shadow of britain

Chapter 547: The Absent-Minded British Empire (5K8)

Disraeli told Arthur the causes and consequences of the new Poor Law Bill, and his rude voice could be heard from time to time in the school supervisor's office.

Disraeli put down his glass and cursed everyone from Prime Minister Earl Grey to the Lord Chancellor's Chamber, and finally from the Whig Party to the Tory Party itself.

"Arthur, although I know that as a Tory, I should not comment on the leader of my party in this way. But in my opinion, Robert Peel does not have the basic qualities required to lead the Tory Party. I know that our party currently does not have an advantage in seats in the House of Commons, but at least we can share the same seats with the Whigs in the House of Lords, or even have a slight advantage.

Look at how the Whigs caused us trouble when they were in opposition? They launched a public opinion offensive, seized the moral high ground, and even flirted with the French during the French Revolution. And now, what about the Tories under Sir Peel? I don't see any strong opposition to the Whig bills, and Sir Peel even actively cooperates with them on some issues. "

At this point, Disraeli's face turned red with anger: "Robert Peel is an undercover sent by the Whig Party to the Tory Party. He clearly holds Whig views, but he insists on calling himself a liberal within the Tory Party. He occupies the position of party leader but does nothing. With such a leader, I don't think we will be able to turn things around for at least 10 to 20 years!"

Arthur poured Disraeli another glass of wine. He looked at the amber wine filling the glass in front of him and said slowly, "It seems that you prefer an authoritarian leader like the Duke of Wellington. Do you want a guy who can give orders to the whole party as a battlefield commander?"

When Disraeli heard Arthur's evaluation, he felt that "you really understand me".

"That's a very accurate assessment! What the Tory Party needs most now is for the Duke of Wellington to come back and take charge. Under Peel's leadership, the Tory Party is divided into pieces and each is fighting for its own interests. The radicals, traditionalists, and liberals each have their own small circles. This split has further exacerbated the situation in which the Whig Party has the sole dominance in Parliament.

Peel has no idea of ​​the importance of traditional values ​​to the whole party. He does not understand that the spirit of old England is the most important rope that unites the Tory Party. He issued the Tamworth Declaration a while ago, asking the whole party to put aside historical baggage and keep pace with the times, but it is just like what Mr. Richard Osler called for.

If the Church, the Prince, and the Nobility are determined to rob the poor of their liberty, their wives, their children, such a Church is no longer the Church of Christ, such a Prince is no longer the Prince of England, and such a Nobility is no longer the protector of the people. Then they will do harm instead of good. To these most hated enemies, I will cry: 'I will overthrow them, and overthrow them all! '"

When Disraeli got excited, he even stood on one foot on a chair and waved his right hand high, as if he was not standing in the proctor's office but in the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster for a debate.

"No matter what Peel says, I will stake my entire reputation and never give in to the Whigs on the Poor Law issue. Yes, I will stand here, I will fight at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, I will fight in the editorial office of the Libery, I will fight in the Palace of Westminster, I will never retreat! Just to defend the ancient morality that has been passed down from the Middle Ages to the present day and the entire British people!"

When Arthur saw Disraeli's expression, he knew that this guy must have been holding it in for more than a year.

Although he was elected as a member of parliament, he could not reform the country according to his own intentions, but had to watch the trajectory of history slide in the opposite direction. For a young man who dreamed of standing shoulder to shoulder with all the great figures in the world, this might be the greatest pain Disraeli encountered in his life.

That feeling was even more painful than being attacked by the entire British literary world a few years ago, or being rejected by a noble lady.

After Disraeli had finished talking, he noticed that Arthur didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

He looked at the friend in front of him in surprise, who looked familiar but also strange, and asked, "Arthur, don't you agree with my point of view?"

Arthur just smiled when he heard this: "Of course I agree with you, Benjamin. This is not just because of our friendship. Have you forgotten? As early as when we first met, you saw that we are the same kind of people and our ideals are the same."

Disraeli frowned and sat down. "Why don't you cheer for me, or even applaud? You do nothing, which makes my speech seem very inappropriate."

"Of course I can if you want."

Arthur clapped his hands indifferently: "I support Mr. Benjamin Disraeli's point of view."

"Come on, come on, that's a bummer." Disraeli rolled his eyes. "You just don't support me."

"No, quite the opposite."

Arthur commented: "It is precisely because I support you so much that I cannot stand up and applaud you publicly. Benjamin, you cannot use the views of the congressman to apply to the logic of the clerk. In the eyes of the congressman, applause means support and booing means opposition. However, for a clerk like me, verbal support means substantive opposition, and verbal opposition means substantive support."

Disraeli was not stupid. He quickly understood what he meant after thinking about some of the things he had done with Arthur in the past.

But he still wanted to say: "Arthur, although you have been like this for a long time. But since you were shot, you seem to have become more cautious."

Arthur smiled and took a sip of wine. "Not only that, but my attitude towards all radicals has also become worse. No matter if they are radical conservatives or radical liberals, they'd better not fall into my hands, otherwise they will suffer."

