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

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535

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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536

© 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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537

© 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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538

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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539

By John Trumbull (1756-1843), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

On July 4th, 1776, a group of American colonists gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to present delegates of the Thirteen Colonies with a historic document.

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540

© Colin Haywood-Gray, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Blaze of Truth and Liberty by Thomas Babington Macaulay

Macaulay recalled an Italian fable about a fairy doomed every now and then to take the form of a snake, and drew from her a lesson about Liberty.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 29 NS

May 16 OS

The Last Commandment : Anglo-Saxon poet Cynewulf imagines the farewell between Jesus and his Apostles, forty days after his resurrection.
Filioque : It started as an honest mistake, became a diplomatic standoff, and brought down an Empire.
The Return of King Charles II : Almost nine years after Oliver Cromwell’s army drove him from England, King Charles II returned at their invitation, and John Evelyn was there to see it.
Lost and Found : What would you in these difficult situations?
They Might Not Need Me : Read these lines of verse out aloud.
The Turn : Ben Jonson tells us how we should measure a life well lived.
Music Video : Julius Benedict, Piano Concerto in E flat: II. Andante,
The Character of George Washington : Thomas Jefferson recalls the virtues (and a few faults) of the first US President.
Amen to That : John Bright declared it was time stop fighting wars around the world for ‘British interests’.
Arena : Use these nouns in sentences of at least ten words in length.
Q & A :
Deep Harmony : In the midst of the US Civil War, a simple melody briefly brought the warring factions together.
Thirty Minutes : Describe half an hour in one of these places.
And is there Care in Heaven? : Sir Guyon lies in an enchanted swoon, but he is not without help.
Pirate : For each of these words, suggest others that seem to go with it, and use them to bring a scene to life.
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