shadow of britain

Chapter 734: British Literature Cannot Lose "The Englishman"

It's better to do nothing, so that you won't get into any trouble.

— William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

Although he was already sitting in the carriage heading to Kensington Palace, Arthur had no intention of reviewing the outline of his lesson to the Crown Prince today.

His mind was full of what had happened last night at the Alhambra Theatre.

To be honest, he knew that this Whig government would not last long. Although it could be said that Viscount Melbourne succeeding Earl Grey as Prime Minister was popular, this popularity was actually the product of the tug of war among various forces in British politics.

Everyone accepted Viscount Melbourne as the new Prime Minister, but no one could admit that they were staunch supporters of Melbourne.

William IV was completely forced to order Viscount Melbourne to succeed Earl Grey to form a cabinet a few months ago. If the Tories had even the slightest hope of successfully forming a cabinet at that time, the Sailor King would not agree to let a Whig continue to serve as prime minister.

However, William IV thought that he had made a great concession by continuing to appoint a Whig prime minister, but for the past two months the Whigs had continued to push the Irish Church Bill in the House of Commons.

Such behavior naturally greatly angered the king.

William IV could not help but recall the parliamentary reform in 1832. In order to allow the bill to pass smoothly through the House of Lords, he had to enfeoff new nobles into the House of Lords at the request of Earl Grey in order to obtain an absolute majority.

However, after the Reform Bill was rejected by the House of Lords again, Grey actually asked him again to expand the Whig Party's seats in the House of Lords, and Earl Grey also claimed that if the king delayed the enthronement, he and his Grey cabinet would resign en masse.

Since this incident, William IV, who had been a supporter of the Whig Party in his youth, suddenly became a staunch ally of the Tories.

Although he did not openly fall out with the ruling party, everyone knew that in his heart, His Majesty the King hated these people who completely ignored his monarchical power and royal majesty.

But even so, Arthur never thought that he would directly dissolve Parliament and call a general election in advance.

When was the last time something like this happened in Britain?
If Arthur remembered correctly, it should have been half a century ago in 1786, when the king was still William IV and George III, the father of George IV.

Moreover, the reason for dissolving Parliament that time was almost the same as this time, both times the king wanted to help the Tories fight against the Whigs who held a majority in the House of Commons.

Many people feel that since the Glorious Revolution in 1689, the British Parliament, which has gone through the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, has firmly locked the king in a "cage".

The Bill of Rights limited the king's power to levy taxes, establish a standing army, and interfere in Parliament.

The Act of Settlement stipulated that only Protestants could inherit the throne, eliminating the danger of a Catholic king reappearing in Britain. It also strengthened the "life tenure" principle for judges and prevented the king from dismissing judges at will.

The Act of Union merged the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, unifying the two countries' parliaments into the British Parliament, effectively preventing the possibility of the king using Scotland to shake the parliamentary system.

The Seven Years Parliament Act extended the term of parliament from three years to seven years, reducing the king's influence on parliament by extending the term.

In 1782 and 1801, the opposition forced George III to abdicate twice. Since then, Britain has established the principled consensus that "the Prime Minister must obtain the majority support of the House of Commons" and "the Prime Minister must be the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons."

Just when democrats all over Europe were vigorously advocating the advancement of the British constitutional system and viewing the British Westminster system as the way forward for the future, William IV actually dissolved the Parliament.

Such an approach is not only a slap in the face of the pro-British elements on the European continent, but also a heavy blow to the supporters of the British constitutional monarchy.

In the minds of the constitutional monarchists, the superiority of the constitutional monarchy over the republic lies in the fact that when party conflicts intensify, the king can exercise his authority to act as a mediator to bridge party conflicts. But what they did not expect was that William IV was the one who intensified the conflicts. Dissolving Parliament was not the constitutional monarchy they wanted, it was an absolute monarchy.

William IV probably did not expect that his order to dissolve Parliament would lead to such serious consequences. Early this morning, newspapers criticizing the king's behavior were shipped out in bundles from Fleet Street.

These newspapers, printed with the scent of wet ink, spread along Whitehall, Parliament Street, and St. James's Street like a wildfire, as if they were about to set the whole of London on fire.

Just from the newsboys' enthusiastic shouting, you can tell how excited the reporters from major newspapers who have not slept all night are.

The King dissolved Parliament, and experts suggested that it be placed in a mental hospital for recuperation

It was rumoured that Sir Robert Peel, who was on holiday in Italy, was practising his Frisbee skills to catch the country thrown by the King.

"Melbourne has stepped down, Peel has not arrived, and His Majesty may rule the country himself, and rule the country with the "Old Sailor's Diary""

We're not saying the king can't talk, but I have to admit, I didn't expect the first words out of his mouth to be 'Go away!'

