The Copybook

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

583

By Fanny Stevenson, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public Domain.

On Falling in Love by Robert Louis Stevenson

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

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584

By Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

‘Tremblingly Obey!’ by Jawaharlal Nehru

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.

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585

By William Alexander (1767–1816), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Very Rapid Promotion by Aeneas Anderson

Aeneas Anderson, who accompanied Lord Macartney on Britain’s first embassy to China, shared a tale illustrating the Qianlong Emperor’s notion of fair play.

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586

From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan from The Authorized Version

A Jewish man is left for dead by bandits, but help comes from a most unexpected quarter.

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587

© Sergey Ashmarin, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Conversion of Norway by Henry Goddard Leach

Kings of Norway educated in England drew on the experience of English clergy to establish Christianity in their own land.

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588

By George Moutard Woodward (1760-1809), from the Bodleian Libraries via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

On Love of Country by Richard Price

Richard Price argued that the true patriot does not scold other countries for being worse than his own; he inspires his own country to be better than it is.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 23 NS

April 10 OS

St George and the Dragon : In one of the world’s most popular legends, bold hero St George rides to the rescue of a maiden in distress.
Christ is Risen! : Felicia Skene recalls the Easter celebrations on one emotionally-charged night in Athens
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?
If I Had But Two Little Wings : Samuel Taylor Coleridge holds on to those precious moments when loneliness is a problem for tomorrow.
Red Eye : Reconstruct the speaker’s original words from these reports.
Responsible : Combine each group of ideas into a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
Opposites : Suggest words that seem opposite in meaning to the words in this list.
Three of a Kind : For each of these things, think of three different varieties of it.
The Son of God Goes Forth to War : A hymn in praise of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Peace Plan : Report this brief exchange between Anna and M. Pierre and Tolstoy’s War and Peace
Metaphors : Choose one of these words and use it metaphorically, not literally.
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