shadow of britain

Chapter 263 Harrison’s unexpected gift (4K8)

In the coffee shop, Arthur looked at the perfume merchant who had heard of him many times but was only meeting him for the second time.

But his appearance and dress were obviously different from what Arthur expected.

I don’t know whether it’s to avoid attracting attention or because he usually dresses like this. Bernie Harrison is dressed in black and white from head to toe. He wears a black tuxedo with a white shirt, a mane and a top hat. It has a faint cologne scent, but it's not so strong that it's pungent.

If Arthur had not met him once before and knew that he was a wealthy perfumer, Arthur might only think that he was a company employee with a good income or someone with a lower status.

After all, these days, even an ordinary citizen whose living standard has just reached the middle level will buy himself a decent outfit.

Some workers even choose to pawn their clothes on Monday in order to be able to travel decently on their rest days without affecting their living standards, and then redeem them when wages are paid on the weekend. Repeatedly, the pawn shop is regarded as a Used in storage.

Bernie Harrison looked a little haggard, not at all as calm and calm as when Arthur captured him.

Although Arthur didn't know what Sir Peel and several big figures in the Tory Party had talked to him about, it could be seen from his expression that Congressman Harrison's political career had probably reached the edge of the cliff.

"Mr. Harrison." Arthur joked: "I thought you should be debating the Parliamentary Reform Bill in the House of Commons with many Lords at this time. Why do you have the intention to come to Whitehall Street today? In other words, you What new discoveries have been made about the murder that will provide Scotland Yard with a strong clue?"

When Harrison heard what Arthur said, his heart couldn't help but become heavier.

Although he didn't know what kind of evidence Scotland Yard had, judging from the words revealed by Sir Peel and other Tory Lords, he seemed to have become an outcast of the Tory party.

In order to retain a precious seat in the House of Commons, Sir Peel and others were willing to protect him a little, and did not ask him to resign from the seat.

However, since the Whig Party reported a few days ago that Earl Charles Gray planned to ask the king to dissolve Parliament and hold a new election in order to force the passage of the Parliamentary Reform Bill in the House of Commons, his status within the Tory Party has taken a sharp dive. signs.

Almost everyone expected that his seat would be replaced by a newcomer named Benjamin Disraeli, and he would do little to resist.

There is no other reason than that he was elected as a member of Parliament. It was not at all how popular he was, but because the constituency he won was a pocket constituency controlled by the Tories.Who wins in that constituency depends entirely on who the Tory bosses like.

Now, let alone winning the election, it is questionable whether he can even be appointed as a parliamentary candidate through intra-party elections.

As the saying goes, plans cannot keep up with changes. If according to Harrison's own calculations, the general election has just ended, according to the "Seven Years Act" promulgated in 1716, the maximum term of a parliament can reach seven years, and now it is only [-] years since the last general election. But just six months have passed, and he has enough time to move around within the party.

But what Harrison never expected was that Prime Minister Earl Gray would play such a big role.He thought that as long as the Whigs came to power, the parliamentary reform movement would die out.But now it seems that Earl Gray has actually adopted a charging attitude that will not stop until his goal is achieved. All members of the Whig Party who did not follow the vote were reprimanded by the Whig caucus.

And after he found that this still could not reverse the situation, he actually decided to overturn the table and persuade His Majesty the King to reconvene an election so that the reformists in the House of Commons could occupy an absolute majority.What made Harrison even more confused was that the king, who was opposed to reform, actually agreed to Earl Gray's proposal after weighing it repeatedly.

Such changes in the situation are naturally a heavy blow to the Tories, but for Bernie Harrison, it is even more fatal.

Now that he has lost the support of his caucus, even if he wants to run as an independent candidate in other districts, he will encounter other problems.

If he runs in a corrupt constituency, he will not be able to compete financially with the two parties whose struggle has reached a fever pitch.Moreover, judging from internal rumors, both parties are keeping a close eye on corrupt constituencies in this election.As a veteran who has been in politics for many years, Harrison also knows what this means. It means that if you want to win in a corrupt district, you must not only have strong financial resources, but also have a deep background.

If an independent candidate wins in a corrupt constituency, he will definitely be subject to an election corruption investigation launched by the two parties in the House of Commons.All in all, it's okay to highlight a two-party election bribery, but you can't.

And if he chooses to participate in the battle in an urban constituency with a relatively fair electoral environment and a large number of voters, Harrison is also very self-aware and knows that he will definitely not be popular in the urban constituency.

There is no other reason. As a member of the House of Commons who has followed Mr. Crocker, Earl of Eldon and former Lord of the Admiralty, for many years, his opponents can easily unearth a lot of explosive remarks made by Harrison in the past.

