1, 5 , of his Method of History, proves that hot countries are most troubled with melancholy, and that there are therefore in Spain, Africa, and Asia Minor, great numbers of mad men, insomuch that they are compelled in all cities of note, to build peculiar hospitals for them.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

The Prize being a slow Sailor, Davis first came up with the Enemy, and standing along Side of them, shewed his pyratical Colours: They, much surpriz’d, called to Davis , telling him, they wondered at his Impudence in venturing to come so near them, and ordered him to strike; but he answered, that he intended to keep them in Play, till his Consort came up, who was able to deal with them, and that if they did not strike to him, they should have but bad Quarters; whereupon he gave them a Broad-Side, which they returned.
— from A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence, to the present time by Daniel Defoe

Mean while the winged Haralds by command Of Sovran power, with awful Ceremony And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim A solemn Councel forthwith to be held At Pandaemonium, the high Capital Of Satan and his Peers: thir summons call'd From every Band and squared Regiment FULL-SIZE -- Medium-Size By place or choice the worthiest; they anon With hundreds and with thousands trooping came 760 Attended: all access was throng'd, the Gates And Porches wide, but chief the spacious Hall (Though like a cover'd field, where Champions bold Wont ride in arm'd, and at the Soldans chair Defi'd the best of Panim chivalry To mortal combat or carreer with Lance) Thick swarm'd, both on the ground and in the air, Brusht with the hiss of russling wings.
— from The Poetical Works of John Milton by John Milton

After the amusement of some unequal combats between the Jesuits and his illiterate priests, the emperor declared himself a proselyte to the synod of Chalcedon, presuming that his clergy and people would embrace without delay the religion of their prince.
— 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

The King of Thunes, his first amazement passed, finally found an explanation which appeared plausible to his companions.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

The letter was written in Greek upon a skin; the import of it was, that Porus was the writer, that although he was sovereign of six hundred kings, yet that he highly esteemed the friendship of Cæsar; that he was willing to allow him a passage through his country, in whatever part he pleased, and to assist him in any undertaking that was just.
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) Literally Translated, with Notes by Strabo

Up early, and got me ready in my riding clothes, and so to the office, and there wrote letters to my father and wife against night, and then to the business of my office, which being done, I took boat with Will, and down to Greenwich, where Captain Cocke not being at home I was vexed, and went to walk in the Park till he come thither to me: and Will’s forgetting to bring my boots in the boat did also vex me, for I was forced to send the boat back again for them.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Called up, by message from Lord Bruncker and the rest of my fellows, that they will meet me at the Duke of Albemarle’s this morning; so I up, and weary, however, got thither before them, and spoke with my Lord, and with him and other gentlemen to walk in the Parke, where, I perceive, he spends much of his time, having no whither else to go; and here I hear him speake of some Presbyter people that he caused to be apprehended yesterday, at a private meeting in Covent Garden, which he would have released upon paying L5 per man to the poor, but it was answered, they would not pay anything; so he ordered them to another prison from the guard.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

On the contrary, were he not to marry again, it might be concluded that his first wife had given him a disgust to marriage; but by taking a second wife he pays the highest compliment to the first, by shewing that she made him so happy as a married man, that he wishes to be so a second time.'
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by James Boswell

Macbeth appeared as horror-stricken as Macduff, and pretending that he could not bear to see life in Duncan's murderers, he slew the two grooms with their own daggers before they could proclaim their innocence.
— from Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

Every farthing that has been spent upon you from the day you were born to the present time has come out of her purse.
— from Under Lock and Key: A Story. Volume 1 (of 3) by T. W. (Thomas Wilkinson) Speight

After passing the hilly country, a broad plain is crossed to Valencia.
— from Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain by George Edmund Street

Professor Thomson himself carefully superintended the education of his sons, which was carried out at home.
— from Lord Kelvin: An account of his scientific life and work by Andrew Gray

Phil took his cap and went with him to purchase the fiddle, promising to come back directly.
— from Phil, the Fiddler by Alger, Horatio, Jr.

The finishing touch is made by painting the nose a bright red, and then the brave old saint will be ready to hide in the spacious chimney, to descend and greet the company when he receives the signal that the proper time has come for his appearance.
— from New Ideas for American Boys; The Jack of All Trades by Daniel Carter Beard

Should the reader desire to watch the growth of the pollen tubes, he can easily do so by shaking some pollen cells (preferably large ones, such as those of some lilies) on to a solution of sugar, and watching them at intervals with the aid of a lens.
— from Field and Woodland Plants by William S. Furneaux

Come along out, all three of you; we'll thrash the thing bare, and come back prepared to help Cecil in every way.
— from Girls New and Old by L. T. Meade

The natural result followed: Turkey was bowed beneath a force too mighty for her to resist; the partial civilization of the North produced its effect on the comparative barbarism of the East; and the Turk, dazzled and deluded, bewildered by the speciousness of a policy that he could not fathom, and consequently did not suspect; abandoned by the European powers on whose assistance he had relied; and unable singly either to resist the covert threats, or to reject the proffered friendship of this voluntary ally, fell into the snare which had been laid for him, and betrayed his want of internal strength to his most dangerous enemy.
— from The City of the Sultan; and Domestic Manners of the Turks, in 1836, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Miss (Julia) Pardoe