they say he's made a power of money; only some say he won't have Hettie after all, jist because she's been out to service.'
— from I've Been Thinking; or, the Secret of Success by A. S. (Azel Stevens) Roe

It may be purified in the same manner from muriatic acid, by dropping in a little nitrat of silver so long as any precipitation of muriat of silver is produced.
— from Elements of Chemistry, In a New Systematic Order, Containing all the Modern Discoveries by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier

If we prided ourselves upon our poets, our men of science, or the justice and humanity of our social system, we might find in national pride a stimulus to useful endeavors.
— from Political Ideals by Bertrand Russell

This, however, was easily accounted for; and I knew that the sparkling effect was produced by plates of mica or selenite that entered into the composition of the rock.
— from The War Trail: The Hunt of the Wild Horse by Mayne Reid