The Copybook

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

589

© Markrosenrosen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

My Standard of a Statesman by Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke expressed his frustration at the arrogance of politicians who have no regard for our Constitutional heritage.

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590

Photo by Daderot, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Home, Sweet Home by Alexis de Tocqueville

French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville visited the USA in the 1830s, and found a degree of contentment that he rarely found in Europe.

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591

© 掬茶, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Cherry Tree by Joseph Longford

In the Great War, the Japanese were among Britain’s allies, and the Japanese cherry was a symbol of the courage demanded by the times.

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592

From the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Changing Face of Japan by Joseph Longford

Joseph Longford described how Japan had changed from the day he first joined the Japan Consular Service to the day he retired as Consul in Nagasaki.

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593

© Anil Kausalyayan, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

A Page Out of Pageantry by Ronald Wild

In 1932, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his accession, the Jam Sahib brought vanished days back to Nawanagar with a lavish hand.

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594

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

Mrs Sancho’s Barometer by Ignatius Sancho

Ann Sancho would be in better health, said her husband, if she did not worry quite so much about him.

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April 23 NS

April 10 OS

St George, Patron Saint of England : George served in the Roman army and lies buried in Israel, yet he makes an ideal patron for England.
The Day of Resurrection : An eighth-century hymn of the Greek Church, for Easter Day
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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