Racine, according to his own confession, made a hazardous attempt with the Turks; it was successful, and since that time the necessary tragical dignity has been allowed to this barbarous people, among whom the customs and habits of the rudest despotism and the most abject slavery are often united in the same person, and nothing is known of love, but the most luxurious sensuality; while, on the other hand, it has been refused to the Europeans, notwithstanding that their religion, their sense of honour, and their respect for the female sex, plead so powerfully in their behalf.
— from Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature by August Wilhelm von Schlegel

I caught sight of the face of the Cecil’s stroke, a little man who splendidly exemplifies the old adage that ‘the best goods are done up in the smallest parcels,’ and noticed that he at any rate did not appear to be completely exhausted as yet.
— from Red Paint at Oxford: Sketches by Tush

About all that this far famed Philosophy kan teach us, iz tew suffer pain, and not own it, and it seems to hav reached the hight of its ambishun when it courts sorrow, for the sake ov being a martyr.
— from The Complete Works of Josh Billings by Josh Billings

Used in the same proportion as nitre, it will form a gunpowder, which soon, however, spoils by exposure.
— from A System of Pyrotechny Comprehending the theory and practice, with the application of chemistry; designed for exhibition and for war. by James Cutbush