Disraeli couldn't help but smile: "I fully support you on this point, and I am honored to inform you that our old friend Charles Dickens is the same. Since Charles saw the draft of the new Poor Law, he, a former Whig supporter, has almost collapsed. Charles once naively thought that the Whig Party was a better choice than the Tory Party, but now he knows that he was wrong.

If the new Poor Law is passed, not only will the wage subsidy be abolished, but there will be no more outdoor relief. All paupers will be sent to the workhouse to work, whether they like it or not. Now, they helped the Whigs in the parliamentary reform last year, and caused you to be shot at the Tower of London. What did they want? To send themselves to the workhouse to work!"

Arthur sighed softly: "Is the bill really unstoppable?"

“Although I am a staunch opponent of the new Poor Law, I cannot distort reality because of my personal feelings. I have to be honest and say that the current situation is very bad. Since the parliamentary reform, the middle class has the most voting rights, and they are the strongest supporters of the New Poor Law. If you use their words, the government cannot spend six or seven million pounds every year to support lazy people. Taxpayers’ money should not be spent on this.”

Disraeli fanned himself with his hat in frustration. "Although the trend cannot be stopped, we still plan to do something. Arthur, I seldom praise a person, but I must say that your behavior at the Tower of London last year inspired us. Charles, Alfred, and I, the three of us plan to follow your example, and follow Don Quixote's charge at the windmill, and give it our all to stop this bill.

The three of us are preparing to serialize new works. Charles has already visited workhouses around the country to conduct research. According to him, he plans to write a novel with orphans from the workhouse as the protagonists, and the title of the work is tentatively set as Oliver Twist. Alfred plans to serialize a rural poem series to denounce the evils of large-scale industrialization.

As for me, my new work, Coningsby, or the Younger Generation, will detail the political tolerance that has long been contained in the British aristocratic spirit, and highlight the Tories' consistent moderate, conservative and compromising political image. If I had published this book before the parliamentary reform, I would have been scolded by everyone. But after the new Poor Law is passed, those people will know that everything I said is true. "

At this point, Disraeli also proposed: "Arthur, your book "The Hastings Mysteries" is almost finished. Would you like to join hands with us to unify our positions on the issue of the Poor Law?"

Disraeli thought Arthur would agree immediately, but unexpectedly he saw Arthur shook his head slightly.

Disraeli asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Arthur stood up and paced with his hands behind his back. "Because someone has to stab you in the back. And my reputation in the literary world is far inferior to that of Charles, Alfred and you, so there is no need for me to get involved. Most importantly, I think that the New Poor Law is such an important matter that even Blackwood may unite with our Limey.

After all, even you three moderates can't stand this bill, so how can the three Lake Poets, Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, stand it? From what I know about Blackwood, they will definitely fire at Whitehall as soon as the new Poor Law is promulgated. "

"Oh, Arthur, you are wrong there." Disraeli put his hand on the back of his chair. "They are firing now. You have judged them very well. Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth are mad with rage. They say the Whigs are a gang of robbers. I seldom give my unsolicited support to Blackwood, but I must applaud them on this occasion."

Arthur nodded slightly. "I think most people in the British literary world would not agree with the new Poor Law. Judging from the content of the bill, most of those who pushed for this bill are political economists who believe in utilitarianism. I have seen the Malthus followers cheering collectively in the House of Commons."

Disraeli pinched his nose in disgust: "Arthur, you really should stand out to run for parliament. You are absolutely right. The Slavery Abolition Act, the Factory Act, and the New Poor Law are the holy trinity of the British economics community. Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, David Ricardo, and most of Thomas Malthus' followers reached a consensus on these three bills. They were completely united.

What's more hateful is that this group of people together almost controls the entire British banking, import and export trade and industrial production. Nothing can shake their combined power. I can't say that I am completely against their opinions, but if I have to choose, I would rather not pass the "Abolition Bill" than to make a "New Poor Law".

And the money I save on the Abolition Act, I will invest in education. After the Factory Act is passed, there will be a lot of uneducated kids on the streets, and I will put them all into schools. Arthur, do you know what I discovered while traveling all this time? I found that even the Germans and French attach more importance to education than we do! "

Disraeli stressed: "If we attach as much importance to education as the Germans and French do, and encourage common experiences and common culture in school textbooks, then in 40 or 50 years, there will be no Irish separatists. Look at Germany. There are so many countries in the German region. The residents of the Alsace-Lorraine region of France don't even speak French, but the Germans think of unity in their heads, while the Alsace and Lorraine people think they are French! And in Britain? The Scots speak English, but they would rather think of themselves as donkeys than stand with their English brothers."

Arthur knew, of course, that what Disraeli said was true.

Everyone knows that the British government is not only very stingy in education investment, but also quite averse to including patriotism education in textbooks, which is widely regarded as a disgusting means of authoritarianism in British society. Perhaps because of the remnants of medieval feudal consciousness, the upper class believes that patriotism is the business of aristocrats and gentlemen, and the lower class thinks the same way.

In other words, patriotism is a right in Britain, and only when you reach a certain social class are you qualified to be patriotic.

Therefore, except for those old aristocratic public schools such as Harrow School and Eton College, the magnificent British Empire is rarely discussed in history classes in other schools.

