Now when the Sodomites saw the young men to be of beautiful countenances, and this to an extraordinary degree, and that they took up their lodgings with Lot, they resolved themselves to enjoy these beautiful boys by force and violence; and when Lot exhorted them to sobriety, and not to offer any thing immodest to the strangers, but to have regard to their lodging in his house; and promised that if their inclinations could not be governed, he would expose his daughters to their lust, instead of these strangers; neither thus were they made ashamed.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

Being overcome by Caesar at the battle of Pharsalia, he had no other way left to escape but by flight; which attempting by sea, he arrived near the island of Cyprus, and perceived on the shore near the city of Paphos a beautiful and stately palace; now asking the pilot what was the name of it, he told him that it was called kakobasilea, that is, evil king; which struck such a dread and terror in him that he fell into despair, as being assured of losing shortly his life; insomuch that his complaints, sighs, and groans were heard by the mariners and other passengers.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

On asking her, she admitted that the other peeping rooms had been occupied by couples, and that one elderly gentleman had had two of her page boys to operate and be operated upon while the scene before him excited him to the necessary extent to take a part in it himself.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous

Mr. Hoover, however, insisted that coffee was a very necessary essential, and that tonnage must be provided for an amount sufficient at all times to keep the visible supply for the United States up to at least 1,500,000 bags of Brazil coffee; and this figure was ultimately accepted and carried out by the shipping board.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

It has not perhaps been commonly noted, that at Mobile the leaders, not only of one but of both columns, at the critical point of the road hesitated and doubted as to the admiral's purpose; not that they had not received it clearly, but because circumstances seemed to them to be different from what he had supposed.
— from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

One who is identical with the blessing which can be obtained by conquering all the worlds; or with the porter of Brahmá named Jayabhadra.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

{26} 2. Point out and name six principal constellations; find the North by means of other stars than the Pole-star in case of that star being obscured by clouds, and tell the hour of the night by the stars and moon.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook The First Edition, 1911 by Boy Scouts of America

The slimy weeds that grew upon the banks, Of black Cocytus, and the hateful Styx, Whose nine slow streams shut out the happy world.
— from The Prophecy of Merlin, and Other Poems by John Reade

But only between Cornélie and the prince.
— from The Inevitable by Louis Couperus

Magdalene is supporting Mary, fearing that she will die of anguish; she endeavours 36 to lead her away, but looks round herself once more, evidently wishing to imprint this spectacle indelibly on her heart, thinking that it is for the last time; it surpasses everything; and then the sorrowing John, who sympathizes and suffers with Mary; and Joseph, who absorbed in his piety, and occupied with the tomb, directs and conducts the whole; and Christ himself, lying there so tranquil, having endured to the end: then the blaze of brilliant colour, and the gloomy mottled sky!
— from Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from Italy and Switzerland by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

He thrust the unfolded letter roughly into the very depths of his breeches pocket, and blew out both candles; and then listened, as still as a mouse.
— from Wylder's Hand by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

" As the inevitable growth of hostility progressed, violent direct action developed; e. g., in the matter of destroying the revenue stamps, or the action concerning the tea-ships, either by not permitting the tea to be landed, or by putting it in damp storage, or by throwing it into the harbor, as in Boston, or by compelling a tea-ship owner to set fire to his own ship, as at Annapolis.
— from Selected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre by Voltairine De Cleyre

But other Bantu chiefs are themselves wizards, and strive to collect all the medicine of the tribe in their own hands; and Chaka declared he was the only diviner in the country.
— from The Origin of Man and of His Superstitions by Carveth Read

Yes, by Jove, Fortescue, you are right, there is something out there; and it looks like—like—ay, and it is , too—a body of blacks creeping along toward us on their stomachs!
— from A Middy of the Slave Squadron: A West African Story by Harry Collingwood

My boat could not have seemed very seaworthy, only seven inches above water, disappearing in the trough of every sea that passed, then lifting its long and slender bow of brilliant crimson above the white foam, and the occupant apparently on a level with the water.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 48, October, 1861 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

As to the former, they were not wholly without justification,—for nearly all the English discussions of the "American Crisis" which we have seen have shown far more of the shop-keeping spirit than of interest in the maintenance of free institutions; but in regard to the latter they made the fatal mistake of believing our Buchanans, Cushings, and Touceys to be representative men.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 44, June, 1861 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

Caresses came slowly, one by one, but chaste as the merry play—so graceful, so coquettish—of young animals.
— from The Works of Balzac: A linked index to all Project Gutenberg editions by Honoré de Balzac