To prove this point, M. Egger appeals to the fact that we often hear some one speak whilst our mind is preoccupied, but do not understand him until some moments afterwards, when we suddenly 'realize' what he meant.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James

This imperfect sentence not being at all intelligible as a confession, but sounding like a Gargantuan order for a dram, brought him into new difficulties by occasioning his parent to pounce at him in a more than usually snappish manner, and to overwhelm him with bitter reproaches.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

Could one but, after infinite reading, get to understand so much as the plan of the building!
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

This tax, amounting to one hundred reis per bag of 132 pounds, or about two and one-half cents United States money at even exchange rates, is collected by the railroads from the shippers, and turned over to the Sociedade .
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

But the methods you're using strike me as primitive.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne

Horatio, disgusted at my insensibility, or from some other cause, became colder and colder every day, till at last he left me altogether, without making any apology for his conduct, or securing me against the miseries of want, as a man of honour ought to have done, considering the share he had in my ruin; for I afterwards learned, that the quarrel between Lothario and him was a story trumped up to rid the one of my importunities, and give the other a recommendation to me, which, it seems, he desired, upon seeing me at the house of my seducer.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

She in the meantime, who neither heard nor understood so much as one word of what he had said, straight imagined, by all that she could apprehend in the lovely gesture of his manual signs, that what he then required of her was what herself had a great mind to, even that which a young man doth naturally desire of a woman.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

The correspondingly moderate movements which the driver of the coach was compelled to adopt, did not very well suit his views, as the icy road and his heavy load formed a combination of circumstances which rendered him anxious to make all possible speed, in order to fulfil the requirements of the U. S. Mail, as well as those of his passengers.
— from Ten Years Among the Mail Bags Or, Notes from the Diary of a Special Agent of the Post-Office Department by James Holbrook

Maggie, who had wailed herself into perfect exhaustion and almost stupor, sat gazing fixedly in his face; the rest seemed hushed as by a spell, and did not begin to move until some moments after his voice ceased.
— from Adèle Dubois A Story of the Lovely Miramichi Valley in New Brunswick by Savage, William T., Mrs.

Oh! kind young lady, do give us some money and some good meat-soup and some wine——' Chanteau, quite exasperated by the girl's string of lies, moved restlessly in his chair, but Pauline would have given the chemise off her back.
— from The Joy of Life [La joie de vivre] by Émile Zola

[16] Under the communal contract, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States, members agreed to merge their properties and to renounce all claims for services; and the community, on its part, agreed to support the members and to repay without interest, to any one desiring to withdraw, the amount he had put into the common fund.
— from Our Foreigners: A Chronicle of Americans in the Making by Samuel Peter Orth

"I was just passing by and thought I'd look in and see how you all were," said Zeb, with his usual shy manner and apologetic smile.
— from Sheila of Big Wreck Cove: A Story of Cape Cod by James A. Cooper

The long journey of Governor Lane, accompanied by ex-Delegate Meek, now United States Marshal, across the continent by the Santa Fé trail, and up the coast from San Francisco, is one of the stirring incidents of those stirring times, and on the third of March, 1849, but one day before the expiration of President Polk's term of office, General Lane issued a proclamation making known that he entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office, and proclaiming the Federal laws in force over the Oregon country.
— from The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. IV March, 1903-December, 1903 by Oregon Historical Society

9 , a ) and undergoing so marked an increase that finally the whole cytoplasm became filled with chromidia.
— from The Animal Parasites of Man by Fred. V. (Frederick Vincent) Theobald

[142] and the latter, in his Report of November 10, 1870, [Pg 141] “I think the soldiers ought not to be expected to make individual arrests, or to do any act of violence, except in their organized capacity as a posse comitatus duly summoned by the United States marshal, and acting in his personal presence.”
— from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 20 (of 20) by Charles Sumner

On our landing, at night, we endeavored to purchase some provisions, but the people of the country could only spare us some milk and vegetables, for which they would not take money, but demanded flour.
— from A Narrative of the Expedition to Dongola and Sennaar Under the Command of His Excellence Ismael Pasha, undertaken by Order of His Highness Mehemmed Ali Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt, By An American In The Service Of The Viceroy by George Bethune English

Let us suppose, merely as an experiment, that Ogygia, the fertile vine-growing island of the “hulder” Calypso, was Wineland, then the other three islands to the north-west might be Hvítramanna-land, Markland and Helluland, which would fit in.
— from In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times (Volume 2 of 2) by Fridtjof Nansen