l. i. p. 60-76), who had diligently studied the ancients, and surveyed with a curious eye the actual face of the country.
— 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

Unfortunately, however, it requires a company of eight persons and-” “Here we are!” cried the king, laughing at his acute discovery of the coincidence; “eight to a fraction—I and my seven ministers.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition Table Of Contents And Index Of The Five Volumes by Edgar Allan Poe

We can thus also understand the apparent paradox, that the very same characters are analogical when one group is compared with another, but give true affinities when the members of the same group are compared together: thus the shape of the body and fin-like limbs are only analogical when whales are compared with fishes, being adaptations in both classes for swimming through the water; but between the the several members of the whale family, the shape of the body and the fin-like limbs offer characters exhibiting true affinity; for as these parts are so nearly similar throughout the whole family, we cannot doubt that they have been inherited from a common ancestor.
— 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

It happened occasionally that a traveller, after having looked at the face of one of the ferrymen, started to tell the story of his life, told about pains, confessed evil things, asked for comfort and advice.
— from Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

" The clergyman explained that, as far as he was aware, it had quite died out of knowledge, and could hardly be said to be known at all.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy

Many passages I omit, because, though they seem to refer to the last judgment, yet on a closer examination they are found to be ambiguous, or to allude rather to some other event,—whether to that coming of the Saviour which continually occurs in His Church, that is, in His members, in which He comes little by little, and piece by piece, since the whole Church is His body, or to the destruction of the earthly Jerusalem.
— from The City of God, Volume II by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

Aside from the purer air, the outdoor exercise, both conducive to a good appetite and sound sleep, which comparatively few in cities enjoy, they are free from the friction, harassing cares, anxieties, and the keen competition incident to city life.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden

As the roads nearly always run through the swampy rice fields, a hostile force is unable to march straight at its point of attack, but must follow the road, being thus constantly exposed to a flank fire from the defending force occupying the other arm of the angle ahead.
— from A Diplomat in Japan The inner history of the critical years in the evolution of Japan when the ports were opened and the monarchy restored, recorded by a diplomatist who took an active part in the events of the time, with an account of his personal experiences during that period by Ernest Mason Satow

And for this reason it is not a Movement: for all Movement takes place in time of certain duration and has a certain End to accomplish; for instance, the Movement of house-building is then only complete when the builder has produced what he intended, that is, either in the whole time
— from The Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle

She comes every Tuesday and Friday with a cart drawn by dogs, and a basket big enough to stow the pair of you.
— from The Submarine Hunters: A Story of the Naval Patrol Work in the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

At least, I hove off 1892 Eighth Avenue at eight-fifteen A. M. I loitered about; looked at pawnshop windows; gave a careful examination to a forty-eight-dollars-ninety-eight-cent complete outfit for a four-room flat; had a chat with a policeman; assisted at a runaway; advanced a nickel to a colored gentleman in distress; had my shoes shined by another; helped a child catch an escaped parrot—and still it wasn't nine!
— from The Motormaniacs by Lloyd Osbourne

How did it happen that his nature, originally open, unreserved, and chivalrous, even to a fault, became at length cautious, and marked by dissimulation?
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 65, No. 402, April, 1849 by Various

The stringent censorship exercised then and for three months afterwards prevented Europe from hearing of either this remarkable feature of the riots or their real object.
— from Spain from Within by Rafael Shaw

A certain portion of the house is regarded as their own, and to them offerings of beaten rice and toddy are made on the first of every month, and, if convenient, every Tuesday and Friday.
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7 by Edgar Thurston

Common politeness, by the Japanese code, exacts this attitude from every manly man; moreover, it is the only safe one.
— from Kimiko, and Other Japanese Sketches by Lafcadio Hearn

An Unpleasant incident During the month of February my time was chiefly employed in inspecting the roads and the defensive posts which my talented and indefatigable Chief Engineer was constructing, examining the arrangements for housing the troops, and looking after the transport animals and Commissariat depots.
— from Forty-one years in India: from subaltern to commander-in-chief by Roberts, Frederick Sleigh Roberts, Earl

Certainly it seems a poor spider after the dynamical and migratory gossamer; but it happens, curiously enough, that a Facts and Thoughts about Spiders, 189 study of the habits of this dusty domestic creature leads us incidentally into the realms of fable and romance.
— from The Naturalist in La Plata by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson

Ask him, how he can expect that a form of government will maintain an authority at 3000 miles' distance, when it cannot make itself be respected, or even be treated with common decency, at home.'
— from Life of Johnson, Volume 3 1776-1780 by James Boswell