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

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385

Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1684–1745), via the Heritage Museum (St Petersburg) and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Patriot, Sir! by Sir Robert Walpole

Sir Robert Walpole wasn’t impressed with kind of politician who pursues his own ambitions in the name of serving the country.

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386

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

The Most Liberal State in Europe by Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet)

French essayist Voltaire provoked the wrath of his government by explaining how England was superior to every European state including the Roman Empire.

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387

By Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Time Itself Will Ruin Us by Sir John Eliot

Sir John Eliot told the Commons that what worried him wasn’t the sabre-rattling of foreign leaders, it was incompetence and corruption at home.

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388

By Charles A. Buchel (1872-1950), via the Victoria and Albert Museum and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

If England to Itself Do Rest but True by William Shakespeare

With King John dead and the threat of invasion fading, Philip Faulconbridge reflects that the danger within is always greater than the danger without.

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389

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

The Facts Factory by Charles Dickens

Mr Gradgrind and a Government expert on education make sure that the children of Coketown have the right opinions about everything.

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390

© David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Country Mouse and the Town Mouse as told by Quintus Horatius Flaccus

A sophisticated City Mouse went to see his Country cousin, and pitied his simple fare.

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May 18 NS

May 5 OS

Crayke Abbey : The long-lost monastery at Crayke in North Yorkshire was home to two saints with different but equally valuable gifts.
The Road to Ruin : George Berkeley warned that industry, not financial speculation, was the guarantee of a nation’s wealth.
Signs of Command : Suggest publicly-displayed commands, and say how many of them are sentences.
My Native Notes : Scotsman James Boswell always spoke good English when in England, but he was careful to leave a little Scots in.
Hidden Message : Reveal the hidden message in a letter, and write a coded letter of your own.
The Great and the Good : Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
Statements, Questions and Commands : Choose a word from our list, and then use it in any one of the three basic types of sentence — if possible.
Sentegrams : These sentences, taken from English literature, have been jumbled up like an anagram; see if you can piece them back together.
Good Sense : Rewrite these sentences so that the word ‘unless’ is not used.
The Coronation of Anne Boleyn : The weight of the crown that Anne Boleyn wore proved too heavy to bear.
Abstract : Use these words in sentences as a Noun, Verb or Adjective.
Better By Example : Gregory urged the persecuted Christians of Nazianzus to be the better men.
Speed Clues : Help a friend to guess five words in under a minute.
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