Even if we talk about history, we basically talk about ancient British history. The empire's colonies are only mentioned in passing, and what we mainly talk about is what kind of free order the empire brought to these places, and we should cherish this spirit of freedom and other similar remarks.

Even for a college student like Arthur who completed his higher education at the University of London, the book "History of England" by David Hume that he learned at university must have seemed quite strange to people from other countries.

Because in this 3500-page magnum opus, only 15 pages talk about the British Empire and overseas colonies, and the rest basically talks about the changes in the social structure, legal system and religious beliefs in the UK.

If this book was written by a German or a Frenchman, no matter how free-spirited he was, it would be impossible for him to spend only 15 pages talking about the empire and overseas colonization.

When Arthur first discovered this phenomenon, he thought it might be because David Hume believed that overseas colonization was not a glorious cause, so he did not take the initiative to mention it. But soon, he found in the library of the University of London that almost all scholars wrote the same way in their "History of Britain".

When Arthur started working at Scotland Yard, he had another chance to come into contact with Whitehall Street.

One time when he walked into the Colonial Office for some official business, this top student of history finally confirmed: the reason why so many "British history" did not mention overseas colonies was not because of the high moral level of scholars, but because most British people's concept of colonies and the British Empire was limited to verbal bragging, and when it came to the practical level, they were most concerned about trade issues.

It is hard for most people to imagine that the Colonial Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which manages tens of millions of square kilometers of colonies in the British Empire, only includes:
A Secretary of State, a Deputy Minister, a Permanent Secretary, a Chief Clerk, seventeen clerks, lawyers, a librarian and his assistant, a registrar and his assistant, a Minister's private secretary, a recorder, a housekeeper, followed by two office cleaners and two porters, a total of 31 people.

When Arthur discovered this fact, the York swineherd, who had always been proud of being able to manage hundreds of pigs, felt ashamed of himself, and he also began to sincerely repent for his previous behavior of mocking the inefficiency of Whitehall Street.

At this moment, Arthur deeply realized what it meant to be a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister.

Because, if calculated based on the population of the colonies, even the two cleaners and two porters in the Colonial Affairs Department were responsible for managing at least a million people.

However, despite being so short of staff, the Colonial Office was still able to run the British Empire in an orderly manner and manipulate franchise companies such as the East India Company and the Levant Company at its fingertips. This has to be said to be a miracle in social management in the 19th century.

Whenever the Palace of Westminster discussed colonial management legislation, there would always be a lot of empty seats in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It can be said that these people did not care about the colonies at all.

Since Parliament and the Colonial Office were so careless and the whole British society was so indifferent to the colonies, it is no wonder that Disraeli was so angry and pointed out the education problems in Britain.

After all, according to Arthur's understanding of him, although Benjamin looked unreliable and often dressed himself up like a peacock, he was dreaming of an empire like Augustus and Caesar in his heart.

As an unsociable imperialist, it is not difficult to understand why he envied the patriotic education of Germany and France.

Disraeli asked directly: "Arthur, to be honest with you, I came to Göttingen not only to reconnect with old friends, but also to conduct in-depth research on German education issues. If possible, I hope you can allow me to come and go freely in the University of Göttingen and open your library to me. If possible, I would also like to communicate more with your history professors."

Of course, Arthur had no reason to refuse Disraeli's request. If he could really take advantage of this research opportunity to propose a feasible education reform bill in the UK, it would definitely be a good thing.

Although this may bring some unknown side effects, politics has always been the art of manipulating possibilities. No bill is harmless, and in most cases, everyone just suppresses one problem and waits for another to emerge, and muddles through this period first.

"Of course, it's a pleasure, Benjamin."

Arthur smiled and stood up and said, "I said that I am your most ardent supporter. And I am also very happy to see that we have the same views again. At this moment when the Tory Party is falling apart, you are not only not defeated by difficulties, but you are indomitable. This is really gratifying!"

Arthur chatted and laughed with Disraeli, and he was about to take Disraeli to the Faculty of Philosophy to meet the professors.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the door, he found people arguing in the corridor.

"Regarding the issue of purchasing experimental equipment, we have already decided to contact the British manufacturer. Why are you still pestering us?"

"But, sir! I know that British instruments are first-rate, but that doesn't mean that German instruments are that bad! And look at the price, look at the price of our instruments, our factory's product quotation is much cheaper than British products. Most importantly, we are willing to provide a five-year warranty, which is completely free of charge, and we will never charge any extra fees."

"Don't say anything more. Dean Hastings won't agree. He said that the pursuit of the University of Göttingen is to be the best and the strongest. Even if we don't use British products, we can't place an order with a small Prussian factory, Friedrich Krupp Steel Foundry. I haven't even heard of your factory's name. Where did you get the news that we were going to purchase products?"

"Sir, how about this? I can give you another 10% discount, or you can let me go to see Provost Hastings. Regardless of whether I convince him or not, I can give you..."

"You are just dreaming! You don't even look 20 years old. What right do you have to represent your factory to give preferential prices? I think you are most likely a liar! Are you going to leave or not? If you don't leave, I will call the police!"

(End of this chapter)