Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
Photo by NASA, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Pliny was only about nine when his uncle left to go and help rescue the terrified townspeople of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Read
Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
John’s enduring influence is evident today in the rich sights and sounds of Christian liturgy.
By William Hamilton (1751–1801), via the National Portrait Gallery and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: ? Public domain.
John Wesley urged the medical profession (and his fellow clergy) to remember that drugs are not the answer to every sickness.
© Roger Templeman, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
When farmhand and lay preacher George Loveless was convicted of conspiracy, both charge and sentence made the country gasp.
By John Morgan (1822–1885), via Buckinghamshire County Museum and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
In 1844, Daniel O’Connell was hauled before a Dublin court to answer charges of seditious conspiracy, and he didn’t stand a chance.
© Ronald Saunders, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
William Cowper told Lady Hesketh about a walk beside the river at Olney, and the affecting behaviour of his spaniel Beau.