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Magna Carta Memorial, Runnymede.

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Free Speech and Conscience

Passages defending the right and obligation of every citizen to judge whatever is good and true, and to talk back to those who govern him.

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There are twenty-four posts in The Copy Book tagged Free Speech and Conscience. To see all our posts, go to the Archive.

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1

Servants of the People

By Edward Livingston

A US Congressman tells the House why they mustn’t censor the press.

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Picture: By Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.. Source.

Posted January 22

2

Who Can Refute a Sneer?

By William Paley

Clever people have realised that it is easier to get people on your side by mockery than by persuasion.

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Picture: By Hieronymus Bosch (?1450-1516), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted October 3 2023

3

Question More

By NL Clay

Ordinary people put too much faith in the judgment of experts, which is bad for us and bad for the experts.

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Picture: By Georgios Jakobides (1853-1932), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted June 19 2023

4

Order and Method

By Hugh Blair

Taking the trouble to express ourselves more clearly helps us to think more clearly too.

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Picture: By Samuel Dukinfield Swarbreck (1799-1863), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted April 8 2023

5

‘If They Can Stand It I Can’

By Abraham Lincoln

However loud his critics shouted their disapproval, Abraham Lincoln would neither deprive them of free speech nor change his opinions.

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Picture: Winslow Homer (1836–1910). Source.

Posted September 21 2022

6

The Boldness of Junius Mauricus

By Pliny the Younger

Pliny admired Julius Mauricus because he spoke his mind, and Emperor Nerva because he let him.

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Picture: © MM, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.

Posted August 30 2022

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How I Met Nastenka The story-teller recalls his first meeting with Nastenka, and the man who brought them together.

Posted Yesterday • The Copy Book

Scansion Turn these lines into well-punctuated lines of verse.

Posted February 3

Columbus Arthur Clough marvels at the vision of a man who could cross the Atlantic without knowing there was a farther shore.

Posted February 2 • The Copy Book

Loan Words Match each word to the language we have borrowed it from.

Posted February 2

Who’ll Turn the Grindstone? Whenever Charles Miner suspected an ulterior motive, he would say quietly ‘That man has an axe to grind!’

Posted February 1 • The Copy Book

Lap

Posted January 31 • Think and Speak

A Full Day’s Play It was one of those rare occasions when a game of cricket had not been interrupted by the weather, but would the Church be so forgiving?

Posted January 29 • The Copy Book

Grammar Examine these sentences, and say whether the word ‘up’ should be removed.

Posted January 29

Sunday in London Every Sunday, the Englishman is raised to heaven by the choir, and then taken to her bosom by Mother Earth.

Posted January 29 • The Copy Book

Music Video Ronald Binge: Concerto for Alto Saxophone: II: Andante espressivo

Posted January 28

Ye Children, Hearken Unto Me David, fresh from another close encounter with Saul’s men, shares his advice for living a charmed life.

Posted January 28 • The Copy Book

Look Upon This Picture Hamlet cannot understand what his mother could possibly see in his uncle Claudius.

Posted January 27 • The Copy Book

Metaphors Rewrite these sentences, substituting each metaphor with another of similar meaning.

Posted January 27

Vocabulary Compose sentences to illustrate the meaning of these words.

Posted January 27 • Think and Speak

Music Video Henry Purcell: Miserere Mei

Posted January 26

Outbreak John Galsworthy shared his unease at the rise of two competing forms of national speech.

Posted January 26 • The Copy Book

Verbs and Nouns Separate these words into two groups, nouns, and nouns that are also verbs. Which one’s the odd-one-out?

Posted January 26 • Think and Speak

The Peacock Throne The dazzling throne of the Mughal Emperors has vanished from history, but not before Abdul Hamid Lahori had seen it.

Posted January 25 • The Copy Book

Description Think of three different kinds of clock or bag, and write sentences to distinguish them.

Posted January 24 • Think and Speak

Hat Make as many words as you can using the letters of one nine-letter word. Can you beat our score?

Posted January 24 • Think and Speak