shadow of britain

Chapter 719: The Whig Interpretation of History

There is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

—Oscar Wilde

What is the first thing you do when you receive a brand new, ink-scented copy of The Times from the newsboy every morning?
Different people have different focuses.

Dickens always habitually read domestic current affairs news in order to find writing materials.

Mr Disraeli, whose seat in the House of Commons was shaky, would search again and again for news from his constituency of Maidstone in Kent.

Elder would hold a thatched cottage bread in his mouth, hold a cup of black tea, and pray to God that there would be a few London "love" stories in today's newspaper.

As for Sir Arthur Hastings?

Since 1830 he had developed a quirk in reading newspapers.

He would always subconsciously look for his name in the newspaper. When he saw a person named Arthur appearing in an article, his heart would beat faster, but if the person's last name was not Hastings, he would inevitably feel depressed.

Even Arthur himself could not explain this contradictory feeling, he obviously did not want anyone to notice him so that he could continue to do the private things he wanted to do secretly, but if no one really paid attention to him and made him feel insignificant, then the knight would not even be able to sleep well.

Since the jazz returned to London, his insomnia symptoms have lasted for almost a month.

In order to end this situation as soon as possible, Sir Arthur Hastings took the initiative to increase his daily working hours from 12 hours to 16 hours, even though no one paid him a penny for it.

It turned out that the Sir's practice of significantly increasing his working hours had achieved fruitful results. After an "accidental encounter" with John Conroy at a banquet a few days ago, the former Scotland Yard police officer successfully tore a hole in the airtight "Kensington Line of Defense".

But unfortunately, such high-intensity work is obviously not good for physical and mental health, especially for a guy with a bad heart, it is even fatal.

When the Dean of the University of London was leaving get off work yesterday, he had just walked to Greville Street when he suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the ground. Fortunately, the London University's teaching hospital, the London Free General Hospital, was not far away.

After taking the digitalis tea prescribed by the doctor and resting for a night, Arthur finally recovered.

But whether it was the effect of digitalis or the effect of the red devil that had been squatting above his head all night gloating over his misfortune, Arthur, who had no medical knowledge, could not be sure.

However, compared with the minor physical discomfort, Arthur, who lay in the hospital for a night, was obviously more interested in the changes in London's free general hospitals in recent years.

Due to the outstanding role played by this hospital in sheltering and treating patients during the cholera epidemic two years ago, the hospital has received a steady stream of social donations in recent years. Although these donations are not always large amounts, they accumulate to a considerable sum. Arthur alone donated 150 pounds worth of medicines and other supplies to the hospital in the name of alumni.

Today, the London Free General Hospital is no longer the small clinic it was when it was first founded by Mr. William Marsden, but a large hospital with nearly 200 beds.

What was even more unexpected to Arthur was that he ran into an old acquaintance here.

John Snow, the surgeon's apprentice who gave him ideas for controlling cholera during his tour in Liverpool.

After receiving Arthur's letter of recommendation, Snow entered the University of London Medical School that year.

This medical student, who is about to enter his third year, has been involved in surgery and treatment as an apprentice since he was 14 years old. In addition, he is a student recommended by Arthur. Therefore, Professor Marsden, who has a good personal relationship with Arthur, has been taking him to study since he enrolled.

Although he has not yet graduated, in Marsden's opinion, John Snow, who is making rapid progress, is almost able to stand on his own.

Arthur sat on the hospital bed, sorting his clothes while chatting with Snow beside him: "Time flies. When I was in Liverpool, I never thought that the doctor who would treat me one day would be you."

Snow smiled shyly. He was grateful to the noble man who brought him from Liverpool to London. "Yes! Who could have thought? Although so much time has passed, every time I think back to those years, I still feel like I was dreaming. If I hadn't met you, I might have had to be an apprentice for another four or five years. If everything went well, I might have been admitted to a medical college and become a specialist. But no matter what, I would never have the opportunity to publish an article in The Lancet like I do now, or even...even become a doctor..."

Arthur half-jokingly replied, "Have you considered getting a doctorate? Could it be that Mr. Marsden doesn't want to let you go so soon? After all, there aren't many students as experienced as you in the medical school. If he lets you go now, Mr. Marsden will have to spend a lot of energy training the next one, and the next one may not be as useful as you."

Snow waved his hands and said, "It was my own idea to study for a doctorate. It has nothing to do with Mr. Marsden. He would rather I work in a large hospital as soon as possible after graduation. He even planned to write a recommendation letter for me to Westminster Hospital. He always felt that I had seen all the cases here, and it would be detrimental to my growth if I stayed here any longer."

