The Copybook

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

1321

© Brian Robert Marshall, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Last Days of Charles II Clay Lane

James calls Fr Huddleston to his brother’s deathbed, ready for a most delicate task.

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1322

© William Neuheisel, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Bellerophon and the Chimera Clay Lane

The wronged hero vanquishes a dreadful monster with the help of a winged horse, but then it all goes to his head.

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1323

© Chris Paul, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

‘God Tempers the Wind to the Shorn Lamb’ Anthony Trollope

Mary Mason could not forgive herself for a past misdeed.

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1324

© Neil Clifton, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Jane Austen Clay Lane

The blushing clergyman’s daughter is recognised today as one of the great figures of English literature.

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1325

© Jorge Láscar, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Xerxes Scourges the Hellespont Herodotus

The Persian King felt that a lord of his majesty should not have to take any nonsense from an overgrown river.

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1326

© David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Turning the Tide Henry of Huntingdon

King Canute enacted a memorable demonstration of the limits of government power.

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