Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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517

The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen

While the owner is away, the men he has hired to tend his vineyard conspire to seize it for themselves.

518

Brought to their Knees

Agricola, tasked with subduing the people of Britain to Roman colonial government, persuaded them to wear servitude as a badge of refinement.

519

Prav’, Britaniya!

Herbert Bury’s duties took him back to St Petersburg after the Russian revolution of 1917, but all he could think of was how it used to be.

520

Exit Lord Pudding

Piqued by the way French and German literati mocked the English, Charles Dickens urged his compatriots to be the better men.

521

On Falling in Love

Shortly after meeting Fanny Osbourne, Robert Louis Stevenson reflected on the different ways in which falling in love affects a man.

522

‘Tremblingly Obey!’

Following a historic embassy in 1792-93, Chien Lung, the Emperor of China, despatched a haughty letter rebuffing King George III’s offer of trade.