Arthur smiled and replied, "Don't be nervous, it's just a joke. I know Mr. Marsden well. If he had any selfish motives, he would not sell his house just to open this free hospital for the poor who can't afford medical treatment. There is no doctor in London with a kinder heart than him."

Arthur stood up and said, "When I was at the academic affairs meeting, Mr. Marsden mentioned you to me. He said that you published two papers on cholera in The Lancet. According to the school's doctoral degree awarding standards, you are actually qualified. If you plan to pursue a doctorate, there is actually no need to stay in school to take classes. After you get your bachelor's degree, you can directly apply for a doctorate. As long as you can show a convincing enough performance in the doctoral thesis defense, I personally support not having to follow those red tape regarding the teaching process."

If someone else said this, it would probably be regarded as a blank check with no weight.

But as the Provost of the University of London, Arthur dared to say this to Snow, so he naturally had the confidence to do it.

Moreover, given Snow's ability to publish several articles in The Lancet in his sophomore year, Arthur felt that the other members of the academic committee could not find a reason not to give Snow a back door.

If other students are not convinced, that’s okay. As long as you can show the same ability as Snow, you can be given the same rights in the new "Teaching Regulations" that Provost Hastings will soon promulgate.

Depending on the subject, two papers in The Lancet, two papers in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society or two papers in Nature can lead directly to a doctoral degree.

Of course, even so, we cannot rule out the possibility that some people may think it is unfair.

Because leaving aside The Lancet and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the two Nature papers were enough to get him elected as a member of the Royal Society twice. The value of a doctorate from the University of London seems to be a bit too high.

Moreover, students majoring in history and classics may complain that they are treated unfairly by their schools because there are no corresponding direct admission standards to the PhD.

In fact, Arthur had considered the students of these two colleges at the beginning. After all, in terms of school history and honor, these two colleges are by far the best in the University of London. The History College gave birth to the school's first knight, Sir Arthur Hastings, while the Classical Literature College has Elder Carter and Alfred Lord Tennyson, two of the top figures in the British literary world.

But...

Arthur always felt that using the number of "The Brit" and "Spark" articles published as a criterion was too obvious and could easily lead to people accusing him of self-interest at the expense of public resources. So after much thought, he could only let his juniors suffer a little.

Besides, Arthur didn't think that studying history and classical literature meant he couldn't publish in Nature and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Natural philosophy is, after all, part of philosophy. Moreover, it wasn't like someone in the School of History had published in these journals before. For example, Sir Arthur Hastings published one article each in Nature and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, which fully met the university's doctoral degree criteria.

As the saying goes: politics and history are inseparable, history and physics are inseparable, physics and music are inseparable, music and police are inseparable, and police and diplomacy are inseparable.

Young people should learn a lot. I can do it, and so can you!

After bidding farewell to the inspired Snow, Arthur planned to go out and hail a cab to rush to the University of London on Gower Street.

Generally speaking, positions like the Dean of Academic Affairs do not require strict working hours, and school affairs are far from being onerous for a senior police officer like Arthur who is accustomed to all kinds of trivial matters.

If there was anything that was worth Arthur's attention, it was probably the courses assigned to him by the school.

The first was a natural philosophy course, "On Electricity and Magnetism," which the academic committee strongly requested, and the other was a British history course, "From the Norman Conquest to the Hanoverian Dynasty," which he volunteered to take.

Of the two courses, Natural Philosophy is scheduled on Tuesdays and History is scheduled on Thursdays.

As for your question, which class does Arthur like better?

All I can answer you is that today is Thursday.

The classroom at the University of London was filled with the mixed smell of parchment and oak desks. Arthur put the chalk on the blackboard. He was talking about the relationship between the Plantagenet dynasty and the Magna Carta.

"Due to John I's defeat in the Battle of Bouvines and his long-term war with France, he violated feudal conventions, levied heavy taxes and extorted money everywhere. He not only levied shield money 17 times in 11 years, but also invented various taxes such as movable property tax, business tax, and church tax. The dissatisfaction of the English nobility also reached its peak at this time.

At that time, King John tried to force his first wife to marry the nobleman Geoffrey de Mandeville for 2 marks. According to the king's request, if Mandeville refused to accept it, then after his death, all his inheritance would belong to the king.

The king demanded 5000 marks from William de Fosse's mother, or she would have to accept a remarriage with someone he designated. Gilles de Briouze's brother and mother starved to death, and John I later demanded 9000 marks in exchange for reinstatement.

