The Copybook

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

133

© 57claudio, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Common Tongue Hilaire Belloc

The English language is the most valuable part of our national heritage, and the patriotic citizen is careful to treat it with respect.

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134

By Elliott and Fry, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Book That Made Kipling Sir George MacMunn

Sir George MacMunn traces Kipling’s masterly handling of English and of storytelling to reading the King James Bible aloud.

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135

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

A Credit to His Country François de Callières

The diplomat’s task is to see the best in other peoples, not to scold them for their failings.

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136

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

The Synod of Whitby John Richard Green

In 664, a council at Whitby decided to align the traditions of the Northumbrian Church with those of Rome and Constantinople.

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137

By John William Waterhouse (1849–1917), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

What’s in a Name? William Shakespeare

Juliet complains that the man she loves has the wrong name, and the man she loves hears her doing it.

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138

By Bruno Liljefors (1860–1939), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Hare and Many Friends John Gay

John Gay reflects that in matters of friendship, quality is preferable to quantity.

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