They let their beards grow to an enormous length; their hair, uncombed, lies in a disorderly manner on their shoulders; their countenances are marked with the strongest lines of dejection and melancholy; and their habitations and household furniture are such as are only fitted to answer the demands of mere necessity.
— from Toronto of Old Collections and recollections illustrative of the early settlement and social life of the capital of Ontario by Henry Scadding

Amidst the stirring excitements of the present day, when every thrill of the electric wire conveys a new subject for thought or action to a generation as eager as the ancient Athenians for some new thing, simple legends of the past like that which we have transcribed have undoubtedly lost in a great degree their interest.
— from Historical Papers Part 3 from Volume VI of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier by John Greenleaf Whittier

That they thought at first that the Titanic would sink as soon as she did is doubtful; but probably as the reports came in they knew that her ultimate loss in a few hours was a likely contingency.
— from The Loss of the S. S. Titanic: Its Story and Its Lessons by Lawrence Beesley

The evening was uncommonly sweet and serene: and the moon, now nearly full, rose with more than her usual lustre ... in a sky of the deepest blue which I had yet witnessed.
— from A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume Two by Thomas Frognall Dibdin

It was with money collected through a lottery that Massachusetts first encouraged cotton spinning; that the City Hall of New York was enlarged, the Court House at Elizabeth rebuilt, the Harvard University library increased, and many pretentious buildings put up at the Federal City.
— from History of the United States, Volume 2 by Elisha Benjamin Andrews

I tell yer it’s a trick, an’ when he speaks it’ll be to tell his usual lies–––” “It ain’t lies, I tell yer it ain’t lies.”
— from The One-Way Trail: A story of the cattle country by Ridgwell Cullum

Nevertheless, when, on their second visit, the sisters, filled with envy, try to persuade her that her unseen lover is a monster who intends to eat her after she has grown fat, and that to save herself she must cut off his head while he is asleep, she resolves to follow their advice.
— from Primitive Love and Love-Stories by Henry T. Finck

They had kept up the time-honored distinction between mind and body; they had used language implying a recognition of some unknown anima, or vital principle, concealed behind the animal organism; some of them had even been anxious to vindicate their belief in the immateriality or transcendental nature of this principle.
— from Theological Essays by Charles Bradlaugh

A fishing village has a picturesqueness and a kinship with Nature and the hills, utterly lacking in a mining locality.
— from Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland by Daniel Turner Holmes