Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Antonio Gisbert (1834-1901), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
According to Kipling, the British Empire was the last resort of Englishmen who could not stand conditions at home.
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By Cyprian Norwid (1821–1883). Public domain.
Salesman Richard Cobden wondered why his employers left a full warehouse in his hands without any kind of security.
© Ian Taylor, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Travelling salesman Richard Cobden was still in his twenties when he bought a loss-making mill for a hundred times his annual salary.
© Following Hadrian. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Romans did bring some blessings to Britain, but none so great as the one they did not mean to bring.
© Mobilus in Mobili, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
If Parliament is going to force its will on distant peoples, it must also give them the vote.
By Isaac Robert Cruikshank (1789–1856), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wondered why New Yorkers elected to Congress the kind of man they would turn out of their own homes.