The Copybook

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

619

By Francis Owen Salisbury (1874-1962), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

The Unknown Warrior A. G. Gardiner

On the day that the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, ‘Alpha of the Plough’ wondered if the country would prove worthy of him.

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620

By Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Pinch of Snuff Baroness Orczy

Marguerite, Lady Blakeney, is powerless to intervene as her husband Sir Percy walks into a trap.

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621

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

The King of the Banyan Deer Clay Lane

The lord of Benares is so partial to venison that fields lie fallow and marketplaces stand empty while his people catch deer for him.

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622

© Eric Kilby, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Governor Wolf J.B. Rundell

Following the election of a new leader, the wolves listen with approval to his plans for a fairer pack but there is something they don’t know.

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623

Photo by Mark Owens, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Open Government Licence version 1.0.

The Dogmatist Edmond Gore Alexander Holmes

Schools inspector Edmond Holmes expressed frustration with those who think that society at large owes them unthinking obedience.

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624

By Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

No Offence Ralph Waldo Emerson

The people who oil the wheels of society are not the people who never give offence, they are the people who never take any.

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