But now let us leave this and look somewhat to the first principles of things, whereby thou wilt see that we all get our flesh from one same stock and that all souls were by one same Creator created with equal faculties, equal powers and equal virtues.
— from The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Giovanni Boccaccio

When the family, or group of families, formed their settlements, they avoided the buildings and walled towns, relics of Roman civilisation, made clearings for themselves in the primeval forests, and established themselves in village communities.
— from English Villages by P. H. (Peter Hampson) Ditchfield

And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes!
— from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Illustrated by Arthur Conan Doyle

You go on falling from gearing to gearing, from agony to agony, from torture to torture, you, your mind, your fortune, your future, your soul; and, according to whether you are in the power of a wicked creature, or of a noble heart, you will not escape from this terrifying machine otherwise than disfigured with shame, or transfigured by passion.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

He lookd and saw wide Territorie spred Before him, Towns, and rural works between, Cities of Men with lofty Gates and Towrs, Concours in Arms, fierce Faces threatning Warr, Giants of mightie Bone, and bould emprise; Part wield thir Arms, part courb the foaming Steed, Single or in Array of Battel rang'd 640 Both Horse and Foot, nor idely mustring stood; One way a Band select from forage drives A herd of Beeves, faire Oxen and faire Kine From a fat Meddow ground; or fleecy Flock, Ewes and thir bleating Lambs over the Plaine, Thir Bootie; scarce with Life the Shepherds flye, But call in aide, which tacks a bloody Fray; With cruel Tournament the Squadrons joine; Where Cattel pastur'd late, now scatterd lies With Carcasses and Arms th' ensanguind Field 650 Deserted: Others to a Citie strong Lay Siege, encampt; by Batterie, Scale, and Mine, Assaulting; others from the Wall defend With Dart and Jav'lin, Stones and sulfurous Fire; On each hand slaughter and gigantic deeds.
— from The Poetical Works of John Milton by John Milton

Also we were above the level of the marsh mist, which lay stretched beneath us like the dim smoke-pall over a city, lit up here and there by the wandering globes of fen fire.
— from She by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

These halls lead into a garden of fine fruit trees.
— from The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

“If the Sioux chiefs were here,” Tatanka remarked with a smile, “they would have to carry away many glasses of food, for it is the custom of the Indians to take away with them whatever they cannot eat at a feast.
— from The Lure of the Mississippi by D. (Dietrich) Lange

There every day you may call for any dish of Meat, roast, fryed or sodden: Fish both small and great: ordinary Flesh for the poorer Sort, and more dainty for the Rich as Venison and Fowl.
— from Early London: Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon and Norman by Walter Besant

At the recent Meeting of the British Association, Professor Glimm , of Finsterberg, favoured Section A with the outlines of his plan for the better arrangement of the signs of the zodiac, which, as he truly remarked, were in a very unsatisfactory state, and not at all in accordance with the spirit of the age.
— from Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various

According to Count de Vaublanc, the Swiss, if they had been commanded by a good officer from four o'clock in the morning, would have sufficed to disperse the multitude as they came up, and possibly might have won the day for the King without bloodshed.
— from Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty by Imbert de Saint-Amand

When the Navy League says, as it does, that a self-respecting nation should not depend upon the goodwill of foreigners for its safety, but upon its own strength, it recommends Germany to maintain her efforts to arrive at some sort of equality with ourselves.
— from Peace Theories and the Balkan War by Norman Angell

[1222] OPPOSITION OF CHAPTERS This brief probably was good only for five years for, in 1494, the sovereigns obtained from Alexander VI another, with enlarged powers, of which Martin Ponce, Bishop of Avila, was executor.
— from A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 2 by Henry Charles Lea

Perhaps the faculty of eager enjoyment is somewhat blunted; but the appeal, the sweetness, the pathos, the mystery of the world, as life goes on, fall far oftener and with far more of a magical spell upon the heart.
— from The Upton Letters by Arthur Christopher Benson

A dog, which in its normal condition absorbed on an average 7 grains of fat for every 2 pounds of its weight, absorbed only 3, or even as little as 1 grain, after the bile was prevented entering the intestines, in consequence of a ligature being applied to the gall-duct.
— from Jaundice: Its Pathology and Treatment With the Application of Physiological Chemistry to the Detection and Treatment of Diseases of the Liver and Pancreas by George Harley

Well, they can amuse themselves as long as they like; they may go on for four-and-twenty hours, but they will never set those beams on fire."
— from A Soldier's Daughter, and Other Stories by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty