shadow of britain

Chapter 79 Great Britain Changes (Please Subscribe!)
In the office of the Ministry of the Interior, Sir Peel was sitting on a chair, carefully reading a series of investigation reports on the murder case submitted by Scotland Yard.

On his right hand side, there is a proposal for revision of the "Anatomy Act" drafted by Arthur.

The revision proposal elaborates on what Arthur has learned from the physician and gravedigger community, such as the necessity of corpses for the development of medicine, the insufficient supply of corpses, and the legal access to hospitals, prisons, and workhouses by anatomy schools in other countries in continental Europe. Those unclaimed bodies and other key information.

Given the revisions to the Blood Act, there will only be fewer and fewer legitimate sources of autopsies going forward.

Therefore, in order to avoid a repeat of the large-scale murder case like this one, we should refer to the European experience to expand the legal sources of autopsy.

On the other hand, differentiated punishments should be imposed on those groups who use corpses for profit.

In the end, Arthur also pointed out the theme at the end of the report-the dead and unclaimed corpses of the poor should be exchanged for the living rights of the poor who are still alive.

After reading these documents, Sir Peel covered his forehead and said to Arthur who was sitting opposite him.

"Arthur, it's not that we don't understand these things. Since the Edinburgh Burke case happened a few years ago, we have been considering expanding the legal sources of corpses.

But you know, the people of Britain have deep-seated stereotypes about anatomy, a general belief that the body is the oldest and most sacred symbol of a person, and that many of the requirements for funerals are still part of our cultural customs.

Therefore, it is difficult for us to fully refer to the experience of other countries in continental Europe to create a system that uses unclaimed corpses for autopsy.

Moreover, those who opposed this bill not only included the clergy, but also many people in the medical community.Congressman Thomas Wickley, a medical expert who was in charge of setting up the anatomical ethics investigation committee this time, is one of the staunch opponents.

He made a speech in the House of Commons about it, arguing that the Anatomy Act was supposed to clear up deep-seated resentment and prejudice against the practice of dissection, but we added false enthusiasm to it.This led the public, especially the poor, to believe that their rulers were selling their bodies to anatomists to have their bodies cut up.

He also felt that if the Anatomy Act were to be voted on and officially enacted, it would only dishonor medical researchers like himself, using dead, unclaimed corpses from workhouses and hospitals for dissection research , not only immoral, but also anti-human.

Even in the past few years, when the Duke of Wellington first formed a cabinet, the "Anatomy Act" could not be smoothly advanced.

As for the present moment...it is too sensitive. Even if I am willing to fully support your opinion, the rest of the cabinet members are not willing to continue to provoke the public's sensitive nerves.

I know you mean well, but Arthur, at least not right now, sorry.However, I can promise you that I will carefully consider this issue, but the specific time to advance requires an appropriate time. "

Arthur certainly understood the subtext in Sir Peel's words.

The Tories could not secure even half the seats in the House of Commons at a time when the prelates in the House of Lords were already furious over the Catholic Act.

If the "Anatomy Act" is thrown in their faces at this time, I am afraid that the archbishops will personally end and organize the believers to take to the streets to protest.

Arthur nodded and said calmly: "It's okay, I understand you. But please understand that it is Scotland Yard's responsibility to submit this report, and we must conduct a detailed analysis of the cause of the case.

As stated in our police handbook, the goal of the police is to reduce the crime rate. Only by addressing the needs of doctors will the chances of sniping and killing people decrease. "

Sir Peel nodded approvingly and said, "That's right, only by solving the demand problem can we stop this kind of crime. But although I can't push the anatomy bill, I can first try to push the issue of differentiated punishment you mentioned earlier.

Before the "Anatomy Law" can be passed, we can try to guide those criminals to try to steal corpses instead of killing people.

For those doctors who used the bodies of murder victims, I will also try my best to use the influence of the cabinet and parliament to put pressure on the relevant colleges and hospitals to remove these people from their teaching positions and make them pay the price.

In this way, from now on, when those doctors buy corpses of unknown origin, they can also be forced to think carefully or at least they must make sure that these corpses do not come from homicide cases. "

Arthur nodded. For him, today's conversation with Sir Peel has achieved some results. At least it made him realize the importance of such cases.

That's enough.

Speaking of this, Sir Peel suddenly said again: "Arthur, no matter what, the results of your work this time are excellent and fruitful. I can tell you a word for the Duke of Wellington, he appreciates your work very much ability. So, soon, he has a new task to give you."

"New mission?" Arthur frowned and thought for a moment: "Scotland Yard should not have encountered any difficult cases recently. Which problem are you talking about?"

"No, no, it's not a case."

Sir Peel smiled and said, "It's a venue security job for a large event. You should know that the Liverpool-Manchester railway is about to be completed? ease the relationship.

After comprehensively considering the local police force, the Ministry of Internal Affairs felt that it was most appropriate to send capable police officers from Scotland Yard to the scene to maintain order.And when we asked Mr. Duke for his personal opinion, you were the first thing he thought of. "

When Arthur heard this, he probably understood what was going on.

William Huskisson is considered a well-known figure in the Tory Party, but this person's position is very strange. He is a liberal in the Tory Party.

The Tory Party itself is considered an ultra-conservative party, but after the Peterloo massacre that year, there was a considerable degree of division within the Tory Party.

A part of the Tory Liberal group who sympathized with the victimized workers and believed that party policies must be adjusted was isolated.

The Tory Liberal group was headed by former Prime Minister George Canning, former Secretary of State William Huskisson and Sir Robert Peel.

In the cabinet organized by Robert Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool in 1822, the Tory Liberals were victorious, George Canning was in charge of foreign affairs and was also the leader of the House of Commons, William Huskisson was in charge of trade, and Robert Peel Then he became the Minister of Internal Affairs and has been working until today.

During these three terms, one opposed the conservative policy of the Tory Party, and George Canning revised his foreign policy and actively supported the independence movements in South America and Greece.

William Huskisson advocated free trade, and drastically abolished [-]% to [-]% of the regulations in the "Navigation Act", so that most of the goods shipped to the British colonies no longer need to be transshipped through the UK.

Sir Peel has been actively promoting the abolition of the "Blood Act" campaign since he took office, and has achieved fruitful results some time ago.Counting previous efforts, Sir Peel has successively abolished more than 100 capital offenses.In addition, he has been working to improve the prison environment.

It's just that Sir Peel is the only one left in the cabinet of this Tory liberal group.

George Canning died of illness during his tenure as prime minister a few years earlier.

Huskisson led his supporters out of the cabinet in anger because the Duke of Wellington, a conservative representative of the Tory Party, came to power.

Only Sir Peel, because of his good personal relationship with the Duke of Wellington, stayed on at his invitation.

It stands to reason that with the character of the Duke of Wellington, he is willing to take the initiative to reconcile with Huskisson, which is simply unbelievable.

But from another perspective, this can also explain the predicament of Wellington's cabinet at this time.

A "Catholic Emancipation Act" can be said to have offended all the ultra-conservatives in the party, so according to this trend, the Duke of Wellington wants to fall to the liberals?
Arthur was still thinking about it.

Suddenly, only the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Sir Peel's private secretary pushed the door open and said hurriedly, "Sir, the Duke of Wellington is in a hurry to call you to No. 10 Downing Street."

Upon hearing this, Sir Peel stood up and took his coat off the hanger: "What happened?"

The private secretary was anxious: "Oh, our king died in Windsor Castle!"

(End of this chapter)