The Copybook

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

739

By Jean-Charles Langlois (fl. 1860s) and Léon-Eugène Méhédin (1828-1905), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Near Thing Lord Calthorpe

During the Battle of Inkerman in 1854, one of Lord Raglan’s hospital sergeants had a close encounter with a Russian cannonball.

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740

© Vmenkov, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Jonah and the Whale Clay Lane

Jonah is sent to Nineveh to decry the wickedness of the city, but the prophet is more worried about his reputation than their cure.

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741

From the Menologion of Basil (11th century), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Jonah and the Gourd Clay Lane

Jonah grudgingly fulfils his calling to preach repentance in Nineveh, and God tries to make him as comfortable as possible.

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742

By Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Two Queens of Travancore Clay Lane

Lakshmi and her sister Parvati enlisted the help of the British Resident, Colonel Munro, to steady the Kingdom of Travancore.

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743

Photo by NASA/Joshua Stevens, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Attribution only.

Fairest Isle D. H. Montgomery

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.

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744

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

Peace to Grow Up John Buchan

Jaikie has just graduated from Cambridge, and Alison wants to know what he has gained from his experience.

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