Against the pure scroll of the sky, a blot, Stands out her sepulchre, a fatal spot That seems a baneful breath around to spread.
— from Poems by Victor Hugo

And this is the Doctrine, not onely that Bellarmine here, and many other Doctors teach in their Sermons and Books, but also that some Councells have decreed, and the Popes have decreed, and the Popes have accordingly, when the occasion hath served them, put in practise.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

I saw a lizard run over the crag; I saw a bee busy among the sweet bilberries.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë

He began by picking up empty soda and brandy bottles about the saloons, clubs and hotels, and in that humble way laid the foundation of an immense fortune and a reputation that any man might envy.
— from Modern India by William Eleroy Curtis

The negro quarters of the towns, so long neglected, are receiving more attention from the street cleaners; better sidewalks are being built; and the streets are better lighted.
— from The New South: A Chronicle of Social and Industrial Evolution by Holland Thompson

Accordingly it took some time to get ready the heavy guns, and to manufacture the ammunition required for such a big business as the siege of the six fortresses, [p. 30] small and great, into whose midst he was about to thrust himself.
— from A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. 4, Dec. 1810-Dec. 1811 Massena's Retreat, Fuentes de Oñoro, Albuera, Tarragona by Charles Oman

Lately they had happened to come across a Ragusian ship at Brindisi, but, as this ship had left Budua only a short time after Milenko himself had sailed, all the information the captain could give was rather stale.
— from The Pobratim: A Slav Novel by P. Jones

Seared and blasted by a thousand storms, they stand stern and silent, ghostlike and immoveable, scorning the elements.
— from Three Months of My Life by J. F. (John Frederick) Foster

But, ere they had left the hand, quicker than thought the pirate's helm had been put hard up, and every sheet and brace being at the same time let go, she fell off suddenly from the wind, and presented her broadside to the bows of the brig; all but one or two of the grenades fell short and plunged into the water, and those that struck her were thrown overboard ere they could do injury.
— from Captain Kyd; or, The Wizard of the Sea. Vol. II by J. H. (Joseph Holt) Ingraham

When the king heard that the answers of the two women were so exactly similar, though the one was examined before the other was brought in, he said,—“This is some infernal combination; they are all of them witches, and their friend there is some warlock or wizard; and they shall all be burnt at the stake together before the going down of the sun.”
— from The Brownie of Bodsbeck, and Other Tales (Vol. 2 of 2) by James Hogg

By that time he’ll have more muscle and stamina, and be better able to stand the fatigue and hard life we hunters have to endure.”
— from Hendricks the Hunter; Or, The Border Farm: A Tale of Zululand by William Henry Giles Kingston

Then she went on to implore her mother's renewed affection both for herself and him and her boy, promising that bygones should all be bygones; and then she ended by declaring that though the return of her husband would make her very happy, she could not be altogether happy unless her parents also should be restored to her.
— from John Caldigate by Anthony Trollope

"SWEET ALICE, BEN BOLT" A touching scene occurred in the House of Representatives a number of years ago, when an aged member from New Jersey arose, and for the first time addressed the Speaker.
— from Something of Men I Have Known With Some Papers of a General Nature, Political, Historical, and Retrospective by Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing) Stevenson