The Copybook

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

241

© ken93110, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

A Coy and Humorous Dame John Trenchard

The English ‘Cato’ cautioned that sabre-rattling sanctions and other forms of coercion are never in the country’s economic interest.

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242

By Heinrich Friedrich Füger (1751-1818), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Tragedy of Coriolanus Anonymous (‘A. H.’)

Roman statesman Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus was thrust out the City for his hardline politics, but he did not stay away for long.

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243

From the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Harrying of the North Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens laments William the Conqueror’s brutal rampage through rebellious Durham and Yorkshire.

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244

Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

On His Blindness John Milton

At first, John Milton struggled to come to terms with the loss of his eyesight.

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245

© A. N. Mironov, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Parable of the Talents The Authorized Version

Three servants are engaged to invest their master’s money in the markets.

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246

© Ethan Doyle White, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

One Vast Heap of Booty Orderic Vitalis

Embarrassed by the behaviour of his Norman bishops and abbots, King William I asked monk Guitmond to come over and set an example.

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