A gentleman present, who had been running down Ode-writing in general, as a bad species of poetry, unluckily said, "Had they been literally cucumbers, they had been better things than Odes.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by James Boswell

During the first days of August, 1901, the enemy seemed more determined than ever to effect my capture, or sweep me out of the Cape Colony, Very large forces concentrated on my commando, and pressed us so hard that our only safety lay in retreating to the Orange Free State.
— from In the Shadow of Death by P. H. (Pieter Hendrick) Kritzinger

In this new part, Ulysses saw his two and twenty friends represented as sitting on cushioned and canopied thrones, greedily devouring dainties, and quaffing deep draughts of wine.
— from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A gentleman present, who had been running down ode-writing in general, as a bad species of poetry, unluckily said, "Had they been literally cucumbers, they had been better things than odes.
— from Autobiography, Letters and Literary Remains of Mrs. Piozzi (Thrale) (2nd ed.) (2 vols.) Edited with notes and Introductory Account of her life and writings by Hester Lynch Piozzi

The person who holds the confession will not open the sealed envelope in which it is placed unless something happens to Miss Moon or to myself.
— from The Mystery Queen by Fergus Hume

Nothing, he affirmed, was more easily acquired than those external manners, and that superficial address, upon which too many of the higher classes pride themselves as their greatest, or even as their only accomplishment; "nay, so easily are they picked up," said he, "that we frequently see them descend with the cast clothes to maids and valets; between whom and their masters and mistresses there is little other difference than what results from the former wearing soiled clothes and healthier countenances.
— from The History of Sandford and Merton by Thomas Day

She did not know he was out of prison until she heard that he was in prison again.
— from The Turn of the Balance by Brand Whitlock

Nearly half an hour went by of bewildered wandering from place to place, until she happened to stray into Mr. Sherman's room.
— from The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation by Annie F. (Annie Fellows) Johnston

The ice was piled up so high that it over-rode the watershed, rose up beyond the containing wall of its own valley, and pushed a long arm over the valley wall, down into the Rhone valley.
— from Modern Geography by Marion I. (Marion Isabel) Newbigin

It hence arises that the simple institution of an inquiry is almost equivalent to a charge of crime, and that the proper officer, knowing the serious position in which he places those concerned, by taking any steps, is very reluctant to move, until the public voice has pretty unequivocally shown him that the matter comes within his province as a public prosecutor.
— from A supplementary report on the results of a special inquiry into the practice of interment in towns. by Edwin Chadwick

Like most visions, it was slowly passing and presently, unless something happened to revive it, it would pass into oblivion altogether.
— from The Garden of Memories by Henry St. John Cooper