The Copybook

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

511

© Kieth Edkins, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

A Letter to the President by Manchester Cotton Workers

Two years into America’s Civil War, cotton workers in Manchester defied current opinion among politicians and the press, and pledged their support to the Union.

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512

© John Topping, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Sublime Christian Heroism by Abraham Lincoln

In replying to a letter of support from Manchester’s cotton workers, US President Lincoln showed how deeply touched he had been.

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513

By Richard Carlile (1790–1843), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Peterloo Massacre by William Edward Armytage Axon

A rowdy but good-humoured crowd gathered in St Peter’s Fields, Manchester, to protest against electoral malpractice and Government cronyism.

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514

By John Trumbull (1756-1843), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

On July 4th, 1776, a group of American colonists gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to present delegates of the Thirteen Colonies with a historic document.

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515

© Colin Haywood-Gray, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Blaze of Truth and Liberty by Thomas Babington Macaulay

Macaulay recalled an Italian fable about a fairy doomed every now and then to take the form of a snake, and drew from her a lesson about Liberty.

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516

By an Anonymous artist, via the Museum of London and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

‘London Was, but Is No More!’ by John Evelyn

The day after the Great Fire of London finally burned itself out, John Evelyn walked through the charred streets.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 25 NS

April 12 OS

The Life-Giving Spring : An obscure officer in the Roman Army gains a dizzying promotion after performing a simple act of kindness.
The Gallipoli Landings : By 1915, the Allies were struggling to break through Germany’s Western Front, and so began looking for another line of attack.
The Avengers : John Buchan was moved by the way the nations of the British Empire volunteered for service in the Great War.
A Tax on Companionship : William Windham MP was appalled at the idea of levying a tax on man’s best friend.
Christ is Risen! : Felicia Skene recalls the Easter celebrations on one emotionally-charged night in Athens
Saddled : Use these words in sentences, and see if you can use one of them as a verb.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
The First Easter : In a translation from the Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, St Mark recounts the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb.
A Collect for Easter Day : A short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, for the day of Christ’s resurrection.
The Gambler : Which well-known expression is Dr Johnson talking about here?
If I Had But Two Little Wings : Samuel Taylor Coleridge holds on to those precious moments when loneliness is a problem for tomorrow.
Red Eye : Reconstruct the speaker’s original words from these reports.
Responsible : Combine each group of ideas into a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
Opposites : Suggest words that seem opposite in meaning to the words in this list.
Three of a Kind : For each of these things, think of three different varieties of it.
The Son of God Goes Forth to War : A hymn in praise of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
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