Lusignan presented him with a gold saltcellar of curious workmanship, and of the price of ten thousand ducats; and Charles the Sixth despatched by the way of Hungary a cast of Norwegian hawks, and six horse-loads of scarlet cloth, of fine linen of Rheims, and of Arras tapestry, representing the battles of the great Alexander.
— 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

“First, If any assembly or hasty gathering of the commons of the said city, for suppressing or subduing of misruled people within the said city, hereafter shall happen to be called or commanded by the mayor, aldermen, and other governors and councillors of the said city for the time being, there is none so convenient, meet, and necessary a place, to assemble them in, within the said city, as the said Leaden hall, both for largeness of room, and their sure defence in time of their counselling together about the premises.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

I. Of the learned faculties, jurisprudence implies the previous establishment of laws and property; and theology may perhaps be superseded by the full light of religion and reason.
— 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

Listen to these few lines of Regnard, and see whether something like the fleeting image of a DOLL does not cross the field of your imagination: ...
— from Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson

And like a bated and retired flood, Leaving our rankness and irregular course, Stoop low within those bounds we have o'erlook'd, And calmly run on in obedience Even to our ocean, to great King John.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

A river of them poured in through the gate—and then gradually ebbed away again, until there were only a few late ones running, and the watchman pacing up and down, and the hungry strangers stamping and shivering.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

But when Kauśalyásaw that he Resolved to keep his sire's decree, While tears and sobs her utterance broke, Her very righteous speech she spoke: “Can he, a stranger yet to pain, Whose pleasant words all hearts enchain, Son of the king and me the queen, Live on the grain his hands may glean; Can he, whose slaves and menials eat The finest cakes of sifted wheat— Can Ráma in the forest live On roots and fruit which woodlands give; Who will believe, who will not fear When the sad story smites his ear, That one so dear, so noble held, Is by the king his sire expelled?
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

The king suffered a confinement of three months in Chitor, nor was liberated till he had surrendered Ajmer, Ranthambor, Nagor, and Sui Sopur, besides paying fifty lakhs of rupees and one hundred elephants.
— from Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 1 of 3 or the Central and Western Rajput States of India by James Tod

As in a civilized country there are but few commodities of which the exchangeable value arises from labour only, rent and profit contributing largely to that of the far greater part of them, so the annual produce of its labour will always be sufficient to purchase or command a much greater quantity of labour than what was employed in raising, preparing, and bringing that produce to market.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

It was now my place to stand forward bravely, and to put things clearly; without any further loss of reason, and even without considering how these delicate ladies might contrive to take my meaning nicely.
— from The Maid of Sker by R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore

There was a fierce lunging of rifles, a succession of awful groans, and the Boers were gone, all swept to the ground, save a few who were now racing away for their lives.
— from With Rifle and Bayonet: A Story of the Boer War by F. S. (Frederick Sadleir) Brereton

Kites and buzzards, on the other hand, seize their prey upon the ground, and the former feed largely on reptiles and offal as well as on birds and quadrupeds.
— from Darwinism (1889) An exposition of the theory of natural selection, with some of its applications by Alfred Russel Wallace

Now he struck off at a tangent from his former line of route, and, after some hours of steady walking, got among the broken precipitous ground which overhung the river.
— from Harley Greenoak's Charge by Bertram Mitford

I too was anxious enough to see it, less from love of ruins and ancient architecture, than from knowing that a certain illustrious bard was buried in its precincts, of whom perhaps a short account will not be unacceptable to the reader.
— from Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery by George Borrow

long, thick, curved; cavity a slight depression, with a fleshy enlargement at one side of the stem; calyx closed; lobes narrow, acute; basin narrow, obtuse, furrowed, uneven; skin granular, tender, smooth, dull; color pale yellow, with few lines of russet and with many russet spots; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh yellowish, granular both near the skin and at the center, melting, buttery, very juicy, aromatic, with a sweet, rich, vinous flavor; quality very good.
— from The Pears of New York by U. P. Hedrick

Bradshaw was suspended for a week or two from his Chief-Justiceship of Chester; Harrison was sent to Pendennis Castle in Cornwall; Rich to Windsor; security in £5000 was exacted from Ludlow, or rather arranged for him by Cromwell; and the others were variously under guard.
— from The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660 Narrated in Connexion with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of His Time by David Masson