The first Councell, that made the Scriptures we now have, Canon, is not extant: For that Collection the first Bishop of Rome after S. Peter, is subject to question: For though the Canonicall books bee there reckoned up; yet these words, "Sint vobis omnibus Clericis & Laicis Libris venerandi, &c." containe a distinction of Clergy, and Laity, that was not in use so neer St. Peters time.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

The Scotsman then undertook to extend his promise for five more years, so that if next year the increased number of sovereigns that she has saved can be laid out in the same four different ways she will receive a second present; if she succeeds in the following year she will get a third present, and so on until she has earned six presents in all.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney

It is in every respect a singular place: it stands on a rising ground, and directly above it towers a steep conical mountain of calcareous earth, crowned by a ruined castle.
— from The Bible in Spain Or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman, in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula by George Borrow

On most of the eastern roads a passenger can take a single trunk without extra payment, even though it may rival a square piano in size.
— from How to Travel Hints, Advice, and Suggestions to Travelers by Land and Sea all over the Globe. by Thomas Wallace Knox

We’re not exactly short of food, but a little extra would be very useful, and as rattlers are so plentiful it seems almost a pity that we can’t make them good to eat, and knock over all we come across.”
— from The Peril Finders by George Manville Fenn

"Most assuredly, I shall not take that liberty," replied Madame de Croissy, very much irritated, "but she will have the kindness not to go near her cousins, and she may then make herself as ridiculous as she pleases; I shall trouble myself very little about it."
— from Moral Tales by Madame (Elisabeth Charlotte Pauline) Guizot

And so through solitary roads and secret paths I sped, Which to a little ivied church long time deserted led.
— from The Ghost World by T. F. (Thomas Firminger) Thiselton-Dyer

The character they give of the class of spirits who are in the habit of communicating with mortals by rapping and such proceedings, is such that it behoves all Christian people to be on their guard against error and delusion through their means.”
— from David Elginbrod by George MacDonald

Representing a supreme power, it should have the serenity and frankness of omnipotence.
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 10 (of 12) Dresden Edition—Legal by Robert Green Ingersoll

Of the Third [Sidenote: The Third Commandment] To prepare oneself for God and to seek His grace by praying, hearing mass and the Gospel, and meditating on the sufferings of Christ, so that one goes to the sacrament in a spiritual manner; for this commandment requires a soul "poor in spirit," [Matt. 5:3.] which offers its nothingness to God, that He may be its God and receive in it the honor due His work and Name according to the first two commandments.
— from Works of Martin Luther, with Introductions and Notes (Volume II) by Martin Luther