For a long time it was uncertain which of the two would gain the victory; at length the stag thrust his horns into his adversary's body, whereupon the bull fell to the earth with a terrific roar, and was thoroughly despatched by a few strokes from the stag.
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Wilhelm Grimm

The French philosophers, who have proposed the system which represents agriculture as the sole source of the revenue and wealth of every country, seem to have adopted this proverbial maxim; and, as in the plan of Mr. Colbert, the industry of the towns was certainly overvalued in comparison with that of the country, so in their system it seems to be as certainly under-valued.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

In the time of Cæsar the reindeer, as well as the elk and the wild bull, was a native of the Hercynian forest, which then overshadowed a great part of Germany and Poland.
— 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

"Whereas, one hundred and fifty waggons, with four horses to each waggon, and fifteen hundred saddle or pack horses, are wanted for the service of his majesty's forces now about to rendezvous at Will's Creek, and his excellency General Braddock having been pleased to empower me to contract for the hire of the same, I hereby give notice that I shall attend for that purpose at Lancaster from this day to next Wednesday evening, and at York from next Thursday morning till Friday evening, where I shall be ready to agree for waggons and teams, or single horses, on the following terms, viz.:
— from Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

Among his various eccentric habits he had a humorous one of always cheating at cards, which rendered necessary on his part, not only a close observance of the game, and a sleight-of-hand in counting and scoring, but also involved the constant correction, by looks, and frowns, and kicks under the table, of Richard Swiveller, who being bewildered by the rapidity with which his cards were told, and the rate at which the pegs travelled down the board, could not be prevented from sometimes expressing his surprise and incredulity.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

[510] Who, then, can doubt that God, either in foreknowledge or in act, separated between these and the rest? And who will dispute that the rest are justly called "light?"
— from The City of God, Volume I by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

The robust anarchist was not exactly a bold conqueror.
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad

Before everything else, the raw and wicked tendencies of the masses ought to be restrained, in order to protect them from doing anything that is extremely unjust, or committing cruel, violent, and disgraceful deeds.
— from Essays of Schopenhauer by Arthur Schopenhauer

Mrs. Philips was always glad to see her nieces, and the two eldest, from their recent absence, were particularly welcome, and she was eagerly expressing her surprise at their sudden return home, which, as their own carriage had not fetched them, she should have known nothing about, if she had not happened to see Mr. Jones's shop boy in the street, who had told her that they were not to send any more draughts to Netherfield because the Miss Bennets were come away, when her civility was claimed towards Mr. Collins by Jane's introduction of him.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

They had books, however; and the surgeon, who was a Christian man, taught those who wished to learn to read and write.
— from Taking Tales: Instructive and Entertaining Reading by William Henry Giles Kingston

By evoking, under imaginary conditions, the feeling of brotherhood and love, religious art will train men to experience those same feelings under similar circumstances in actual life; it will lay in the souls of men the rails along which the actions of those whom art thus educates will naturally pass.
— from The Kingdom of God is Within You; What is Art? by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

A solemn service was held in the hall of the House of the Representatives at Washington, April 16, with appropriate addresses from Garfield and others.
— from Famous Men of Science by Sarah Knowles Bolton

“I don't know so very much about it, but there's been some agitation down there against the railroads, and Waterman and the Steel crowd put in Governor Hannis to do nothing.”
— from The Moneychangers by Upton Sinclair

Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils over A number of girls choose one of their number to represent a witch, and another to be a mother.
— from The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 1 of 2) With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc. by Alice Bertha Gomme

Mr. Cowan, member for Edinburgh, said that he had been requested to present a petition, signed by the Lord Provost and magistrates of Edinburgh, seeking for delay, but he did not like to incur that responsibility, and would therefore support [356] the second reading.
— from Chapters in the History of the Insane in the British Isles by Daniel Hack Tuke

31 The Ætolians were then summoned to appear; in which trial the inquiry was directed to discover, rather, which party had favoured the Romans, and which the king, than which had done, and which suffered injury; for the murderers were absolved from guilt, and likewise the banishment of the exiles confirmed, and the death of the citizens overlooked.
— from The History of Rome, Books 37 to the End with the Epitomes and Fragments of the Lost Books by Livy

Quick as a flash I said "Yes," and produced from my pocket a newspaper published in Washington the day before, which I had picked up on the road as we came in.
— from The Bright Side of Prison Life Experience, In Prison and Out, of an Involuntary Soujouner in Rebellion by S. A. (Samuel A.) Swiggett