For example, in the early days, "The Peterloo Incident was what the thugs deserved", "The promulgation of the Six Special Acts was a necessary evil to maintain social order", "The culprit of the Cato Street Conspiracy was executed: all crimes will eventually be brought to justice", etc. .

There are also the mid-term "The Peterloo incident reflects the incompetence of Manchester's local governance" "The six special bills do not undermine freedom of speech, the censorship of publications and the ban on association still have their special historical significance" "I am deeply aware of the occurrence of the Cato Street Conspiracy" "It's regrettable that plotting to assassinate members of the cabinet is unacceptable and they could have expressed themselves in a better way, such as by saying this book or something."

As well as the later works "Walking through St. Peter's Square on the [-]th Anniversary of Peterloo: We may have made some trivial mistakes", "Freedom of Speech is Priceless: Also on the Repeal of Six Special Acts", "Give me liberty or give me death, stand in Newgate" From a high post in prison: Perhaps the execution of Mr. Ince was necessary, but beheading is still too much."

All in all, Congressman Harrison's remarks have always been valuable.

At first glance, there is no brain, everything is firm and unswerving.

For such a guy with various 'criminal records', without the support of the Tories, Arthur simply didn't know how this guy could survive in the British political arena.

Although the party management of the Tories and Whigs was far less strict in these days than in modern times, MPs often switched sides.

There were also many successful people, such as Viscount Palmerston, a two-faced politician who was highly used by both the Tories and Whigs, but Palmerston was obviously a player several ranks higher than Harrison.

Although he often expressed some sharp opinions, he was able to cleverly use democratic words and phrases to match the views of oligarchy, and used the arrogant language of the old aristocracy to cover up the speculative policies of the bourgeoisie.Pretend to be an attacker when you are indulging others, and pretend to be a protector when you are betraying others.He knows how to please his apparent enemies and make his false allies suffer.He also knows how to stand with the strong and bully the weak at the right time in a dispute, and when the situation is unfavorable, he will also make full use of his ability to sneak away and brag.

After Viscount Palmerston turned into a reformist a while ago, his ability has been brought into full play.

Addressing his old supporters, Palmerston chose to make the following remarks.

"I support reform not because I support it in principle, but because I am firmly opposed to it" "Some timely concessions to booming industrial capital can be the surest means of preventing general reform"

"Once the reform bill is passed, the bourgeoisie will change their attitude. They will change from being dissatisfied with the Constitution to supporting the Constitution. Therefore, the Constitution will be greatly strengthened and consolidated."

When facing the large landed aristocracy, Palmerston emphasized that "the reform bill will not weaken the power of the aristocracy in the House of Lords, and we still have the right to veto all bills." "The land tenure system will not be shaken by this. It is the national foundation and social cornerstone of Britain."

Viscount Palmerston's remarks, which were neither Whig nor Tory, made Sir Peel even more angry. He couldn't help but curse directly at a public meeting of the House of Commons: "I would like to ask Mr. Speaker to ask on my behalf, Palmerston." Who does the Viscount represent?"

Regarding the recent Polish issue, Viscount Palmerston, who has just assumed the new position of Foreign Secretary, has shown his unique personality.

Mr Hunter, Member of the House of Commons, on behalf of the Westminster Union, presented an appeal for Poland and demanded that Lord Palmerston, who had been deaf and dumb for many months on the Polish question, be immediately removed from all cabinet positions. .

Joseph Hume, a reformist member of the Whig Party, directly opposed it. He publicly condemned Palmerston in the House of Commons: "Judging from the behavior of His Excellency the Viscount, the government does not seem to want to do anything for the Poles at all. It just They want to leave the fate of the Poles to Russia. According to the Treaty of Vienna, Russia should guarantee Poland’s territorial integrity and independence, and when it defaulted, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not even willing to issue a statement of condemnation."

Viscount Palmerston's response to this was also quite classic: "Britain did sign the Treaty of Vienna. This fact cannot be ignored, but this does not mean that we must ensure that Russia does not violate this treaty."

When the House of Commons was quarreling over this matter, Viscount Palmerston had no choice but to adopt a three-step strategy.

First, he declared: "It is morally and politically impossible to eliminate Poland, so I think this concern of trying to exaggerate the facts is unnecessary."

After the fall of Warsaw, Viscount Palmerston expressed his opinion again: "Long before Warsaw was occupied and the outcome of the military operation became clear, I informed in advance that the contracting parties to the Vienna Treaty had the right to demand that the Polish Constitution be inviolate. After the fall of Warsaw, I made another notification. But the Russian government still held another view in this regard."

