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plainly a charm intended
The iron is here plainly a charm, intended to render harmless the spirit that is in the corn.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

placing a confidence in
I thought, when I had written this letter, and that which he had prescribed, it would look like placing a confidence in Mrs. Jewkes, to shew them to her; and I shewed her, at the same time, my master's letter to me; for I believed the value he expressed for me, would give me credit with one who professed in every thing to serve him, right or wrong; though I had so little reason, I fear, to pride myself in it: and I was not mistaken; for it has seemed to influence her not a little, and she is at present mighty obliging, and runs over in my praises; but is the less to be minded, because she praises as much the author of my miseries, and his honourable intentions, as she calls them; for I see, that she is capable of thinking, as I fear he does, that every thing that makes for his wicked will is honourable, though to the ruin of the innocent.
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

penitent and confessing I
When now unto that portion of mine age I saw myself arrived, when each one ought To lower the sails, and coil away the ropes, That which before had pleased me then displeased me; And penitent and confessing I surrendered, Ah woe is me!
— from Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Hell by Dante Alighieri

piety and contemplation it
And they who consider with what infinite attention, by what a disregard of every perishable object, through what long habits of piety and contemplation it is that any man is able to attain an entire love and devotion to the Deity, will easily perceive that it is not the first, the most natural, and the most striking effect which proceeds from that idea.
— from The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 01 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

part a catastrophe in
Some time afterwards, caught in the gearing of one of those mysterious adventures in which passion plays a part, a catastrophe in which French justice sees extenuating circumstances, and in which English justice sees only death, Barthélemy was hanged.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

pity and concern I
And when I saw them there, I sat up in my bed, without any regard to what appearance I made, and nothing about my neck; and he soothing me, with an aspect of pity and concern, I put my hand to his mouth, and said, O tell me, yet tell me not, what have I suffered in this distress?
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

properly authenticated contemporary instance
More or less regularly, subsequently to the reign of Frederick Barbarossa, elected King of the Romans in 1152, and crowned as Emperor in 1155, the eagle with one or two heads (there seems originally to have been little unanimity upon the point) seems to have become the recognised heraldic symbol of the Holy Roman Empire; and the seal of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, elected King of the Romans in 1257, shows his arms ["Argent, a lion rampant gules, within a bordure sable, bezanté"] displayed upon the breast of an eagle; but no properly authenticated contemporary instance of the use of this eagle by the Earl of Cornwall is found in this country.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

palm and covers it
He then binds it up again with a creeper ( akar gasing-gasing ), and roasts it over an earth hearth ( saleian ), the floor ( lantei ) of which is of the pinang boring (another wild areca palm), and covers it over with wild banana leaves ( tudong salei daun pisang hutan ) and leaves of the rĕsam bracken.
— from Malay Magic Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula by Walter William Skeat

peanuts Arbuckles Co introduced
So in that year (1865), although not without the misgivings of his elder brother, and even in the face of the ridicule of competitors, who derided the plan of selling roasted coffee "in little paper bags like peanuts", Arbuckles & Co. introduced the new idea, namely, roasted coffee in original packages.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

projected a cause into
Our belief that the will is a cause was so great, that, according to our personal experiences in general, we projected a cause into all phenomena ( i.e. a certain motive is posited as the cause of all phenomena).
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

pregnant and characteristic in
"This legend is one of the most pregnant and characteristic in the Grecian Mythology; it explains, according to the religious ideas familiar to the old epic poets, both the distinguishing attributes and the endless toil and endurances of Heracles, the most renowned subjugator of all the semi-divine personages worshipped by the Hellenes,—a being of irresistible force, and especially beloved by Zeus, yet condemned constantly to labour for others and to obey the commands of a worthless and cowardly persecutor.
— from The Iliad by Homer

proposed a corpse instead
The happy pair were compelled to remain in long seclusion because of murderous threats against them, the children having proposed a corpse instead of a bride.
— from T. De Witt Talmage as I Knew Him by Eleanor McCutcheon Talmage

Provisions are coming in
Provisions are coming in so slowly that we shall be short of food.
— from Ismailia by Baker, Samuel White, Sir

placing a check in
A coupon signed "Lee H. Oswald," received under date of October 31, 1962, in which he indicates, by placing a check in an appropriate place, that he would like to join the Socialist Workers Party.
— from Warren Commission (10 of 26): Hearings Vol. X (of 15) by United States. Warren Commission

policy and courteously ignored
Rumania was chastened and qualified in severer fashion for admission to the sodality of nations until her delegates quitted the Conference in disgust, struck out their own policy, and courteously ignored the Great Powers.
— from The Inside Story of the Peace Conference by Emile Joseph Dillon

petroleum and chemical industries
The PCR membership campaign had been given particular emphasis in the major industries, such as the metal, machine-building, coal, petroleum, and chemical industries, where 27 to 36 percent of the workers were reported to belong to the party.
— from Area Handbook for Romania by Eugene K. Keefe

purposes and classified into
It comprised a vast array of many different classes of guns for many different purposes, and classified into various categories by reference either to their calibres, their mobility or their tactical purposes.
— from The Australian Victories in France in 1918 by Monash, John, Sir

passion and confine it
Wherever Miss Clavering went, this infatuated young fellow continued to follow her; and being aware that his engagement to his cousin was known in the world, he was forced to make a mystery of his passion, and confine it to his own breast, so that it was so pent in there and pressed down, that it is a wonder he did not explode some day with the stormy secret, and perish collapsed after the outburst.
— from The History of Pendennis by William Makepeace Thackeray

people already called it
It merited, then, the name of “lake;” and by that name the young people already called it.
— from Popular Adventure Tales by Mayne Reid


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