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

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19

By Boris Grigoriev (1886-1939), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Rule of the Road by A. G. Gardiner

Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.

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20

Ministry of Information, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Blind Courage by George Santayana

George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.

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21

By Alfred Wordsworth Thompson (1840-1896), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

She was a Phantom of Delight by William Wordsworth

Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.

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22

By Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Death of Julius Caesar by Plutarch

When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.

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23

© Brian Deegan, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Two Letters Home by Sir Edward Hamilton Westrow Hulse

A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.

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24

© Vladimir Kosov (2018), via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca by Jawaharlal Nehru

Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 29 NS

May 16 OS

The Last Commandment : Anglo-Saxon poet Cynewulf imagines the farewell between Jesus and his Apostles, forty days after his resurrection.
Filioque : It started as an honest mistake, became a diplomatic standoff, and brought down an Empire.
The Royal Oak : In 1680, Samuel Pepys sat down with Charles II to record how, many years before, a bold double-bluff saved the King from Cromwell’s men.
Lost and Found : What would you in these difficult situations?
They Might Not Need Me : Read these lines of verse out aloud.
The Turn : Ben Jonson tells us how we should measure a life well lived.
Music Video : Julius Benedict, Piano Concerto in E flat: II. Andante,
The Character of George Washington : Thomas Jefferson recalls the virtues (and a few faults) of the first US President.
Amen to That : John Bright declared it was time stop fighting wars around the world for ‘British interests’.
Arena : Use these nouns in sentences of at least ten words in length.
Q & A :
Deep Harmony : In the midst of the US Civil War, a simple melody briefly brought the warring factions together.
Thirty Minutes : Describe half an hour in one of these places.
And is there Care in Heaven? : Sir Guyon lies in an enchanted swoon, but he is not without help.
Pirate : For each of these words, suggest others that seem to go with it, and use them to bring a scene to life.
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