Lo! all in silence, all in order stand, And mighty folios first, a lordly band: Then quartos their well-ordered ranks maintain, And light octavos fill a spacious plain; See yonder, ranged in more frequented rows, A humbler band of duodecimos.

-Crabbe, George
The Library (published1808), l.128^33.

And even the ranks of Tuscany Could scarce forbear to cheer.

-1st Baron
  Lays of  Ancient Rome,'Horatius', stanza 60.

The Minstrel-boy to the war isgone, In the ranks of death you'll find him; His father's sword he has girded on, And his wild harp slung behind him.

-Moore,Thomas
  Irish Melodies,' The Minstrel-boy'.

In ease of body, peace of mind, all the different ranks of life are nearly upon a level and the beggar who suns himself by the side of the highway, possesses that security which kings are fighting for.

-Smith, Adam
  TheTheory of Moral Sentiments.