‘A mock title of honour, conferred on the most successful of the London archers, of which this account is given: When Henry VIII became king, he gave a prize at Windsor to those who should excel at this exercise, (archery) when Barlo, one of his guards, an inhabitant of Shoreditch, acquired such honor as an archer, that the king created him duke of Shoreditch , on the spot.
— from The Devil is an Ass by Ben Jonson

First of all, she was pleased that a gifted man should speak to her, an average woman, about intellectual things; also it gave her great pleasure to watch how the pale, lively, still angry, young face was working.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

The mother received ten sequins, the daughter has kept her hateful maidenhood, and, if I am guilty of anything, it is only of having given a thrashing to an infamous girl, the pupil of a still more infamous mother.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

But, if the application is granted, it is ex gratia , or, by the favour of the lodge, which may withhold it, if it pleases.
— from The Principles of Masonic Law A Treatise on the Constitutional Laws, Usages and Landmarks of Freemasonry by Albert Gallatin Mackey

“No honest man will deny it,” said the scout, a little nettled at the implied distrust of his explanation of the mystery of the tides; “and I grant that it is true on the small scale, and where the land is level.
— from The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper

She was educated in an English school here and speaks beautiful English, besides being a talented and interesting girl.
— from Letters from China and Japan by Harriet Alice Chipman Dewey

Thence going away met Mr. Hingston the organist (my old acquaintance) in the Court, and I took him to the Dog Taverne and got him to set me a bass to my “It is decreed,” which I think will go well, but he commends the song not knowing the words, but says the ayre is good, and believes the words are plainly expressed.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

The air is grey and harsh but still.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Several of M. de Bassompierre's friends—the savants—being more or less connected with the Athénée, they were expected to attend on this occasion; together with the worshipful municipality of Villette, M. le Chevalier Staas, the burgomaster, and the parents and kinsfolk of the Athenians in general.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

“I’ll take one or two of the men with me, to assist in getting them up.”
— from Percival Keene by Frederick Marryat

He would visit the sick, write letters for them, and in general look after their needs in countless ways.
— from The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865 by Leander Stillwell

This afternoon I gave absolution and extreme unction to an Irishman, who has not regained consciousness since he was brought here.
— from New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 2, May, 1915 April-September, 1915 by Various

Uncle said he could but feel that being stuck twice on the same ferry was a poor reward for a kind-hearted man who was trying to the best of his ability to give some species of instructive amusement to an innocent girl, and then he looked severely at the [Pg 312] setting sun while we came loose again and progressed fifty feet more.
— from Seeing France with Uncle John by Anne Warner

So that on the whole the extraordinary success of Mahomedanism at its first outset must be attributed to the utter corruption, religious and political, of the expiring empire of the East, as much as to any inherent greatness in the system itself or the ability of the leaders who achieved the great work.
— from A History of Architecture in All Countries, Volume 2, 3rd ed. From the Earliest Times to the Present Day by James Fergusson

[Pg 366] says, "Spend and be spent, and spare not till all is gone; life itself is not too much to give that love may triumph over wrong."
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Second Epistle to the Corinthians by James Denney

"Ah, fair lord," says Beltane, "then, as I guess, these fifty and three shall assuredly live on awhile, since Sir Gui of Allerdale will hang men no more."
— from Beltane the Smith by Jeffery Farnol

The price of stock was looking [181] up; and ewes that had actually been sold as low as 9 d. each, were worth 7 s. 6 d. Men of capital lately arrived from England with ready money, had commenced purchasing land and stock; and their operations had given an impetus to affairs in general, that could not fail to be beneficial.
— from Trade and Travel in the Far East or Recollections of twenty-one years passed in Java, Singapore, Australia and China. by G. F. Davidson

It remains but a short time tender and in good condition for boiling; soon becoming hard, glazed, and unfit for use.
— from The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Containing Full Descriptions of Nearly Eleven Hundred Species and Varietes; With Directions for Propagation, Culture and Use. by Fearing Burr