The Copybook

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

553

© Paul Fleury, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

A War of Words from Holinshed’s Chronicles

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.

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554

© Penny Mayes, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

A Stout Answer from Holinshed’s Chronicles

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.

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555

By Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), from the Museum of Fine Arts via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Surprised by Heaven by Frederick Denison Maurice

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

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556

© Caroline Legg. CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Gods of the Copybook Headings by Rudyard Kipling

After the devastation of the Great War, calls rose for a new economic and social system, and to put the wisdom of our forebears behind us.

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557

© Țetcu Mircea Rareș, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic.

The Sacrifice of Isaac from The Authorized Version

Abraham invites his son Isaac to accompany him to a nearby mountain to offer sacrifice, and the boy is naturally curious to know what gift his father proposes to offer.

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558

By Peter Lely (1618–1680), via the National Maritime Museum and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Secret Treaty of Dover by Sir John Dalrymple

Months after promising England would help Holland escape the clutches of Catholic Europe, Charles II did a secret deal with France to sell out Holland and England together.

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May 2 NS

April 19 OS

She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
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.
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