Then the king ordered a pan of glowing coals to be placed upon Eyvind's belly, which burst asunder.
— from Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson

[Clark, September 12, 1805] September 12th Thursday 1805 a white frost Set out at 7 oClock & proceeded on up the Creek, passed a Fork on the right on which I saw near an old Indian encampment a Swet house Covered wthh earth, at 2 miles assended a high hill & proceeded through a hilley and thickly timbered Countrey for 9 miles & on the Right of the Creek, passing Several branches from the right of fine clear water and Struck at a fork at which place the road forks, one passing up each fork.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

It cannot indeed be denied that in order to bring an uncultivated or degraded mind into the track of moral goodness some preparatory guidance is necessary, to attract it by a view of its own advantage, or to alarm it by fear of loss; but as soon as this mechanical work, these leading-strings have produced some effect, then we must bring before the mind the pure moral motive, which, not only because it is the only one that can be the foundation of a character (a practically consistent habit of mind with unchangeable maxims), but also because it teaches a man to feel his own dignity, gives the mind a power unexpected even by himself, to tear himself from all sensible attachments so far as they would fain have the rule, and to find a rich compensation for the sacrifice he offers, in the independence of his rational nature and the greatness of soul to which he sees that he is destined.
— from The Critique of Practical Reason by Immanuel Kant

v [B2] for the ears to prick up, esp. in surprise.
— from A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan by John U. Wolff

There is no place upon earth that heaven has embraced with such an influence and constancy of favour; her very ruins are grand and glorious, “Laudandis pretiosior ruinis.”
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

I can put up even with rain, provided it rains cats and dogs; but something of the sort I must have, and if I have it not, I think myself in a manner ill-used; for why am I called on to pay so heavily for winter, in coals and candles, and various privations that will occur even to gentlemen, if I am not to have the article good of its kind?
— from Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey

[Picking up empty plate in horror.
— from The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde

Cuius autem vita ipsi potest utilis esse, cum eius vitae ea condicio sit, ut, qui illam eripuerit
— from De Officiis by Marcus Tullius Cicero

ALL TO PIECES, utterly, excessively; “he beat him ALL TO PIECES ,” i.e. , excelled or surpassed him exceedingly.
— from A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words Used at the Present Day in the Streets of London; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; the Houses of Parliament; the Dens of St. Giles; and the Palaces of St. James. by John Camden Hotten

Lines laboured at for many an hour, become in the mouth of a great actor or actress so changed, so sublimated by the touch of genius, as to prove unrecognisable, even as a child of peasants adopted by persons of rank may so dazzle the eyes of its mother that it appears for the moment as a stranger.
— from Brothers: The True History of a Fight Against Odds by Horace Annesley Vachell

About four o'clock in the afternoon the first line of guns advanced, and the second took the place which the first had before occupied; it was also placed upon every little eminence over the field, and it did great execution amongst the enemy's ranks.
— from Waterloo Days: The narrative of an Englishwoman resident at Brussels in June 1815 by Charlotte A. (Charlotte Anne) Eaton

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.
— from Our Government: Local, State, and National: Idaho Edition by James Alton James

In plain uncomplimentary English, so I am.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

Pommeli liardus, gris pommele, Uno equo liardo pomele " (Obs.
— from The Master of Game: The Oldest English Book on Hunting by of Norwich Edward

You can give us the old-fashioned parson, as in all essentials he may yet be found—but before you had to drag him out of the great Puseyite sectarian bog; and, for the rest, I really think that while, as I am told, many popular writers are doing their best, especially in France, and perhaps a little in England, to set class against class, and pick up every stone in the kennel to shy at a gentleman with a good coat on his back, something useful might be done by a few good-humored sketches of those innocent criminals a little better off than their neighbors, whom, however we dislike them, I take it for granted we shall have to endure, in one shape or another, as long as civilization exists; and they seem, on the whole, as good in their present shape as we are likely to get, shake the dice box of society how we will."
— from International Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science, Vol. 1, No. 3, Oct. 1, 1850 by Various

Some connection between the railroad and politics undoubtedly existed at an early date.
— from Chapters on the History of the Southern Pacific by Stuart Daggett

Like the vegetable kingdom, they are limited within the boundaries of certain countries by the conditions of climate and soil; and some of the species prey upon each other.
— from The Book of Household Management by Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton

They cannot be taken, but are practically useless, except as offering the shelter of inert matter to partner’s pieces.
— from The Boy's Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations A Popular Encyclopædia for Boys by Gordon Stables