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Recent Posts The Prophecy of Peter of Pomfret One Delicious Grinding Snip Artful Lizzy Bennet The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat
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The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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1603

There is No Liberty without Self-Control

By Edmund Burke

Anti-Christian governments don’t make us free, they just impose their own, illiberal morality.

Edmund Burke MP explained to the new secularist French Revolutionaries that if you reject Christian self-control, the government will impose its own morality, and then you won’t be free anymore.

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Picture: © Martin, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

Posted March 13 2015

1604

Theseus and the Minotaur

A warning not to be forgetful of others, even in triumph.

King Minos of Crete reneged on a promise to sacrifice a white bull to Poseidon, and it went mad. Heracles captured it, but that was not the end of the story...

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Picture: © tango7174, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.

Posted March 13 2015

1605

Timothy Hackworth

Timothy Hackworth (1786-1850) turned steam locomotives into a reliable commercial success.

Timothy Hackworth (1786-1850) turned steam locomotives from a brilliant concept into a reliable commercial success. He is the man we have to thank for bringing mobility, jobs, and better lives to countless millions of people worldwide.

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Picture: © Peter Smith, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

Posted March 13 2015

1606

Too Clever By Half

Mrs Tabby White thought she’d try some of the clever things her humans did.

Mrs White does everything she can for her kittens, but she can’t do what her humans do, and she starts to wonder if she’s a failure as a mother.

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Picture: © Wouter Hagens, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.

Posted March 13 2015

1607

A Touch of Silk

A Dubliner with a roving eye and a gift for melody, John Field challenged Europe’s pianists to demand more of themselves.

John Field (1782-1837) was an Irish composer admired by both Chopin and Liszt, who may be considered the ‘father’ of the great piano tradition of Russia. His legendary and enviable silken touch at the piano changed the way the instrument was played all over Europe.

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Picture: © P.g.champion, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

Posted March 13 2015

1608

Typical Cat!

By P. G. Wodehouse

When a cat comes into your life, resistance is futile.

Aspiring author Elizabeth had been needing a little bit of good luck, and finding a stray black cat she named ‘Joseph’ seemed like a good omen.

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Picture: © Lisa Risager, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

Posted March 13 2015

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★ Job’s City of Joy The East India Company’s top agent in India was also the man who put Calcutta on the world map.

For Today • February 10 • Calcutta receives its Imperial charter

Train

Posted Yesterday • Think and Speak

The Prophecy of Peter of Pomfret Peter foretold that King John would cease to be England’s sovereign, and he was right, though John still wore his crown.

Posted Yesterday • The Copy Book

One Delicious Grinding Snip If little Maggie Tulliver is going to get her hair cut, it’s going to be done on her own terms.

Posted February 8 • The Copy Book

Verbs Make sentences with verbs such as look up, and look behind.

Posted February 8

Artful Lizzy Bennet Elizabeth Bennet stonewalls her way through a disagreeable encounter with Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Posted February 6 • The Copy Book

Jigsaws Combine each group of ideas into one sentence, in as many ways as you can. See if you can work in one or more of the words suggested.

Posted February 6 • Think and Speak

Film Video William Shakespeare: The Quality of Mercy (from ‘The Merchant of Venice’)

Posted February 5

The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat In most contests the choices are win, lose or draw, but what happened here remains a mystery.

Posted February 5 • The Copy Book

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

Posted February 4 • 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