New Play at Westminster Palace: The King Dissolves Parliament, starring William IV, written by Fury

This newspaper has not yet learned whether the new play was a hit, but there were certainly people applauding in the royal box.

The Ghost of George III is Laughing: My Son Is Learning the Same

We dare not say that this is a coup, but if it is not, then what is a coup?
The Reform Act of 1832 is less than three years old, but His Majesty has decided to send it to an orphanage.

His Majesty the King claimed that he was only responsible for signing and not for raising the child.

"The constitution unbuttoned the last button and revealed the king"

This newspaper doesn't usually talk about political topics, but we write about the affairs of the male master and the female governess every day. You must be tired of it, right?

The cause of death of parliamentary reform in 1832: a slap in the face from the king after a brief resurgence

Sir Arthur Hastings: If I had known this... wouldn't my blood have been shed in vain?
Arthur stared at the newspaper without even moving his eyebrows, but the folds on the edges of the newspaper that he had pinched were as deep as the ravines in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa.

"Isn't my blood shed in vain?"

He repeated in a low voice the comment printed in the street newspaper, his hand holding the cigar shaking with anger: "Perhaps His Majesty is really crazy, but at least he has to choose a good time to go crazy... However, it is rare... These columnists actually found their bones overnight."

He was sulking for a moment, but then he thought again: Perhaps at this moment in St. James's Palace, William IV was sitting at the breakfast table, chewing toast, hitting the newspaper with a silver knife, and roaring angrily: "Outrageous!"

Compared with the attacks suffered by the king, it seems that there is not much to be angry about for him, the "cannon soldier" who was unfortunately affected by the reporters' AOE skills.

A deep voice with a smacking tongue sounded in Arthur's ears: "I shed blood, but I couldn't get a positive newspaper headline in return. It's such a touching story that it almost made me cry, of course, if I still had tears."

Arthur didn't even turn his head. He knew who was talking just by thinking with his buttocks: "Have you been silent for too long? Are you almost moldy from holding it in?"

Agares laughed. "Don't blame me for not reminding you. Human society never respects tools, even if these tools have plowed countless acres of land for them."

Arthur slowly put out his cigar in the silver ashtray. "I never expect newspapers to speak for me. Because they are like toilets in the bathroom. It's not shameful to use them, but if you lick them clean with your tongue in order to get their favor, that's really despicable."

"Hahaha, well said." Agares said with a playful smile: "Then what are you angry about? Isn't it just a group of paperhangers who made a joke of you?"

"I'm not angry about what they wrote about me." Arthur spoke word by word, "I'm angry about them using my blood to cover up their cowardice, and then turning around and using the king's absurdity as a comedy. It looks like they are lashing out at power, but in fact they are just diverting attention so that they can hide more safely. If the newspaper that wrote about me dares to face the anger of His Majesty the King, then I would respect him for his literary courage." "Then how are you better than them?" Agares didn't buy it at all: "So you swallowed your anger, held back your bad emotions, pretended nothing happened, and went to Kensington Palace to smile at a fifteen-year-old girl?"

At this point, the devil pretended to be a good guy again: "But I have to say, Arthur, you have changed, really changed, and become 'mature'. The Hastings who used to want to fight back when his superiors said something wrong and rushed forward to block bullets in the face of riots, now has learned to frown and keep silent, and even knows a decent and harmless way of self-protection such as 'teaching at Kensington Palace'. This is really not easy, and this really makes the devil feel relieved."

He deliberately drew out his tone, and the sarcastic tone was almost like the spring flood of the Thames, with sour water about to overflow the river bank.

Arthur said nothing. He simply folded the newspaper neatly and put it into his briefcase, his movements meticulous, like a washerwoman putting away clothes. "Speaking of changes, you have changed a lot, Agares."

Agares said briskly: "Oh? How do you say that?"

"You used to be one of the Seventy-Two Pillars, able to cause a country to collapse and an emperor to go crazy. But what about you now? You're hiding under the leather cushion of a carriage, relying on bickering to gain a sense of existence, and even your mockery has to be practiced on a pig herder like me. Tell me, have you matured as well?"

The air suddenly felt like the wheels of a carriage being vibrated and getting stuck.

Arthur lit up another cigar and said, "But don't be too sad. When I die someday, I will go to hell and ask Baal to plead for you. Then you can go and admit your mistakes to him. After all, he is the boss of hell. I think Baal should have some tolerance."

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Agares was silent for three seconds, then suddenly sneered. The laughter no longer had the mocking humor from before. Instead, it was like a broken string, fiercely pulling in the air: "My dear Arthur, don't be so shameless..."

The next second, a cold wind with a burnt smell blew across the inner wall of the carriage, and the sparks on the cigar head were blown away.

Arthur thought that the devil was showing off his best skills, but when he blinked, Agares, who had just finished his opening moves, disappeared.

