But on the first anniversary of the tower's completion—at early dawn, before the concourse had surrounded it—an earthquake came; one loud crash was heard.
— from The Piazza Tales by Herman Melville

In considering the distribution of organic beings over the face of the globe, the first great fact which strikes us is, that neither the similarity nor the dissimilarity of the inhabitants of various regions can be wholly accounted for by climatal and other physical conditions.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

The divine sanction, which the Apostle had bestowed on the fundamental principle of the theology of Plato, encouraged the learned proselytes of the second and third centuries to admire and study the writings of the Athenian sage, who had thus marvellously anticipated one of the most surprising discoveries of the Christian revelation.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

We cut branches of the funereal trees and placed them over him, and on these again his sword.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

he!-” Madame Duval instantly darted forward, and gave him a violent blow on the face; “Take that back for your answer, sirrah,” cried she, “and learn not to grin at your betters another time.
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney

He ought to have a handsome bruise on the forehead of him.”
— from The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

His life was saved by the readiness of his slave, who instantly gave his master a blow on the face, and commanded him, with an angry tone, to be silent in the presence of his superiors.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

During six days and seven nights this terrible devastation continued, the people being obliged to fly to the tombs and monuments for lodging and shelter.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

In similar conditions the bacillus of typhoid fever remains alive for 35 days and dies only after it has been kept for 48 days in completely soured milk.
— from The Prolongation of Life: Optimistic Studies by Elie Metchnikoff

Both express Ideas by figures in space; the former makes figures cognisable by two senses, sight and touch (although not by the latter as far as beauty is concerned); the latter only by one, the first of these.
— from Kant's Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant

The wild uproar which had lately reigned suddenly ceased; not a sound was heard—even if any of the wounded Indians lived, they did not give vent to their sufferings by uttering a single groan; and, as far as the garrison could discover, the whole body of their foes had retreated to a distance.
— from The Settlers: A Tale of Virginia by William Henry Giles Kingston

But then mark, still further, that this reception into the bosom of the Father is given to the Son of Man.
— from Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chapters I to XIV by Alexander Maclaren

At that time another branch of the family was in power.
— from Frank Merriwell's Triumph; Or, The Disappearance of Felicia by Burt L. Standish

We may know God's will towards us through Christ: God hath opened himself unto us by his Son Christ; for so saith John the Evangelist, “The Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath revealed.”
— from The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. by Hugh Latimer

My idea is, that we should not ransom, but on the footing of the nation which pays least, that it may be as little worth their while to go in pursuit of us, as any nation.
— from The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 2 (of 9) Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private by Thomas Jefferson

On showing my orders, and presenting an account of the supplies and the work requisite to put the Investigator in the same state as on leaving England, I found that the naval magazines could furnish only some part, and that many articles, especially biscuit, were not to be obtained; but with great consideration for the service on which I was sent out, the commander in chief ordered every request to be granted either in the articles specified, or by substitution; and a thorough caulking, both within and without side of the ship, being the work most essential to be done, a gang of caulkers, collected from the squadron, was sent on board on the following morning.
— from A Voyage to Terra Australis — Volume 1 Undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802 and 1803, in His Majesty's ship the Investigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland schooner by Matthew Flinders

Of the buildings of the Friars Minors in Oxford we have disappointingly little information—with the exception of the boundary wall already mentioned there are no remains of their house now visible.
— from The Grey Friars in Oxford by A. G. (Andrew George) Little

There's a speck on the hillside, a dot on the road— A jingle of bells on the foot-path below— There's a scuffle above in the monkey's abode— The world is awake, and the clouds are aglow.
— from Departmental Ditties and Barrack Room Ballads by Rudyard Kipling