The Copybook

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

511

Justus Sustermans (1597–1681), via the Wellcome Trust and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Social Intolerance by John Stuart Mill

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.

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512

© Juanedc, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Three Aspects of Liberty by John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill set out three kinds of liberty essential to a truly free society: freedom of conscience, of tastes, and of association.

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513

By Isaac Cruikshank (1764-1811), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Decencies of Debate by John Stuart Mill

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

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514

© Kieth Edkins, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

A Letter to the President by Manchester Cotton Workers

Two years into America’s Civil War, cotton workers in Manchester defied current opinion among politicians and the press, and pledged their support to the Union.

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515

© John Topping, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Sublime Christian Heroism by Abraham Lincoln

In replying to a letter of support from Manchester’s cotton workers, US President Lincoln showed how deeply touched he had been.

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516

By Richard Carlile (1790–1843), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Peterloo Massacre by William Edward Armytage Axon

A rowdy but good-humoured crowd gathered in St Peter’s Fields, Manchester, to protest against electoral malpractice and Government cronyism.

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May 1 NS

April 18 OS

Flying Scotsman : In 1928, a train service linking London and Edinburgh became the world’s longest non-stop run.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
The Making of Mark : St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.
Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca : Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.
Confusables : Compose sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between these words.
Jill and I : Include yourself in these sentences about Jill.
Saddled : Use these words in sentences, and see if you can use one of them as a verb.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
The First Easter : In a translation from the Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, St Mark recounts the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb.
A Collect for Easter Day : A short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, for the day of Christ’s resurrection.
The Gambler : Which well-known expression is Dr Johnson talking about here?
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