After this, he read to them a poetic song, which was composed in hexameter verse, and left it to them in the holy book: it contained a prediction of what was to come to pass afterward; agreeably whereto all things have happened all along, and do still happen to us; and wherein he has not at all deviated from the truth.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

And if Aristomachus endured the most terrible tortures, as Phylarchus says, he yet would not have been sufficiently punished for the crime of one day, in which, when Aratus had effected an entrance into Argos with the Achaean soldiers,—and after supporting the most severe struggles and dangers for the freedom of its citizens, had eventually been driven out, because the party within who were in league with him had not ventured to stir, for fear of the tyrant,—Aristomachus availed himself of the pretext of their complicity with the irruption of the Achaeans to put to the rack and execute eighty of the leading citizens, who were perfectly innocent, in the presence of their relations.
— from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius

Slighter, but still very noticeable, is the retardation when the experiment is so arranged that the observer, ignorant whether the stimulus is to be an impression of light, sound, or touch, cannot keep his attention turned to any particular sense-organ in advance.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James

The point to be gained by the cabal was this; that a precedent should be established, tending to show, That the favor of the people was not so sure a road as the favor of the court even to popular honors and popular trusts .
— from The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 01 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

Some one, therefore, who has the family's interest at heart and knows their taste and purse, should go personally to the establishment of the undertaker, and not only select the coffin, but go carefully into the specification of all other details, so that everything necessary may be arranged for, and unnecessary items omitted.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

While St. Aubert was too much indisposed to share it, Emily, in her anxiety for her father, forgot herself; and Valancourt, silent and thoughtful, yet never inattentive to them, appeared particularly solicitous to accommodate and relieve St. Aubert, who often observed, while his daughter was pressing him to eat, or adjusting the pillow she had placed in the back of his arm-chair, that Valancourt fixed on her a look of pensive tenderness, which he was not displeased to understand.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

It has in that country, indeed, been lately extended to twentyseven, a period still too short to encourage the tenant to make the most important improvements.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Exceptional skill, while based on natural talent, requires special preparation, and it has called into existence the trade and professional schools, and finally bureaus for vocational guidance.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

When the plants are almost at their best the tops turn a peculiar sickly green, or they wilt, or become brown.
— from The Mayflower, January, 1905 by Various

, leaves the tibial sheath, and enters its own sheath, lying superficially between the tibial and peroneal sheaths ( Fig. 6 ).
— from Variation in the Muscles and Nerves of the Leg in Two Genera of Grouse (Tympanuchus and Pedioecetes) by E. Bruce Holmes

Although all this has no direct connection with freedom of thought, still, if any one be inclined to attribute the uprising of the mind to the intolerance of the court of Rome, let him listen to M. Guizot: "It is not true," says he, "that in the sixteenth century the court of Rome was very tyrannical; that abuses, properly so called, were then more numerous, more crying, than they had been at other times;
— from Protestantism and Catholicity compared in their effects on the civilization of Europe by Jaime Luciano Balmes

He earnestly pressed it on the commanding officer, as the soldiers were then in better spirits than it could be supposed they would be after having passed the night under arms, and as the circumstance of making an attack would be some encouragement to them, and probably some terror to the enemy, who would have had the disadvantage of standing on the defence––a disadvantage with which those wild barbarians, (for such most of them were) perhaps would have been more struck than better disciplined troops––especially, too, when they fought against the laws of their country.
— from The Life of Col. James Gardiner Who Was Slain at the Battle of Prestonpans, September 21, 1745 by Philip Doddridge

The sacred College, terrified by the experience of Sixtus into thinking that another Pope, so reckless in his creation of scandalous Cardinals, might ruin Christendom, laid the most solemn obligations on the Pope elect.
— from Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) The Age of the Despots by John Addington Symonds

Defence of the system I The first great difficulty against extemporary preaching is that, though a priest studies his subject and maps his plan, he still reckons without his host.
— from The Young Priest's Keepsake by Michael J. Phelan

Among domestic servants, a race whose virtues should be the more esteemed, that they are practised sometimes in defiance of strong temptation, were found many distinguished instances of unshaken fidelity.
— from Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume I. by Walter Scott

Jones began to entertain strong hopes that his Sophia was present; and these hopes gave him more spirits than the lights, the music, and the company; though these are pretty strong antidotes against the spleen.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding