The Copybook

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

481

© Adam D. Hope, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Two Lions Sir Walter Raleigh

Walter Raleigh had many grievances against James VI and I, but for peace with Scotland he was willing to forget them all.

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482

By George Arnald (1763–1841), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Battle of the Nile Jawaharlal Nehru

As Napoleon Bonaparte swept from victory to victory in Europe, he began to think he might add the East to the possessions of the French Republic.

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483

By Charles West Cope (1811-1890), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Arrest of the Five Members Edmund Ludlow

King Charles I ended two years of uneasy peace with his Parliament by bursting into the Commons with a heavily-armed tactical unit.

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484

By Seeta Ram (fl. 1810-1822), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Robert Clive’s Vision for India Sir John Malcolm

As Governor of Bengal, Robert Clive hoped to use his powers and his formidable reputation to make the East India Company mend its ways.

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485

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

Speech Therapy Plutarch

Demosthenes was about sixteen when he decided he wanted to be a lawyer, but he was the most unpromising advocate imaginable.

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486

By Nathaniel Dance-Holland (1735-1811), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Blind Date Sir Bernard Burke

After two punishing years rising to the top of the East India Company’s armed forces in India, Robert Clive could not spare the time to go courting.

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