Sworn triflers of a lifetime, they would not venture among the sober truths of life not even to be truly blest.
— from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Forgive me, Bob," he said, frankly, "for my surly temper of last night.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

Soft then the voice of rooks from indrawn throat Thrice, four times, o'er repeated, and full oft On their high cradles, by some hidden joy Gladdened beyond their wont, in bustling throngs Among the leaves they riot; so sweet it is, When showers are spent, their own loved nests again And tender brood to visit.
— from The Georgics by Virgil

He said there once lived not far from the River Indus an ancient Persian by the name of Al Hafed.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by J. Berg (Joseph Berg) Esenwein

She was no longer the shy Tonine of last night; she had that exultant air which happiness bestows, and the look of pleasure which the delights of love give to a young beauty.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

1383 The people of Ulubræ, a small town of Latium, near the Pomptine Marshes; its site is unknown.
— from The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny

, after reflection, that she, in point of fact, was right, and he went on to observe: "Should the old lady not give you your release, it will be impossible for you to get off."
— from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao

The Dijon shop turned out large numbers of silhouettes and dummies.
— from America's Munitions 1917-1918 by Benedict Crowell

As the proclamation included but a small portion of the present state, the other little nations were left for future consideration.
— from The Indians' Last Fight; Or, The Dull Knife Raid by Dennis Collins

The publication, less lucrative than she expected, of the first series of the /Scenes de la Vie parisienne/ and the /Scenes de la Vie de Province/ made it particularly disagreeable to her to receive the reproaches of a writer who, with his admirable talent, could not become resigned to meet with less success than other litterateurs not so good as he.
— from Women in the Life of Balzac by Juanita Helm Floyd

I was pleased to see the old lusus naturæ sitting in a chair, and seemingly quite strong.
— from A Strange Discovery by Charles Romyn Dake

‘She will never be happy,’ said the old lady, ‘never, with that lout; and the thing for us to do is to wait.
— from Neighbours on the Green by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Moreover, the Free and Compulsory Education Act had come into force (January 1873), and as the State had to be satisfied that our little nursemaid, who was within school age, was being educated according to law, I charged myself with this job also, rather than lose her services for the greater part of the day.
— from Thirty Years in Australia by Ada Cambridge

[70] Soft then the voice of rooks from indrawn throat Thrice, four times, o’er repeated, and full oft On their high cradles, by some hidden joy Gladdened beyond their wont, in bustling throngs Among the leaves they riot; so sweet it is When showers are spent, their own loved nests again And tender brood to visit.
— from A Year with the Birds Third Edition, Enlarged by W. Warde (William Warde) Fowler

But when it fell into consideration, and y e designe was held to be profitable and hopefull, it was propounded by some of them, why might not they doe it of them selves, seeing they must disburse all y e money, and what need they have any refferance to y e plantation in y t ; they might take y e profile them selves, towards other losses, & need not let y e plantation share therin; and if their ends were other wise answered for their supplyes to come too them in time, it would be well enough.
— from Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation' From the Original Manuscript. With a Report of the Proceedings Incident to the Return of the Manuscript to Massachusetts by William Bradford

It is far from improbable that villenage, in the sense the word afterwards bore, that is, an absolutely servile tenure of lands, not only without legal [Pg 261] rights over them, but with an incapacity of acquiring either immovable or movable property against the lord, may have made considerable strides before the reign of Henry II.
— from View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Henry Hallam