The Copybook

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

589

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

The Conversion of Norway by Henry Goddard Leach

Kings of Norway educated in England drew on the experience of English clergy to establish Christianity in their own land.

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590

By George Moutard Woodward (1760-1809), from the Bodleian Libraries via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

On Love of Country by Richard Price

Richard Price argued that the true patriot does not scold other countries for being worse than his own; he inspires his own country to be better than it is.

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591

© Markrosenrosen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

My Standard of a Statesman by Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke expressed his frustration at the arrogance of politicians who have no regard for our Constitutional heritage.

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592

Photo by Daderot, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Home, Sweet Home by Alexis de Tocqueville

French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville visited the USA in the 1830s, and found a degree of contentment that he rarely found in Europe.

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593

© 掬茶, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Cherry Tree by Joseph Longford

In the Great War, the Japanese were among Britain’s allies, and the Japanese cherry was a symbol of the courage demanded by the times.

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594

From the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Changing Face of Japan by Joseph Longford

Joseph Longford described how Japan had changed from the day he first joined the Japan Consular Service to the day he retired as Consul in Nagasaki.

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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.
A Great Human Effort : The Gallipoli landings in 1915 did not achieve the Admiralty’s goals, but for John Masefield they remained one of the proudest moments of the Great War.
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.
The Day of Resurrection : An eighth-century hymn of the Greek Church, for Easter Day
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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