1

Art Appreciation

By Benjamin Robert Haydon

Some years before the Elgin marbles were put on display in the British Museum, rising artist Benjamin Haydon got a sneak preview.

2

As I Came Through Sandgate

By John Telford

... I heard John Wesley sing. A visitor on the quayside on Sunday May 30th, 1742, would have stumbled into a crowd agape and a determined clergyman singing psalms.

3

Left Holding the Baby

By Richard Pike

A gentleman travelling home from London by train reached his destination carrying more than he set out with.

4

Byron Swims the Hellespont

By Thomas Medwin

Byron felt compelled to set the record straight after it was alleged that he had swum the Hellespont the easy way.

5

A Rush to Judgment

By Samuel Smiles

As a young man, surveyor Thomas Telford was a red-hot political activist who yearned for revolution, but admittedly he had read just one book on the matter.

6

Kelly’s Hero

By Michael Kelly

While on tour in Austria, Irish tenor Michael Kelly was introduced to Mozart, and discovered a man of many talents and much kindness.