And for so long it ought to be chastised and compelled to undergo slavery, even until it be ready for all things, and learn to be contented with little, to be delighted with things simple, and never to murmur at any inconvenience."
— from The Imitation of Christ by à Kempis Thomas

Stopped then by the bed, she took the fall she loved, and leaned to the most, gently backward upon it, still holding fast what she held, and taking care to give her clothes a convenient toss up, so that her thighs duly disclosed, and elevated, laid open all the outward prospect of the treasury of love: the rose-lipt overture presenting the cockpit so fair, that it was not in nature even for a natural to miss it.
— from Memoirs of Fanny Hill A New and Genuine Edition from the Original Text (London, 1749) by John Cleland

He is an Alchemist, and so clever that— “all this ground on which we be riding, Till that we come to Canterbury town, He could all cleanè turnen up so down, And pave it all of silver and of gold.”
— from The Dover Road: Annals of an Ancient Turnpike by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper

"The Queen is called Christina," a chronicler tells us; "she is aged twenty-nine, is very learned, being able to write in eleven languages; she is small but very comely.... One hundred and fifty beds were prepared in the convent and beautiful it was to see the numerous suite and the pages of the nobles."
— from The Story of Assisi by Lina Duff Gordon

But, soon afterwards—"The ground floor of the London houses at this period was aptly enough called a cellar, the upper story a solar."
— from View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Henry Hallam

From a consular report learn what the duties of a consul are? Curtis, The United States and Foreign Powers, 30-33.
— from Our Government: Local, State, and National: Idaho Edition by James Alton James

After recovering from the contemplation of his own cabin he had gone aft and remained in almost awe-struck admiration at the comfort and conveniences there, until summoned by Bill to take his place and help to get the new boat into the water, and to row the ladies down to Hole Haven.
— from The Lost Heir by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

One of the older ladies rises; the next moment the whole circle, like a flock of frightened birds, are up and off, crowding each other in the hallway, calling for their carriages, and confusing the unfortunate servants, who are trying to help them into their cloaks and overshoes.
— from The Ways of Men by Eliot Gregory

For that I love ye as the wind the trees That holds their blossoms and their leaves in cure And calls the utmost singing from the boughs That 'thout him, save the aspen, were as dumb Still shade, and bade no whisper speak the birds of how "Beyond, beyond, beyond, there lies...." Guillaume de Lorris Belated A Vision of Italy Wisdom set apart from all desire, A hoary Nestor with youth's own glad eyes, Him met I at the style, and all benign He greeted me an equal and I knew, By this his lack of pomp, he was himself.
— from Personae by Ezra Pound