Before the sentence, which would probably have condemned him to a dungeon or a cell, the emperor was informed that the palace courts were filled with the armed followers of his grandson; the judgment was softened to a treaty of reconciliation; and the triumphant escape of the prince encouraged the ardor of the younger faction.
— 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

Now that I have shewn, that all the Obedience required to Salvation, consisteth in the will to obey the Law of God, that is to say, in Repentance; and all the Faith required to the same, is comprehended in the beleef of this Article, Jesus Is The Christ; I will further alledge those places of the Gospell, that prove, that all that is Necessary to Salvation is contained in both these joined together.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

Yet the experience of six years at length persuaded the Persian monarch to renounce the conquest of Constantinople, and to specify the annual tribute or ransom of the Roman empire; a thousand talents of gold, a thousand talents of silver, a thousand silk robes, a thousand horses, and a thousand virgins.
— 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

Drawing in the warp threads. Run your needle in, about one c/m. above the damaged part, take up one or two threads of the stuff and miss the same number, working straight to a thread; on reaching the hole, carry your cotton straight across it, take up alternate threads beyond, and proceed as before.
— from Encyclopedia of Needlework by Thérèse de Dillmont

He thought of the mountains—and especially of a certain spot which he used to frequent, whence he would look down upon the distant valleys and fields, and see the waterfall, far off, like a little silver thread, and the old ruined castle in the distance.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A man called Gere’u, of the Lukuba clan, knew very well the mwasila magic, and wherever he went, all the valuables were given to him, so that all the others returned empty-handed.
— from Argonauts of the Western Pacific An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea by Bronislaw Malinowski

"Brooks," he went on earnestly, "you and me being met on a matter of business, and the same needin' steadiness—head and hand, my boy, if ever business did—what d'ye say to a tot of rum apiece?" Without waiting for my answer, he hobbled off to the cupboard, and had set two glasses on the table and brimmed them with neat spirit before I had finished protesting.
— from Poison Island by Arthur Quiller-Couch

And, if it seems to us sad that all the other richly- endowed and highly-developed nations of antiquity had to perish in order to enrich a single one out of the whole, and that all in the long run appear to have only arisen to contribute to the greatness of Italy and to the decay involved in that greatness, yet historical justice must acknowledge that this result was not produced by the military superiority of the legion over the phalanx, but was the necessary development of the international relations of antiquity generally-so that the issue was not decided by provoking chance, but was the fulfillment of an unchangeable, and therefore endurable, destiny.
— from The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) by Theodor Mommsen

It is said that Americans too often rush off to Europe without knowing that America possesses a Niagara Palls, Yosemite Valley, and Yellowstone National Park.
— from Peculiarities of American Cities by Willard W. Glazier

Far in the distance, from time to time, groups of mounted Tatars showed themselves; and the occasional reports from our rifles, guns, and cannon were heard.
— from The Invaders, and Other Stories by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Then Skarphedinn sang a song, "Squanderer of hoarded wealth, Some there are that own rich treasure, Ore of sea that clasps the earth, And yet care to count their sheep; Those who forge sharp songs of mocking, Death songs, scarcely can possess Sense of sheep that crop the grass; Such as these I seek in fight;" and said afterwards, "We shall fish for salmon, father."
— from The Story of Burnt Njal: The Great Icelandic Tribune, Jurist, and Counsellor by Unknown

This information, conveyed with a well assumed maiden bashfulness, seemed to afford the old rascal the most intense delight; he threw his arm around me, and kissed me repeatedly, then his hand began the exploration to which I have alluded.
— from City Crimes; Or, Life in New York and Boston by George Thompson

Snorky's suggestion somehow threw a touch of ridicule over the whole proposition and Skippy, like all true imaginations, shrank from ridicule.
— from Skippy Bedelle His Sentimental Progress From the Urchin to the Complete Man of the World by Owen Johnson

Common sense and shoeing tools are the only requirements necessary to tack on a plate without calks.
— from Farm Mechanics: Machinery and Its Use to Save Hand Labor on the Farm. by Herbert A. Shearer

He went out to feed Hulda, slamming the door smartly behind him and never looking at Oscar, who was still in sight, trudging along the open ridge above the valley.
— from The Pirate of Jasper Peak by Cornelia Meigs