In this flight of fancy, Mr Swiveller was assisted by a deceptive piece of furniture, in reality a bedstead, but in semblance a bookcase, which occupied a prominent situation in his chamber and seemed to defy suspicion and challenge inquiry.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

In historical essays it is not a blemish, it is rather a beauty; because, in such miniature portraits or cabinet pieces, minuteness of finishing and crowding of incidents in a small space are among the principal requisites we desire, the chief charm we admire.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 65, No. 402, April, 1849 by Various

I have thought the games of which you spoke, and your fighting, rough and barbarous; but I see their use now.
— from In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

For instance, subbituminous coal may be distinguished from lignite, not by its fuel ratio alone, but by its shiny, black appearance as contrasted with the dull, woody appearance of lignite.
— from The Economic Aspect of Geology by C. K. (Charles Kenneth) Leith

In Macedonia, to which Pangeaum and the territory surrounding it are regarded as belonging, bees in swarms pervaded the camp of Cassius, and in the course of its purification some one set the garland upon his head wrong end foremost, and a boy while carrying a Victory in some procession, such as the soldiers inaugurate, fell down.[35]
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 3 An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During The Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus by Cassius Dio Cocceianus

Twice has the life-boat been repulsed and beaten back, in spite of the strenuous efforts of its gallant crew.
— from Portia; Or, By Passions Rocked by Duchess

The points which will be most likely to draw the reader's attention are the remarks on the literature of heroism; the claim for our own America, for Massachusetts and Connecticut River and Boston Bay, in spite of our love for the names of foreign and classic topography; and most of all one sentence which, coming from an optimist like Emerson, has a sound of sad sincerity painful to recognize.
— from Ralph Waldo Emerson by Oliver Wendell Holmes

I dare say I've been rather a brute, but I shall be a lot better company when I'm back in the regiment.
— from The Dark Tower by Phyllis Bottome