The Copybook

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

769

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

Mischievous Interference The Council of New South Wales

In 1852 the Council of New South Wales sent a strongly-worded petition to London, demanding the right of self-government.

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770

Thomas Phillips, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Defective Democracy John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham

Lord Durham warned Westminster that colonial Canada must be run by elected MPs, not career bureaucrats.

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771

Anonymous c. 1902, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Central People of the World William Monypenny

Some wanted Britain on a path to being a thoroughly European nation, but William Monypenny wanted her at the world’s crossroads.

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772

© Mike Qunn, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf Clay Lane

A shepherd boy has fun teasing the local farmers, but comes to regret it.

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773

By Adolphe Roehn (1780–1867), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Retreat from Moscow Clay Lane

The fear that Russia might make an ally of Great Britain drove the would-be Emperor of Europe to extreme measures.

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774

By Heinrich Lossow (1843–1897), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

How to Impress the English Leopold Mozart

Leopold Mozart was eager to win the hearts of the English, and thought he knew just the way to do it.

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