Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
Photo by Adam Carr, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
John Wesley wrote to a young William Wilberforce to encourage him in his campaign against the slave trade.
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From the East Riding Archives, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: No known copyright restrictions.
An irate coal merchant squares up to the oh-so-righteous gentleman who didn’t like the way he was treating his horse.
© Stormy Clouds, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Economist Adam Smith so changed the conversation in Britain that most people take his groundbreaking insights for granted.
By Carole Raddato, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
John Buchan warned that the great figures of history are often beyond their biographers’ comprehension.
© Brian Robert Marshall, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Sir William Napier stopped to console an unhappy little girl, and made her a promise he did not find it easy to keep.
By Poly Von Schneidau, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Ardent opera buffs descend like locusts on Jenny Lind’s hotel, eager for a memento.