After the fall of Warsaw, even Austrian Prime Minister Metternich was dissatisfied with Tsarist Russia's violation of the Treaty of Vienna and sent Polish agent Valewski to Paris and London to discuss the restoration of the Kingdom of Poland.

The current news coming out of the Tuileries Palace in Paris seems to be very positive. French King Louis Philippe, who ascended the throne after the July Revolution, continues to maintain his progressive image as a revolutionary fighter. He publicly declared: "If Britain agrees to this plan, , France is willing to act together with the UK and provide full assistance."

Although he was sitting in the coffee shop, Arthur had no intention of caring about Harrison, a little shrimp.

In his opinion, Harrison's political life is over. If he loses again in the near future, his biological life may also come to an end.

The fate of a dead man is obviously not as valuable as the heated Polish issue.

Since receiving the manuscript from the Association of Friends of Poland, Arthur has been speculating on the true attitude of the cabinet and parliament towards Poland.

On this matter, the positions of the MPs were not as clear-cut along party lines as in parliamentary reform. Among the Tory and Whig MPs, some supported aid to Poland, while others supported remaining silent.

What is clear at present is that the Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham, was biased in favor of Poland in this matter. If not, he would not have allowed Thomas Campbell to lead the Literary Society of Friends of Poland to find "The Englishman".

Arthur thought about this without saying a word, and seeing his indifferent attitude, Harrison broke out in cold sweat on his forehead.

Arthur, whom he had regarded as a pawn a month or two ago, now became a mountain that he could not climb no matter what.

A go-getter hand-picked by Sir Peel, the leader of the Tory Party, and a pupil of Lord Justice Brougham, Arthur could be beaten to death even if he did not follow the legal procedures, let alone that he was still arrested by Scotland Yard at this time. Got the handle.

Harrison was silent for a moment, then suddenly took out a document from his coat and placed it in front of the case.

"Mr. Hastings, you should know that while I was an MP, I also served on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, right?"

"Huh?" Arthur raised an eyebrow: "This is..."

Harrison smiled reluctantly: "I have some friends at the London Stock Exchange, and I learned some things from their mouths, such as the organizers of major magazines in London. "The British" is a very interesting I will buy a copy of the magazine when I have nothing to do. Especially the last issue of the supplement "The Economist", the content in it is really eye-catching, and the discussion about Poland in it is particularly noteworthy. I think there must be many people concerned about the progress in Poland now, right?"

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but smile: "I have to admit, Mr. Harrison, my interest in you has increased. Poland is indeed a topic worth talking about. Not only do I care about it, but also many people in the cabinet." Your Excellencies are also concerned, and even those in the opposition are very interested. You know, because Viscount Palmerston has built the Ministry of Foreign Affairs like his private castle, and has always opposed the disclosure of specific details of diplomatic activities. , so even Parliament can’t get the full picture, and it’s almost like Scotland Yard is handling a murder case.”

When Harrison heard this, he felt a little relieved: "Mr. Hastings, I must emphasize to you that I am definitely not a murderer. I can swear this to God on my own conscience."

Arthur nodded slightly and said: "Of course I want to believe what you say. But Mr. Harrison, you have to know that Scotland Yard handles cases based on evidence, and the court's sentencing basis for cases is also based on evidence. And now, all the evidence They all point to you, unless you are willing to show me the full picture of this case without reservation. Otherwise, as the person closest to the murderer, you will not be able to escape."

When Harrison heard this, he took a deep breath, then picked up the document in front of him and shook it gently: "Even if you add these, won't it work?"

Arthur leaned back on the chair and took a sip of tea: "These things can prove that you are not useless and help you regain the trust of your Excellencies. But for Scotland Yard, the unpleasant memories are still there."

Harrison held his head and rubbed it vigorously. After a long time, he couldn't help but said: "Mr. Hastings, I am really sincere in coming here this time. This document does not come easily. I had a lot of trouble getting it out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Alas... Okay! Okay! I'll be honest with you!
The murderer in that case was really not me. The woman who lost her head was purely asking for it.I can help you restore the facts of the case, and this internal document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can also be yours.But in exchange, I have a small request. "

Arthur crossed his fingers and held his chin, he smiled and said: "Then Mr. Harrison, I am now willing to listen to your request."

Harrison slapped his forehead and sighed: "Damn it! It's my fault for being so confused! Mr. Hastings, I know you have a close relationship with Mr. Disraeli. He is a very talented rising star, everyone. Everyone likes him very much, and his behavior and clothing are all at the forefront of the times. But as a member of the House of Commons, I think he may still lack some necessary experience for a young man in his early twenties to sneak in. In the big dyeing vat in the lower courtyard, from my personal point of view, there may be some suspicion of overruling the interests of others. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)