No great clan held rule there; it was filled and disputed by small septs, and broken remnants, and what they call “chiefless folk,” driven into the wild country about the springs of Forth and Teith by the advance of the Campbells.
— from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

I dug my cellar in the side of a hill sloping to the south, where a woodchuck had formerly dug his burrow, down through sumach and blackberry roots, and the lowest stain of vegetation, six feet square by seven deep, to a fine sand where potatoes would not freeze in any winter.
— from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

In ' mediumships ' or ' possessions ' the invasion and the passing away of the secondary state are both relatively abrupt, and the duration of the state is usually short—i.e., from a few minutes to a few hours.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James

He knew something of him, both by sight and by reputation, and it was certain that he was a dangerous man.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Mr. Seton, in his "Law and Practice of Heraldry in Scotland," sums up the matter of inheritance in these words (see p. 357): "As already indicated, however, by one of the learned Lords in his opinion on the case of Cuninghame, the practice in the matter in question has been far from uniform; and accordingly we are very much disposed to go along with his relative suggestion, that 'the chief armorial dignities should follow the more substantial rights and dignities of the family'; and that when the latter are enjoyed by the female heir of line, such heir should also be regarded as fairly entitled to claim the principal heraldic honours."
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

This protracted childhood makes it possible to hand over to the boy all the accumulated stores achieved by races and civilizations through thousands of years .
— from The Art of Public Speaking by J. Berg (Joseph Berg) Esenwein

Shabono went up the river Shanon down and Bratten in the bottom near Camp, Shabono and Bratten returned at 10 A M and informed me that they Saw no Signs of the horses.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

For it is impossible that men engaged in public affairs should always be right, and unlikely that they should always be wrong.
— from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius

Even there we are seldom constant enough to conceive a truly natural world; somewhere passionate, fanciful, or magic elements will slip into the scheme and baffle rational ambition.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

The sergeant was putting us through our exercise on deck (the seamen and officers of the transport looking grinning on) when a boat came from the shore bringing our captain to the ship; and though I started and blushed red as he recognised me—a descendant of the Barrys—in this degrading posture, I promise you that the sight of Fagan’s face was most welcome to me, for it assured me that a friend was near me.
— from Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray

Though unequipped with that which the proverb declares to be the best teacher, Jim Ashe did have in its proper place inside his skull a brain reasonably able to travel from patent cause to obvious effect, or to reach a conclusion that birds which flock together are likely to be similarly feathered.
— from Sudden Jim by Clarence Budington Kelland

Why some are born rich and others poor; some having wealth only to corrupt, defile, deprave others therewith, while meritorious poverty struggles and toils for human betterment all unaided.
— from Mystic Christianity; Or, The Inner Teachings of the Master by William Walker Atkinson

This was considered by some as being rather an imprudent and extravagant step; for it would require a considerable income to keep up an establishment such as a house like that demanded.
— from Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 1 by Henry Hunt

They lay sleeping side by side: father was snoring, with his mouth open, and mother’s fat stomach and breasts rose and fell steadily.
— from The Path of Life by Stijn Streuvels

The enactment of this statute accomplished beneficial results, and it does not appear that injustice or undue hardship resulted therefrom to any person or interest.
— from Postal Riders and Raiders by W. H. Gantz

We proceeded on our expedition to Suez; and being returned again to Massua, it was ordained to send an auxiliary force of 500 men under a captain, which was accordingly done and we set sail on our way back to India.
— from A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 06 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Robert Kerr

When at last she died, she gave orders that the bell should always be rung, as in her lifetime, from the castle; and in case the latter should be disturbed, or unsafe, the bell was to be transferred to the highest tower in Stuttgart.
— from One Year Abroad by Blanche Willis Howard

For Scyld and Skjold are both represented as the founder and head of the Danish royal house of Scyldingas or Skjoldungar, and as reigning in the same district.
— from Beowulf: An Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn by R. W. (Raymond Wilson) Chambers