The Copybook

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

109

© jimmyweee, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0.

With Good Intent and Friendly Desire Ivan IV of Russia

Ivan the Terrible offered free trade to English merchants throughout his dominions.

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110

© Krzysztof Golik, Wikimedia. Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Why We Study the Classics Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling believed that a better appreciation of ancient Greece and Rome could help the English be less insular.

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111

By William Heath (1795-1840), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

An Englishman in Exile William Cobbett

Faced with a choice between silence, dungeon or exile, William Cobbett chose exile — and then had to make sense of it.

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112

By Robert Scott Tait (?1816-1897), Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Jenny Kissed Me Leigh Hunt

Leigh Hunt looks back to a memorable event in a long life.

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113

© Michael Garlick, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Man Who Couldn’t Abide Greed Geoffrey Chaucer

On a money-spinning pilgrimage to Canterbury, a Pardoner says the quiet part out loud.

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114

By Max Liebermann (1847-1935), by Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

A Well-Tuned Heart Izaak Walton

A road accident made parish priest George Herbert late for his musical evening, but he was not a bit sorry.

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