The Copybook

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

1021

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Darien Scheme Clay Lane

The Parliament of Scotland tried to liberate itself from London’s strangling single market.

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1022

© Ian Capper, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

His Bright Nativity Cynewulf

Anglo-Saxon poet Cynewulf wonders at the mystery of the Bethlehem manger, where all the light of heaven was shining.

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1023

© Raime, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-A 3.0.

The Voyage of the ‘Mayflower’ Clay Lane

A crackdown on dissent in England’s established Church drove a band of Nottinghamshire townspeople to seek new shores.

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1024

© Fletcher6, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Great Mother of Men Adam Smith

The spread of Western civilisation must not be credited to European policy, but to a culture of curiosity, enterprise and defiance.

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1025

By George Romney (1734-1802), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Portrait of a Lady Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke takes time off from campaigning for liberty to reflect on the delights of captivity.

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1026

Photo by Jastrow, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

At a Solemn Musick John Milton

John Milton shows his appreciation for noble words and music in uplifting harmony.

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