Italy, as yet imperfectly seen and felt, stretched before her as a land of promise, a land in which a love of the beautiful might be comforted by endless knowledge.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James

Upon the following Sunday (13th), the Rev. John Owen, the then curate of Fulham, preached so effective a sermon upon the uncertainty of the morrow, [145] that having printed a large impression “without any loss to himself,” a second edition appeared on the 3rd of the following month.
— from A Walk from London to Fulham by Thomas Crofton Croker

She found it impossible to help trampling upon the prostrate Prince a little, in words at least, for he had hurt her feelings oftener than he knew; so she gave him a thimble-pie on the top of his head, and said, with an air of an infinitely superior being, “Don't be silly, but get up, and I'll tell you something much better to do than sprawling on the floor and getting all over lint.”
— from Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

For when we consider in how many burroughs the government has the voters at command, when we consider the vast body of persons employed in the collection of the revenue in every part of the kingdom, the inconceivable number of placemen, and candidates for places in the customs, in the excise, in the post-office, in the dock-yards, in the ordnance, in the salt-office, in the stamps, in the navy and victualling offices, and in a variety of other departments; when we consider again the extensive influence of the money corporations, subscription jobbers, and contractors: the endless dependance created by the obligations conferred on the bulk of the gentlemen's families throughout the kingdom, who have relations preferred in our navy and numerous standing army; when, I say, we consider how wide, how binding, a dependance on the crown is created by the above enumerated particulars; and the great, the enormous weight and influence which the crown derives from this extensive dependance upon its favour and power; any lord in waiting, any lord of the bedchamber, any man may be appointed minister.
— from Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies by John Dickinson

[246] about the way to prosperity and losing it; with a long head, but somewhat a wrong one—harum-scarum.
— from Mary Lamb by Anne (Anne Burrows) Gilchrist

She found it impossible to help trampling upon the prostrate Prince a little, in words at least, for he had hurt her feelings oftener than he knew; so she gave him a thimble-pie on the top of his head, and said, with the air of an infinitely superior being,— "Don't be silly, but get up, and I'll tell you something much better to do than sprawling on the floor and getting all over lint."
— from Eight Cousins; Or, The Aunt-Hill by Louisa May Alcott

There was no question about it: partially, at least, it was a legitimate barber college, whatever other activities it might mask.
— from Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles L. Fontenay

Why then prolong a life in which a little pleasure is added to so much sorrow, so much disappointment; a life that at any rate finally melts away into nothing?
— from The Freedom of Science by Josef Donat

"I brought some eatables along, and you must make the best meal you can." He opened a packet, and laid it with a little silver flask upon her knee.
— from Winston of the Prairie by Harold Bindloss