Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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451

Peace with Dignity

Amid the Don Pacifico Affair, William Gladstone told Lord Palmerston that pride in his own country did not excuse bossing others about like a global schoolmaster.

452

Educating Martin

When Sir Rodbert became Brother Martin, he found the change so difficult that he began to wonder if even the saints were against him.

453

‘Poor Pamela’s Married At Last!’

Letitia Barbauld called Samuel Richardson’s 1740 novel Pamela ‘a new experiment’ in English literature, and to judge by its reception it was very successful.

454

A Stout Answer

A few weeks after a large French raiding party had been driven away from the Isle of Wight, another flotilla arrived from across the Channel demanding money with menaces.

455

A War of Words

A few years before the Battle of Agincourt, the Duke of Orléans challenged King Henry IV to meet him in Bordeaux for a winner-takes-all joust.

456

Surprised by Heaven

We turn to books seeking an author’s sympathy and fellowship, but William Cowper’s verse is unusual: he turns to us for ours.