"That is just what the Post-Office people said," replied George, "but it is quite wrong.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney

[Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] RIGOU (Gregoire), born in 1756; at one time a Benedictine friar.
— from Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z by Anatole Cerfberr

In the meantime they reconsider the words of the response given, but involved in dark obscurity, and they ponder them among themselves.
— from The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII by Ovid

As we were going down the stair, my charming friend said, with great candour, “I am not really gay, but I oblige myself to appear so.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

So little egoistic he was that none of his friends felt envy of his extraordinary superiority, but rather grovelled before it, so that women were jealous of the power he had over men; but women were many and Kings were one.
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams

A hundred other infirmities or shortcomings in a people might be pointed out which pro tanto disqualify them from making the best use of representative government; but in regard to these it is not equally obvious that the government of One or a Few would have any tendency to cure or alleviate the evil.
— from Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill

But before receiving a full report of the result of this reconnoissance, General Butler, in direct violation of the instructions given, ordered the re-embarkation of the troops and the return of the expedition.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) Grant

A hostile community lived along the road; guerilla bands infested the country, and more or less of the cavalry of the enemy was still in the West.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) Grant

Such a reformation of national manners might be embraced by the rising generation; but it is the misfortune of those princes who laboriously sustain a declining monarchy, that, to obtain some immediate advantage, or to avert some impending danger, they are forced to countenance, and even to multiply, the most pernicious abuses.
— 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

It was a bit of a rude message -- an animated hand giving a certain universally recognized gesture -- because I liked to customize my gear.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

We 'niggled' over a flat, fertile country, at the five-mile pace, seeing nothing very strange until nine P. M. , when we passed through a long village of one-story houses, rattled over an excellent stone-bridge, and found ourselves in the worthy old town of Ghent, or rather Gand; but if the people are ganders, they have shown some wisdom, nevertheless, in making so many nice, large, open squares, in their respectable city.
— from The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 6, December 1837 by Various

He looked about searchingly, and his dim eyes were dazzled by the gleam of the blue and red glass bottles in the chemist's shop on the other side of the street, which sparkled in the rays of the setting sun.
— from The Confession of a Fool by August Strindberg

Drawing rein on the brow of a hill, he saw a river gleaming below in the valley, shining like silver set in ebony, as it coursed through the blackened country.
— from The Hill of Venus by Nathan Gallizier

Russ grinned, but it was a sour one.
— from Empire by Clifford D. Simak

Eventually, some money was reluctantly granted; but it too was soon swallowed up, and in 1525 Wolsey devised fresh expedients.
— from Henry VIII. by A. F. (Albert Frederick) Pollard

"Not from the—the—wound," replied Gordon, "but I am afraid of something else."
— from 'Doc.' Gordon by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

And this Faith—the Faith of Him Whom God will make manifest—in its turn, together with all the Revelations gone before it, have as their object the Manifestation destined to succeed it.
— from Selections From the Writings of the Báb by `Ali Muhammad Shirazi Bab

"Well, that's fixed him," Watty remarked, glancing back into the room they had just left.
— from The Black Opal by Katharine Susannah Prichard

Just one more question—you remember going back into the dining-room to the priest and making the promises, I suppose?"
— from Poppy: The Story of a South African Girl by Cynthia Stockley