The Copybook
Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
Rome’s greedy tax policy in Britain and Gaul left farmers with little to show for their labours but the stripes on their backs.
Admission to the Roman Empire brought an unfamiliar prosperity and ease to the former kingdoms of Britain, but American historian David Montgomery emphasised that much of it was a sham. Behind the facade lay a culture of corruption and exploitation fed by government greed, which was not limited to the miserable slaves labouring in mines or brickworks.
During the Battle of Inkerman in 1854, one of Lord Raglan’s hospital sergeants had a close encounter with a Russian cannonball.
Lord Calthorpe was aide-de-camp to Lord Raglan during the Crimean War of 1853-6 against Russia. The war was a bloody and costly mistake, but the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava on October 24th, 1854, was not the only moment of heroism. A few days after the Battle of Inkerman on November 5th, Calthorpe had this story to share.
Jonah is sent to Nineveh to decry the wickedness of the city, but the prophet is more worried about his reputation than their cure.
In the synagogue, the Book of Jonah is read in its entirety on the Day of Atonement. It is a tale about repentance and forgiveness. It is a tale about the intrinsic value of all life, even that which seems worthless. But above all it is a tale about doing the God of Israel’s bidding whatever it may cost, because although he is infinitely merciful his arm is very long.
Jonah grudgingly fulfils his calling to preach repentance in Nineveh, and God tries to make him as comfortable as possible.
After the famous incident of the whale, a much chastened Jonah agreed to fulfil his commission and go to Nineveh in Assyria. His task was to upbraid the people for their wickedness and prophesy certain destruction, but he suspected that God would not actually do it, and harboured regrets for the effect this would have on his reputation.
Lakshmi and her sister Parvati enlisted the help of the British Resident, Colonel Munro, to steady the Kingdom of Travancore.
At the very moment Napoleon Bonaparte was trying to bring Continental bureaucracy to Britain, Queen Lakshmi brought British commonsense to Travancore (now the State of Kerala). She and her sister Parvati weeded out corruption, promoted education and healthcare, and gave stability to a realm troubled by invasion and bad government.
American historian D. H. Montgomery saw Britain’s ‘isolation’ as the very thing that has made her people more cosmopolitan, and her government more liberal.
Much is said, not all of it complimentary, about Britain’s changeable weather and her isolation from Continental Europe. But American historian D. H. Montgomery believed that wind and wave had helped make Britain into a more stable, more diverse, more harmonious and more liberal country.