Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Seeta Ram (fl. 1810-1822), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
As Governor of Bengal, Robert Clive hoped to use his powers and his formidable reputation to make the East India Company mend its ways.
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© MM, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Demosthenes was about sixteen when he decided he wanted to be a lawyer, but he was the most unpromising advocate imaginable.
By Nathaniel Dance-Holland (1735-1811), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
After two punishing years rising to the top of the East India Company’s armed forces in India, Robert Clive could not spare the time to go courting.
Attributed to Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873), from the National Trust via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A mean-spirited dog denies to others what he has no appetite for himself.
© Alexander P. Kapp, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
It was not just his own family that wanted to know what Samuel Crompton was doing by night in his quaint Bolton workshop.
By William Powell Frith (1819-1909), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Highwayman Claude Du Vall robbed a carriage on Hampstead Heath in the most courteous manner imaginable.