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.

Liberty and Prosperity

The Peterloo Massacre

A rowdy but good-humoured crowd gathered in St Peter’s Fields, Manchester, to protest against electoral malpractice and Government cronyism.

Length: 115 words

American Civil War

A Letter to the President

Two years into America’s Civil War, cotton workers in Manchester defied current opinion among politicians and the press, and pledged their support to the Union.

Length: 58 words

American Civil War

Sublime Christian Heroism

In replying to a letter of support from Manchester’s cotton workers, US President Lincoln showed how deeply touched he had been.

Length: 58 words

American Revolutionary War

A Declaration of Independence

On July 4th, 1776, a group of American colonists gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to present delegates of the Thirteen Colonies with a historic document.

Length: 58 words

Liberty and Prosperity

The Blaze of Truth and Liberty

Macaulay recalled an Italian fable about a fairy doomed every now and then to take the form of a snake, and drew from her a lesson about Liberty.

Length: 114 words

Stuart Era

‘London Was, but Is No More!’

The day after the Great Fire of London finally burned itself out, John Evelyn walked through the charred streets.

Length: 117 words