This misconception led the Romans to make great mistakes; such, for example, as the failure to nominate a dictator in the Catilinarian conspiracy.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Thence forward to Barnett, and there drank, and so by night to Stevenage, it raining a little, but not much, and there to my great trouble, find that my wife was not come, nor any Stamford coach gone down this week, so that she cannot come.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

At ease now, and out of all fear of any doubt or suspicion on his side, I addressed myself in good earnest to my repose, but could obtain none; and in about half an hour's time my gentleman waked again, and turning towards me, I feigned a sound sleep, which he did not long respect; but girding himself again to renew the onset, he began to kiss and caress me, when now making as if I just waked, I complained of the disturbance, and of the cruel pain that this little rest had stole my senses from.
— from Memoirs of Fanny Hill A New and Genuine Edition from the Original Text (London, 1749) by John Cleland

The Mole, greatly wondering, obeyed.
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

When Agg and Ebb brought news of this to their mother Gambaruk, she saw that the authors of this infamous decree had found safety in crime.
— from The Danish History, Books I-IX by Grammaticus Saxo

Meanwhile the sun was shining outside; and being very cold in that miserable room, I knocked and shouted till my gaoler came and let me out.
— from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

But the weeks passed by, years passed; to M. Gillenormand’s great despair, the “blood-drinker” did not make his appearance.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

The woman saw the force of this, and let the man go away with the cows, and thought to herself, "How pleased Hans will be when he finds how cleverly I have managed it!"
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Wilhelm Grimm

Napoleon then performed one of the most gracious acts of courtesy toward the Pope.
— from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXVII, August 1852, Vol. V by Various

Beneath them the hill stretched downwards, terrace after terrace, casting before their eyes the cold color of marble, and the mournful green of cryptomeria trees, the delicate tracery of ferns, and the glory of the wild camellias.
— from The Crimson Azaleas: A Novel by H. De Vere (Henry De Vere) Stacpoole

690 As God is said to repent, when he changes things according to his counsel beyond the expectation of men, so he is said to forget, when he defers the making good his promise to the godly, or his threatenings to the wicked; this is not a defect of memory belonging to his mind, but an act of his will.
— from The Existence and Attributes of God, Volumes 1 and 2 by Stephen Charnock

“You don’t know how much I have improved,” said Mrs. Poynsett; “I feel quite at liberty in this chair, all owing to my good daughters-in-law.”
— from The Three Brides by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

It would seem to be the desire of the Mexican government to evade the redress of the real injuries of our citizens, by confining the negotiation to the adjustment of a pecuniary indemnity for its imaginary rights over Texas.
— from Life of James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the United States. v. 1 (of 2) by George Ticknor Curtis

It has not the coloured glass of Chartres, or the marble glory of Milan, or such a forest of aisles as Antwerp, or so perfect a hue in stone as Westminster, nor in mixed beauty of form and colour does it possess anything equal to the choir of Cologne; but, for combined magnificence and awe-compelling grandeur, I regard it as superior to all other ecclesiastical edifices.
— from John Bull on the Guadalquivir From "Tales from All Countries" by Anthony Trollope

Everything possible was done to obtain some clew to the missing girl, but all to no p
— from His Heart's Queen by Sheldon, Georgie, Mrs.

Next day they made Gravesant steeple in the Hague; but while they were steering for their port, a French privateer, that lay concealed among the Dutch fishing-boats, suddenly came against them, singling out the Isabella as the object of attack, while the rest dispersed and escaped.
— from Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy, from Damme to Trafalgar. by Alfred H. (Alfred Henry) Miles