The Copybook

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

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1243

© Stefan Bauer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.5.

Wenceslaus: A Life for a Life by Clay Lane

By Divine providence, the shocking murder of Good King Wenceslas led to a flowering of Christian faith in Europe.

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1244

© Pablo Conreras H., Wikimedia Commons Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

How Britain Brought Football to Chile by Clay Lane

British expats in Valparaíso kicked off the Chilean passion for soccer.

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1245

Photo by Vash Alex kun, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Gytha and Vladimir by Clay Lane

Scandinavian tradition says that the daughter of King Harold was consort to one the great rulers of Kievan Rus’.

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1246

© Christine Matthews, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

A Little Common Sense by William Pitt the Elder

William Pitt the Elder doubts the wisdom of letting experts run the country.

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1247

© John Lord, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Servants of One Master by John Locke

Some people are not more equal than others, nor are they entitled to more life and liberty.

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1248

© Jonathan Billinger, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Man Was Not Made for the Government by Edmund Burke

Good government is not about enforcing uniform order, but about maximising liberty among a particular people.

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Clay Lane The Copybook
About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 10 NS

April 27 OS

Merchants of Muscovy : In 1553, Richard Chancellor set out on a perilous voyage to Russia in order to bypass the Hanseatic League’s customs union.
The Causes of the Indian Mutiny : Incompetence, arrogance and some mischievous propaganda all conspired to throw India into chaos.
A Thousand Commas : Assess the punctuation of this sentence, according to the author’s own principles.
Batter My Heart : John Donne gives God a free hand to do whatever needs to be done.
Window Seat : Describe the view from one of the following vantage points.
Repeat Offender :
In Two Minds : Join these ideas together to a form a single sentence, in at least two different ways.
The First Traffic Lights : The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.
Good Companions : Explain what these wise classical authors are telling us.
The Rule of the Road : Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.
Blind Courage : George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.
Patience : Make a single sentence out of these three ideas.
The Angel Cried : A hymn sung in the weeks after Easter, imagining how Gabriel brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to Mary.
She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
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