shadow of britain

Chapter 782 Hastings College, University of London
Elder was stunned, forgetting even to smoke, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

I have to say, one should look at people with new eyes after three days of absence.

In just five years, Arthur Hastings, the poor college student who used to starve in his rented room in Bloomsbury and whose friend he used to mooch meals from every weekend, has seen his value skyrocket to the point where he can even decide on the number of civilian officials in the Navy Department.

Elder was filled with emotion and immediately decided to celebrate: "Are you going to the Alhambra Theatre to see the ballet again tonight? It's such a shame that your box is always empty."

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to go tonight.” Arthur turned his gaze away from the car window, his fingers gently stroking the eagle head on his cane. “I have to attend a party tonight, arranged by the Marquis of Hastings. He says it’s a family gathering. I need to see my relatives whom I’ve never met before.”

Upon hearing this, Elder's eyes widened immediately: "You...you're acknowledging your family already? I thought this would drag on for a long time."

Arthur put on his white gloves with his head down: "I'm not in a hurry, but the Marquess of Hastings is more anxious than I am. After all, the position of Director of Discipline at the London Police School has just become vacant. This position is like a civil service position in the Admiralty, and there are plenty of people eyeing it. Just the other day, a few older superintendents from Scotland Yard came to talk to me about this in private."

Elder nodded, seemingly understanding, and said, "It seems they had the same thought as me. They're constantly on the front lines risking their lives, so it's expected that things will go well, but if they don't, the responsibility falls on them. Come to think of it, being a superintendent at Scotland Yard sounds respectable, but in reality, it's nowhere near as comfortable as sitting in an office at a school."

At this point, Elder sensed something was amiss: "Arthur, what does the vacancy at the police academy have to do with the Marquis of Hastings?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow: "What kind of talk is that? Let me ask you, what does the vacancy at the Hydrographic Office have to do with you, a ship sailor? Good positions are always being eyed. Even if you're not the best, the head of discipline at the police academy is still paid by the Home Office and can at least gain a reputation in the education sector. If you're shameless enough, you could even say you're a university professor. Anyway, the teachers at the police academy are officially transferred from the University of London."

The history of the London Police School is not complicated.

In short, it was a school founded by Sir Arthur Hastings during his tenure at Scotland Yard to improve the quality of active-duty police officers and train senior commanders for the professional police force.

As the UK's first systematic police training institution, this school has never received any publicly disclosed government funding, nor has it ever displayed any official sign.

Everyone understood that in 1830s Britain, publicly establishing an officially funded police academy would be tantamount to a suicidal political adventure. In the eyes of the British public at the time, the "police state" was a barbaric product of Napoleonic France, and the police, as a necessary evil, were best kept out of the public eye.

Therefore, Arthur went to great lengths to leverage the partnership between Scotland Yard and the University of London, using regular training courses as a front for police training programs. He cleverly concealed the police training programs under a series of seemingly purely academic, even somewhat boring, titles: such as "Fundamentals of Criminal Psychology," "Municipal Management and Public Safety," "Urban Hygiene and Order Maintenance," and even "Crime Scene Evidence Preservation and Forensic Analysis," all of which were taught under the guise of professors.

The lecturer lists for these courses often feature the names of the most prestigious professors and scholars from the University of London. Their involvement lends a sense of aloofness and neutrality to police training, successfully mitigating public doubts and criticisms.

For the University of London, this commissioned collaboration was by no means without its benefits.

On the one hand, the teaching funds provided by Scotland Yard quietly flowed into the university's accounts, effectively alleviating the long-standing financial strain on this emerging institution.

On the other hand, these nominal professors and teachers also gained excellent channels for cultivating relationships with government departments. After all, the police officers who receive training at this school are either young, capable officers or influential mid-level officers at Scotland Yard, and in the near future, they will also rise to even higher positions.

Of course, all of this cannot be made public. Because if the public were to discover that so-called liberal universities were secretly recruiting faculty and providing shelter for police academies, then…

In short, Fleet Street will definitely be in a frenzy, and it's uncertain whether Imperial Publishing Company alone can keep it under control.

However, Arthur intended to take this opportunity to make the matter public, thereby eliminating any potential future troubles.

Of course, "public" does not mean that the London Police Academy is officially established, but rather that he intends to give back to his alma mater as a distinguished alumnus of the University of London by donating all of his shares in the Great Western Railway Company and personally funding the establishment of a new college for his alma mater.

Following the common naming convention for new colleges at British universities, the college is named after its patron. Therefore, the new college will be named Hastings College, University of London.

Hastings College's main teaching mission differs slightly from other colleges. It will be an institution primarily engaged in adult education, providing business training and lectures for major companies and government departments.

Of course, since the new college is not yet well-known and its teaching quality has not won widespread recognition from society, its main client at present is Scotland Yard.

Hastings College has a Head of Discipline named Hastings, and its patrons include Sir Arthur Hastings and the Marquess of Hastings. There shouldn't be anything wrong with that, right?

