Minis
Mini Copy Book

Each post in this section is a short précis (summary) of a passage in The Copy Book. All of them are in modern English. They are intended for students of English as a Foreign Language at Elementary Level.

International Relations

The Supreme Indignity

Lord Salisbury tells his fellow statesmen that no country should have its laws dictated from abroad.

Length: 53 words

British National Character

The Liberty-Lovers

American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson praises the English public for still loving freedom, despite their politicians.

Length: 56 words

Indian History

Trunk and Disorderly

Arthur Wellesley watches on as one of his soldiers is rescued from a watery grave.

Length: 60 words

Music and Musicians

Never say ‘What, never?’ again

That infernal nonsense ‘Pinafore’ took America by storm.

Length: 57 words

Indian History

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.

Length: 107 words

Liberty and Prosperity

The Real Merchant

William Cobbett makes a distinction between everyday business and the murky world of Westminster lobbyists and financial speculation.

Length: 54 words