I could not give any connected detail yesterday; but the suddenness, and, in one light, the unseasonableness with which the affair burst out, needs explanation; for though the event of the 26th ult., as you will conclude, immediately opened to me the happiest prospects, I should not have presumed on such early measures, but from the very particular circumstances, which left me not an hour to lose.
— from Emma by Jane Austen

Unhallow'd man, that scorn'st the sacred rede, Hark, how the testimony of my truth Sounds heavenly music with an angel's hand, To testify Dunstan's integrity, And prove thy active boast of no effect.'
— from The Lady of the Lake by Walter Scott

They say they will return to the Catholic religion, and they think a better opportunity never existed than now.
— from The Great Lord Burghley: A study in Elizabethan statecraft by Martin A. S. (Martin Andrew Sharp) Hume

He makes special terms for such a quantity, and Mr. Timothy's so used, he doesn't take a bit of notice, except to put out his tongue.”
— from The Works of John Galsworthy An Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Galsworthy by John Galsworthy

Their mamma never takes a bit of notice exceptin' when they're found fault with.
— from The Doctor's Family by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Apparatus designed to restrain movement of the child's legs or blistering the opposed surfaces of the thighs are both of no effect.
— from The Nervous Child by Hector Charles Cameron

Nay, it seems to be an object as arbitrarily adopted as that of checkmating our opponent's king; and, nevertheless, we are always intent on the means of attaining it, and think and brood over nothing else.
— from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; the Art of Controversy by Arthur Schopenhauer

The discussion of these changes and developments has been introduced with the least possible disturbance to the textual arrangement, but on nearly every page some revisions have been made; many sections have been rewritten, entire new sections have been added; and the last chapter, on the Federal reserve system, has been rewritten in the light of its development to date.”
— from The Book Review Digest, Volume 13, 1917 Thirteenth Annual Cumulation Reviews of 1917 Books by Various

Of course, in so sparsely populated a district, houses were few and far between, and, consequently, there was but little society, though a matter of twenty miles or so would not deter one resident from visiting another; and as news was scarce in these backwoods, anyone coming from the more accessible parts, and therefore a bearer of news, especially if it emanated from the "Old Country," was very acceptable.
— from An Old Coachman's Chatter, with Some Practical Remarks on Driving by Edward Corbett

Very large orders are believed to have been sent out to the United States, not only by the merchants, but by the Governments of France and Belgium, and in the Mediterranean markets they have secured more than their share; all which will appear perfectly credible, when it is remembered that they are buying our new English wheat in our own market."
— from The History of the Great Irish Famine of 1847 (3rd ed.) (1902) With Notices of Earlier Irish Famines by O'Rourke, John, Canon

The drift covered from the Atlantic border of New England and Labrador westward to Dakota and Lake Winnipeg, and farther north, across the continent.
— from Famous Men of Science by Sarah Knowles Bolton