Early on the morning of the 25th the enemy assaulted our lines in front of the 9th corps (which held from the Appomattox River towards our left), and carried Fort Stedman, and a part of the line to the right and left of it, established themselves and turned the guns of the fort against us, but our troops on either flank held their ground until the reserves were brought up, when the enemy was driven back with a heavy loss in killed and wounded, and one thousand nine hundred prisoners.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) Grant

It was not easy to see these two men, except from the quay opposite, and to any person who had scrutinized them at that distance, the man who was in advance would have appeared like a bristling, tattered, and equivocal being, who was uneasy and trembling beneath a ragged blouse, and the other like a classic and official personage, wearing the frock-coat of authority buttoned to the chin.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Isn't it—dear John Rokesmith?' There was an engaging shyness in Bella, coupled with an engaging tenderness of love and confidence and pride, in thus first calling him by name, which made it quite excusable in John Rokesmith to do what he did.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

George Wilson Tarlton of Leverpool at Cape
— from A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence, to the present time by Daniel Defoe

A soft and cooling air breathed along the solitary Aisles: The Moonbeams darting into the Church through painted windows tinged the fretted roofs and massy pillars with a thousand various tints of light and colours: Universal silence prevailed around, only interrupted by the occasional closing of Doors in the adjoining Abbey.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. (Matthew Gregory) Lewis

The ivy smothering the armèd tower; The dying wind that mocks the pilot's ear; The lordly equipage at midnight hour, Draws into danger in a fog the peer; The votaries of Satan or of Jove; The wretched mendicant absorbed in woe; The din of multitudes that onward move; The voice of conscience in the heart below; The waves, which Thou, O Lord, alone canst still; Th' elastic air; the streamlet on its way; And all that man projects, or sovereigns will;
— from Poems by Victor Hugo

The Seneschal, taking both hands from the horn, spread them out like a cross; the horn fell, and swung on his leather belt.
— from Pan Tadeusz Or, the Last Foray in Lithuania; a Story of Life Among Polish Gentlefolk in the Years 1811 and 1812 by Adam Mickiewicz

The office labor and confinement, and the anxiety attending the business, aggravated my asthma to such an extent that at times it deprived me of sleep, and threatened to become chronic and serious; and I was also conscious that the first and original cause which had induced Mr. Lucas to establish the bank in California had ceased.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. (William Tecumseh) Sherman

DESDEMONA The heavens forbid But that our loves and comforts should increase Even as our days do grow!
— from Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare

The actual Flamboyant transept was substituted for a decrepit Romanesque structure, whose ground plan it followed, hence it is too narrow for its height; seen from the interior of the church, the octagonal lantern appears cramped.
— from How France Built Her Cathedrals: A Study in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries by Elizabeth Boyle O'Reilly

We do not care that our students should think of love and courtship while here, but we have never limited their freedom in the matter.
— from A Sweet Girl Graduate by L. T. Meade

If we on this side were living closer to our Lord and closer to our departed, how close might that comradeship become!
— from The Gospel of the Hereafter by J. Paterson (John Paterson) Smyth

‘“But that our loves and comforts should increase”—emphasis on the last syllable, “crease,”—loud “even,”—one, two, three, four; then loud again, “as our days do grow;” emphasis on days .
— from Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Every-Day Life and Every-Day People by Charles Dickens

I'd like to know now when you found time to construct your theories of life and conduct.'
— from The Giant's Robe by F. Anstey

I wish to endorse my thanks to that generous public, and I also wish to express my gratitude to the Wilson Line, the P. and O., the Orient Line, and Carter Paterson for conveying nearly 200 of those enormous crates free of charge to the nearest ports to their destination.
— from Thirteen Years of a Busy Woman's Life by Mrs. (Ethel) Alec-Tweedie

shall a man be prosecuted and pronounced guilty, and consigned to punishment for affirming that our laws are corrupt; that there is corruption in the system, and that corruption is an avowed part of that system?
— from A Sketch of the Life of the late Henry Cooper Barrister-at-Law, of the Norfolk Circuit; as also, of his Father by William Cooper

The official pointed to our left, and Ching led the way behind a kind of barricade where there were seats erected, and, selecting a place, he smilingly made us sit down.
— from Blue Jackets: The Log of the Teaser by George Manville Fenn

CAULIFLOWER "IN STUFATO" Remove the outer leaves and clean a fine cauliflower.
— from Simple Italian Cookery by Mabel Earl McGinnis