Nothing was heard but the sound of munching and the rattle of spoons on the plates.
— from The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

He, as well as McCarrison, noted an increase, though much less marked, as the result of starvation.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess

But the most casual provocation, the slightest motive of caprice or convenience, often provoked them to involve a whole people in an indiscriminate massacre; and the ruin of some flourishing cities was executed with such unrelenting perseverance, that, according to their own expression, horses might run, without stumbling, over the ground where they had once stood.
— 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

That if his heirs had, there being no law of nature nor positive law of God that determines which is the right heir in all cases that may arise, the right of succession, and consequently of bearing rule, could not have been certainly determined: ( 4 ).
— from Second Treatise of Government by John Locke

Since it is the UNDERSTANDING that sets man above the rest of sensible beings, and gives him all the advantage and dominion which he has over them; it is certainly a subject, even for its nobleness, worth our labour to inquire into.
— from An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 1 MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books 1 and 2 by John Locke

The mimic warfare of the evening became at last as wearisome to me as the routine of school in the morning because I wanted real adventures to happen to myself.
— from Dubliners by James Joyce

On the sloping descent to the Dnieper Alpátych’s cart and that of the innkeeper’s wife, which were slowly moving amid the rows of soldiers and of other vehicles, had to stop.
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

“Yes,” she said, finally, “here it is, of course: 'With interest thereon monthly, at the rate of seven per cent per annum.'”
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

He maintains as the result of scientific research that the Semitic races, consequently also the Jews, are lacking in humor, in the capacity for laughter.
— from Jewish Literature and Other Essays by Gustav Karpeles

[178] The story of their unflinching heroism was told by Sir Max Aitken, the record officer serving with the Canadian division
— from Horrors and Atrocities of the Great War Including the Tragic Destruction of the Lusitania by Logan Marshall

Out of these spiritual energies come events, phenomena that manifest themselves in political, social, ecclesiastical transactions and institutions; in wars, migrations and the reshaping of states; in codes of law, the organization of society, the development of art, literature and science.
— from Towards the Great Peace by Ralph Adams Cram

On my asking the reason of so severe a treatment, we were informed, that he had been discovered in a situation rather indelicate, with a woman who was taboo'd .
— from A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 15 Forming A Complete History Of The Origin And Progress Of Navigation, Discovery, And Commerce, By Sea And Land, From The Earliest Ages To The Present Time by Robert Kerr

"And that Major Thomas Frye and Capt. John Eldredge be the persons appointed to order and oversee the building of said bridge, and to render an account thereof, to the Assembly, and the said Major Frye and Capt. Eldredge to be paid for their trouble and pains, out of the remaining part of said impost money, and the remainder of said impost money to be disposed of as the Assembly shall from time to time see fit."
— from History of the Negro Race in America From 1619 to 1880. Vol 1 Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens by George Washington Williams

You could approach Antonville by surrey, buggy or foot ... along a winding length of dusty road ... or muddy ... according to rain or shine.
— from Tramping on Life An Autobiographical Narrative by Harry Kemp

His programme was the removal and punishment of the king's ministers, and the restoration of strong government and even-handed justice.
— from A History of England Eleventh Edition by Charles Oman

[17] W. S. Robertson, "Francisco de Miranda and the Revolutionizing of Spanish America" (1909).
— from The United States and Latin America by John Holladay Latané

At that epoch the French were the masters of Paris, as the English are the masters of London, the Spaniards of Madrid, and the Russians of St. Petersburg.
— from L'Abbe Constantin — Volume 2 by Ludovic Halévy

Something more nearly resembling human speech than any sound he had yet uttered burst from the lips of the wild man as the report of Saïd Mohammed’s shot whispered in echoes through the mysterious labyrinths beneath us.
— from Tales of Secret Egypt by Sax Rohmer