Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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439

‘The Empire is Peace!’

Guy de Maupassant reflects on the way that a statesman’s place in history has so often been defined not by deeds or character but by his one-liners.

440

Losing Steam

Those in Power may imagine that a docile and compliant public makes Government run more smoothly, but a society of that kind just won’t move forward.

441

The Wind and the Sun

The Wind and the Sun compete to see which of them can make an unsuspecting traveller shed his cloak.

442

Tom Pinch Goes Up to London

Tom Pinch, who has seen at last what kind of man his apprentice-master Seth Pecksniff is, leaves Salisbury to seek a new life in London.

443

The Decencies of Debate

Abusive language, straw-man arguments and downright ‘fake news’ should have no place in civilised debate, but censoring them is far worse.

444

Social Intolerance

Even where freedom of speech and conscience are not curtailed by law, there is another kind of censorship that is just as destructive to progress.