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

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193

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

Good Morning, Mr Horse by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A young Nathaniel Hawthorne recalls a confidential conversation with a tired old horse.

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194

By Georg Braun (?-1622) and Frans Hogenberg (<1540-1590)

The Tale of Robert Tomson by Mandell Creighton

Robert Tomson was a typical Englishman and it nearly killed him, but it also made him a fortune and won him a bride.

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195

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

National Sympathy by Mandell Creighton

We English would not hand out so much unsolicited advice to foreign countries if we knew more about their history.

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196

© Christos Klearchos, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0 generic.

Christ is Risen! by Felicia Skene

Felicia Skene recalls the Easter celebrations on one emotionally-charged night in Athens

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197

© St Petersburg Theological Academy, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0 generic.

If Russia Gives a Lead by Herbert Bury

As war engulfed Europe, an Anglican bishop called on Russia to unite the world’s Christians around their veneration for the Bible.

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198

By Samuel Dukinfield Swarbreck (1799-1863), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Order and Method by Hugh Blair

Taking the trouble to express ourselves more clearly helps us to think more clearly too.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 9 NS

April 26 OS

A Gallant Attempt for the Crown : Only months after kidnapping the Duke of Ormond, Irish radical Thomas Blood was at it again, this time attempting to steal the Crown Jewels.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
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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