The Copybook

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

541

By George Cruikshank (1792–1878), from the Bodleian Libraries via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Bungling Tinkers! Sir Sidney Low

Sir Sidney Low blamed the recent catalogue of war and revolution on out-of-touch diplomats who had tried to hammer the peoples of Europe into artificial unity.

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542

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

St John of Konitsa Clay Lane

Hassan slipped across to Ithaca because it was in British hands and the Turkish authorities on the Greek mainland must not know what he was going to do.

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543

© Layanna (artist), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dick Whittington and his Cat Clay Lane

After Mr Fitzwarren took away Dick’s cat, even the charms of Alice Fitzwarren were not enough to keep him in that house another day.

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544

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

The Mirror of Charity Richard Grafton

Richard Grafton bids us gaze on the likeness of Sir Richard Whittington, who should be an example to civic dignitaries everywhere.

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545

© Christ Beach, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic.

Give the Wall A. G. Gardiner

Social niceties are essential for the smooth operation of society, but neither boxing a man’s ears nor calling in the lawyers will bring them back.

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546

By Claudius Jacquand (1808-1878), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain. Photo by Xavier Caré.

Full Merrily William Roper

On July 5th, 1535, the night before he was to be executed by order of King Henry VIII, it seemed that Sir Thomas More was the only man in the Tower of London who was happy.

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