It is a bitter truth and a general rule—that those who want to study law and the science of law are the exceptions, and that hence we have to acquire a real interest in our subject from laymen, from our experts.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

With earliest parturition had decreed To raise in air unto the shores of light And to entrust unto the wayward winds.
— from On the Nature of Things by Titus Lucretius Carus

By this time there had arisen a shout of laughter at the extraordinary appearance of Car's back, which irritated the dark queen into getting rid of the disfigurement by the first sudden means available, and independently of the help of the scoffers.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy

It comprehended the acquisition of one empire in the East, the loss of another in the West, and the total subversion of the ancient system of Europe by the French Revolution, with all which events the history of his life is necessarily and intimately connected,—as indeed it also is, much more than is generally known, with the state of literature and the elegant arts.
— from The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 01 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

Knowing that we are a compound of perishable matter, and that the span of life assigned to each of us was short, she contrived that the death of one should be the birth of another, and meted out to the dying, by way of compensation, the coming into being of others, that by mutual succession we might live forever.
— from The Satyricon — Complete by Petronius Arbiter

They are to have the sanction of laws and the effect of sermons.
— from Laws by Plato

The dispatch with which they work in these great shops is amazing, for they have promised me a complete suit of linen against the evening.
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney

It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the protection of property against those irregular and high-handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; to the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton

To be sure, local newspapers still talk with much show of learning about 'the electric fluid' which did such remarkable damage last week upon the slated steeple of Peddlington Torpida Church; but the well-crammed schoolboy of the present day has long since learned that the electric fluid is an exploded fallacy, and that the lightning which pulled the ten slates off the steeple in question was nothing more in its real nature than a very big immaterial spark.
— from Falling in Love; With Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science by Grant Allen

at a somewhat lengthened pirouette she exclaimed, sotte voce , "Ah!" with a sigh; but at length, when a tremendous whirl had divested the greater part of the performer's figure of drapery—the band ceasing at the moment to give time to the twirl—the poor old lady screamed out, "Oh, la!"—which was heard all over the house, and caused a shout of laughter at the expense of a poor, sober-minded Englishwoman, whose nerves had not been screwed up to a sufficiently fashionable pitch to witness what she saw was a perfect, but thought must have been an accidental exposure, of more of a woman's person than is usually given to the gaze of the million.
— from The Choice Humorous Works, Ludicrous Adventures, Bons Mots, Puns, and Hoaxes of Theodore Hook by Theodore Edward Hook

To the portrait of Luther as the Reformer we have to add henceforth that of the married man and head of the household, whose single desire is to fulfil, as a man and a Christian, the duties belonging to this state of life, and to enjoy with a quiet conscience the blessings of God.
— from Life of Luther by Julius Köstlin

It resulted in the allowance of several of my bills of exceptions, the overturn of the law of Judge Crawford on the subject of larceny, and the establishment by the Circuit Court of the doctrine on that subject contended for by my counsel; but from this opinion Judge Dunlap dissented.
— from Personal Memoir of Daniel Drayton, For Four Years and Four Months a Prisoner (For Charity's Sake) in Washington Jail Including A Narrative Of The Voyage And Capture Of The Schooner Pearl by Daniel Drayton

The system led to abuses, notably in the ridiculous subdivision of land and the endless servitudes and burdens imposed on real estate; but it relieved the community of any need for orphanages and workhouses.
— from The African Colony: Studies in the Reconstruction by John Buchan

If the Atlantic squadron undertook a junket with such financial backing its progress would probably end by rounding the Statue of Liberty at the entrance of New York harbor.
— from Postal Riders and Raiders by W. H. Gantz

We got up the anchors as quietly as we could and off we went, and no sign of life aboard the enemy ship.
— from Catty Atkins, Sailorman by Clarence Budington Kelland

The government has ordered observations to be made on strokes of lightning and their effects, by a bureau, using postmasters and others as observers.
— from The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, May 1884, No. 8 by Chautauqua Institution