Eld was unaware of Arthur's scheming. He was more concerned with the seemingly plausible street rumor than with who the new director of discipline at the police academy was.

“Speaking of which…” Elder felt nauseous just thinking about it: “Arthur, is it true that we’re merging with King’s Academy?”

Arthur simply nodded slightly: "There are Whigs pushing this from behind. I heard that Chancellor of the Exchequer Thomas Rees strongly supports the proposal, and Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne also thinks merging the two schools is a good idea. However, given that Lord Brougham has just left office, they can't rush the process. Moreover, Home Secretary Lord John Russell doesn't seem to like the idea either. You know, after Lord Brougham left, Russell is now the leader of the Whig reformists, and I don't think he'll back down on the issue of merging the two schools anytime soon."

Hearing this, Elder was slightly relieved: "After all, he's one of the two Jacks of the Whig Party, 'Radical Jack' Earl Daramore and 'Endgame Jack' Lord John Russell. He probably hates King's College just as much as we do... But... can he stop this?"

Arthur, his temper flaring, said, “It’s hard to say. Since Viscount Melbourne came to power, he has been trying his best to ease tensions with the King. But making overtures to the King on other issues is too risky; it could easily provoke a wave of opposition within the party. Relatively speaking, merging the University of London and King’s College into a new University of London is the least risky option. Moreover, he has a high-sounding reason: to coordinate London’s higher education resources in order to build a high-quality university that can compete with other top universities. And, according to his idea, the University of London’s only loss is a name change; the two schools will essentially continue to operate independently.”

"It's just changing a name? He makes it sound so easy." Elder couldn't help but want to curse Viscount Melbourne's ancestors, but the curse words caught in his throat because he didn't know whether to curse Viscount Melbourne's biological father or his legal father: "Why should we change our name? University College London, how did he come up with such a bizarre name? University London is our founding name. If we put it on King's College and call them University College London King's College, that would just be giving those spoiled brats a silver platter."

Arthur glanced at Elder, his lips twitching slightly. "That's not even the most outrageous part. According to their merger plan, University College London and King's College London are just the first step. They also plan to integrate all the education-related schools in London over the next few years and then give it a name: the University of London Consortium."

Elder was completely stunned, nearly dropping his pipe: "The Alliance? Did I hear that right? Are you sure you're not kidding me? They're not planning to merge Highleybury Theological Seminary and London Business and Shipping School into it, are they? I don't want to get the same degree as those bald guys or scribes with Bibles in their hands."

Arthur shook his head helplessly: "As far as I know, the Viscount of Melbourne himself is not very interested in higher education. This plan was actually copied from France by Chancellor of the Exchequer Thomas Rees. They felt that the behemoth system of the University of Paris was very suitable for London, so they were excited to set up an experimental field here."

Hearing this, Elder gritted his teeth and snorted, "Those people really dare to bring all sorts of lousy ideas to London. I bet Foreign Secretary Palmerston has a hand in this too. Doesn't he always think that Britain and France should learn from each other's strengths? He actually thinks the French have any merits? This guy must have drunk too much Parisian horse piss."

Upon hearing Palmerston's name, Arthur burst out laughing: "Although I don't like that old Cupid either, I don't think Palmerston cares about the school. However, someone from the Cabinet tipped me off, saying that the real driving force behind this idea is Charles Thomson, the chairman of the Trade Commission. He thinks that our University of London's talent training model is too liberal and cannot meet the needs of British industry and commerce for technical personnel. He hopes that we will learn from the Prussian technical college system in order to train more obedient and compliant employees in the future."

“Prussians!” Elder’s face darkened further. “Technicians trained by the Germans? First, they check the ambient temperature; second, they verify if the screw material matches the valve; third, they measure the diameter of that thing. And then they spend an entire afternoon just turning the valve from the ‘closed’ to the ‘open’ position?”

"Come on, Elder, don't be so harsh. It's not like we don't have Prussian friends."

“You’re the one who’s giving me a piece of your mind, Arthur. Heinrich could curse Prussia far more vehemently than I could.” Elder couldn’t sit still any longer. “Arthur, you’re the Dean of Studies. You can’t just stand by and watch those sons of bitches from King’s College ruin our beloved alma mater, can you? Jeremy Bentham’s body is sitting right there in the Great Hall. If the schools really merge, would you dare to look him in the eye?”

Arthur had anticipated Elder's reaction, as he hadn't fared much better when he first learned the news.

He gestured for Elder to sit down. “Don’t rush, Elder. Whether or not the schools merge isn’t something a few people can decide. Besides, have you forgotten? I just brought in a new head of discipline for the police academy. The Marquis of Hastings’ family may not be as prominent as before, but they still hold some sway within the Tory party. The Marquis of Hastings has served as a chamberlain to His Majesty the King, and his sister, my dear cousin Flora Hastings, is a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent… As for me, well, we’ll see.”

(End of this chapter)