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

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469

By Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Character of Sir Isaac Newton by Humphrey Newton

Sir Isaac’s secretary has left us an engaging portrait of a kindly genius, the absent-minded professor of our fancy.

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470

By Anonymous (1810), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Eureka! by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

When Archimedes discovered the principle of displacement, he was hot on the trail of a clever fraud.

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471

© Marathon, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Table Steaks by Pierre-Jean Grosley

French travel writer Pierre-Jean Grosley toured Georgian London just in time to witness a culinary revolution: the sandwich.

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472

© cartese, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Dog and Wig by Anonymous

A loyal dog shows his initiative in recovering his master’s property, though his timing might have been better.

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473

By Hubert Robert (1733–1808), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Fiddling While Rome Burns by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus

In 64, Nero watched on with fascination as Rome was consumed by fire — the Emperor’s idea of performance art.

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474

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Annunciation to Mary from The Authorized Version

An angel appeared to Mary in her home in Nazareth, and offered her the chance to be part of nothing less than the reopening of the doors of Paradise.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 9 NS

April 26 OS

A Gallant Attempt for the Crown : Only months after kidnapping the Duke of Ormond, Irish radical Thomas Blood was at it again, this time attempting to steal the Crown Jewels.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Repeat Offender :
In Two Minds : Join these ideas together to a form a single sentence, in at least two different ways.
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.
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