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Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

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49

By Arthur Rackham (1867-1939), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Three Bears by Robert Southey

The beginning of Robert Southey’s classic fairy tale.

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50

By Dmitry Levitzky (1735-1822), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

A Man Without a Price by Charles Maybury Archer

A Russian princess admitted defeat with a most gracious compliment.

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51

By Nikolai Yaroshenko (1846-1898), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

One Last Look by Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit brings down the curtain on ‘The Railway Children’.

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52

By Donaldson Brothers, Five Points, NY, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Hair by Hair by William Cobbett

Governments must not use ‘the good of society’ as an excuse to run our lives.

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53

By Nikolai Sverchkov (1817–1898), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Illustrious Mourner by Olga Alekseevna Novikova

In Russia, when a blind beggar is laid to rest even the Emperor knows for whom the bell tolls.

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54

Anonymous, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Keep Room for Me in Your Heart by Guiseppi Garibaldi

Guiseppi Garibaldi treasured the memory of a visit to Tyneside.

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Clay Lane The Copybook
About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 7 NS

April 24 OS

The Grand Embassy : A young Peter the Great of Russia toured Europe seeking help for his diplomatic, military and architectural plans.
‘Hail, Liberty!’ : Kipling borrowed from the Greek Independence movement to give thanks for the end of the Great War.
The First Traffic Lights : The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.
Good Companions : Explain what these wise classical authors are telling us.
The Rule of the Road : Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.
Blind Courage : George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.
Patience : Make a single sentence out of these three ideas.
The Angel Cried : A hymn sung in the weeks after Easter, imagining how Gabriel brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to Mary.
She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
The Making of Mark : St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.
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