Robert Ross just wanted to take back his occupied land and castle, but he was asked to pay 2000 marks in taxes to the king..."

Compared to Arthur's electromagnetism course, his history course was obviously more popular, especially when he talked about the outrageous deeds of John I, the "Landless King", even the yawning students in the back row opened their eyes wide.

"The angry English nobles could no longer tolerate it, so they joined hands to fight against the king's plunder and oppression. The rebels were composed of two-thirds of the English nobles. On May 1215, 5, the noble coalition occupied London and, with the help of the citizens of London, held John I hostage and forced him to sign the Magna Carta..."

Arthur paused here.

Because according to the outline of history that has been popular in the UK in recent decades, after talking about the process of the Magna Carta, one must always say: Since the Magna Carta, Britain has thoroughly established the constitutional democratic tradition that has existed since ancient times. The subsequent break with Rome, the Civil War in the 17th century, the Glorious Revolution, the fight against George III and the Parliamentary Reform in 1832, etc., all prove that the British constitutional system is not a product of modern times, but an inheritance of the fine traditions of the ancestors, and it is these traditions that have constructed Britain's unique history...

There are also things like, it is precisely because the progressive aristocrats, the Whigs, persisted in their long-term struggle against the royalist aristocrats, the Tories, and the autocratic monarchs that the current constitutional system of Britain was formed, and so on. There are a lot of Whig historical nonsense that sounds seemingly correct but cannot stand up to any scrutiny.

Especially in Whig progressive bases such as the University of London, such arguments were repeatedly raised in history classes.

Although Arthur was educated at the University of London, this does not mean that he is very fond of this kind of Whig historical view.

Especially after personally experiencing the parliamentary reform of 1832, he sneered at the Whig historians who flattered themselves and claimed to be the only progressive force leading Britain forward.

At least in Arthur's view, Britain's constitutionalism is more a product of history than the result of the Whigs' constant struggle.

At least in the case of the parliamentary reform of 1832, the final word came not from the Whigs but from the Duke of Wellington's bold concession.

There has always been a party like the Whig Party in France across the English Channel, but France has never had an influential figure like the Duke of Wellington who is willing to give up his personal interests and compromise.

On the contrary, after the parliamentary reform was passed, Arthur was very dissatisfied with the Whig Party's handling of domestic issues.

Not only did the fools who made the most noise on the night of the riot not get any voting rights from the reform bill, they were even hit hard by the new Poor Law. Although Arthur did not doubt the intentions of the former Prime Minister Earl Grey, this prime minister who had worked for parliamentary reform and the abolition of slavery for half his life was consistent in his words and deeds, as could be seen from his firm promotion of the thankless Irish Church Act, and his resignation for it and his unwillingness to cling to power.

However, the sharp differences among the Whigs on the Irish Church Law also made Arthur see clearly the true nature of the mainstream people within the Whig Party.

They are either sanctimonious hypocrites or self-important saviors, and their constitution is just like the Russian constitution that former Tsar Alexander I hoped for.

They respect freedom, but it is up to them to define what freedom is.

Arthur therefore preferred to do business with the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel rather than with the current Whigs.

The Tories may be conservative, but that doesn't make them evil.

The Whigs may have been progressive, but that didn’t make them the embodiment of justice.

Compared to the Whig Party's flexible and ever-changing definition domain, Sir Arthur Hastings, an old media tycoon who is averse to investment risks, clearly prefers a clear-cut camp.

Under normal circumstances, Arthur would inevitably take the opportunity of his lectures to make a few sarcastic remarks about Mr. Thomas Macaulay, the British scholar who had just taken office as the Counselor of the Governor-General of India and was a great figure in the academic world who had gilded the Whig Party.

But as soon as he turned around, he saw a pair of fox-like gray eyes in the back row of the classroom.

This gentleman, wearing a velvet stand-up collar jacket, has a brooch embroidered with the royal coat of arms pinned to his pocket, which is gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"Please continue, Sir Arthur." Sir John Conroy took off his top hat, revealing his carefully trimmed sideburns. "I have always believed that history is a magic mirror that always reflects some interesting things."

Arthur's knuckles turned slightly white as he gripped the chalk, and he could feel the red devil above him rubbing his claws excitedly.

The Red Devil grinned and said, "Oh, my dear Arthur, it seems that your arrangement is very effective. The selection of the leading actress in the Alhambra Theater... Miss Lily's failure to be selected yesterday obviously made some people feel uneasy. Maybe you should be glad that today is Thursday. If it was the natural philosophy class on Tuesday, you might not be so relaxed as today..."

(End of this chapter)