He took a slow puff of his cigar and exhaled slowly.

It seems that in today's mature contest, the thousand-year-old devil Agares won after all.

The carriage stopped steadily in front of Kensington Palace.

The palace gate was as solemn and silent as usual, and the guards' feathered hats were lined up neatly like clouds.

Arthur put away his cigar, straightened his collar, and immediately stepped out of the carriage. He stood still, raised his head, and puffed out his chest.

"Sir Arthur Hastings." The guard stepped forward and saluted, "The Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria have been waiting for a long time."

The Rose Room at Kensington Palace is always unusually quiet on weekdays.

The Duchess of Kent has always attached great importance to her daughter's education, which is reflected not only in the dense teaching schedule, but also in the layout of the teaching environment.

During lecture hours, the doors of the Rose Hall were always closed, the curtains were drawn, the fire burned gently, but the incense burner was never lit.

Because the Duchess of Kent thought it was French affectation and would distract her daughter's attention to meaningless things.

There is a neoclassical oil painting in the style of Ingres hanging on the wall. The lady in the painting looks like a female philosopher with her eyes downcast in thought, wearing a gold leaf crown on her head, as if she is also attending a lecture.

According to Conroy, the painting was replaced last spring, replacing a tapestry depicting St. George slaying the dragon.

This was Mrs. Leizen's idea. The reason sounded a bit confusing. It said that the crown prince should not be exposed to chivalrous culture too early.

When Arthur was brought to the Rose Hall by his servants, the three ladies who were participating in the course today had already taken their seats.

The student Victoria, wearing a pink-gray morning dress with long cuffs and a velvet bow on her chest, was sitting on a low chair near the fireplace, with a desk covered with light green silk in front of her.

The Duchess of Kent, who was in charge of supervising the tutoring, sat on a sofa chair a step higher. She wore a silver-rimmed pleated hat, a black satin dress that was almost as simple as a clergyman's, and held a short-handled folding fan in her hand.

Mrs. Fletzen, a woman bestowed by the royal family, stood by the window, looking as reserved as ever. Arthur saw that she was holding a notebook in her hand. He thought that the notebook must be the legendary "Diary" used to record Princess Victoria's every word and action.

If you want to understand Victoria, there is no information more precious than the little notebook in Lehzen's hand. From the moment she was born into this world, every day she spent in the world was condensed in Lehzen's pen.

After Arthur bowed, he did not start speaking immediately. Instead, he took out two thin volumes of poetry from his briefcase. The spines of the books were engraved with the words "Selected Poems of Tennyson" in gold foil, and the poet's signature could be seen in the fluent handwriting on the corners of the covers.

He walked forward respectfully and handed one of the volumes to Princess Victoria, and placed the other on the coffee table in front of the Duchess of Kent's lap.

"Mr. Tennyson sent me his regards to your Highnesses. He said he could not imagine that his few lines of poor odes to the earth and stars could reach the ears of the royal family."

Victoria's eyes lit up. She couldn't wait to open the first page of the collection and soon exclaimed, "Is this written by Mr. Tennyson himself?"

The Duchess of Kent also picked up the collection of poems and said in surprise: "Has this collection of poems not been officially published yet? Why have I never seen it before?"

"Yes, this is an unpublished manuscript." Arthur smiled and said, "Mr. Tennyson heard that Her Royal Highness particularly loved the line 'To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield' written by him, so he stayed up all night just to copy and sign it himself."

Victoria's brows relaxed with joy, and the Duchess of Kent, who had always had a stiff face, also rarely showed a genuine smile.

The Duchess of Kent never expected that Arthur would give such an expensive gift. This collection of poems was not about how much it cost. The fact that Tennyson copied it himself was enough to make her feel honored.

Of course, that may seem so to outsiders.

But, in Arthur's case, didn't he just ask Tennyson to help him copy a dozen poems?

It's just a trivial matter.

If Dickens's Oliver Twist and The Pickwick Papers were not so long that Alexandre Dumas would rather tear his head off than give a gift to the British royal family, what would be delivered to Kensington Palace today might not necessarily be Tennyson's collection of poems.

Arthur was not bragging when he said this, because he had an example.

Mr. Disraeli originally wanted to send a handwritten copy of "The Young Duke", but the article was too long and he could not finish it in one night, so he had to give up in disappointment.

But even so, he still strongly urged Arthur to recommend his masterpiece to the Crown Prince whenever he had the chance.

But even if Disraeli didn't say it, Arthur would have done it. After all, his course schedule at Kensington Palace included more than just natural philosophy and history, there was also British contemporary literature and rhetoric that was added last night.

If we want to talk about contemporary British literature, how can we avoid "The Limey"?

Can you imagine contemporary British literature without The Limey?
Wouldn’t that be the same as the British Parliament without its members?

(End of this chapter)