shadow of britain

Chapter 834 Transforms into a Dragon Upon Encountering Wind and Cloud
The air in the room was heavy and oppressive. William IV slowly exhaled, "Deline, is she... alright?"

Arthur bowed and replied, “Yes, Your Majesty. Her Highness looks much better than the rumors suggest, at least for the last two days. Although she is still very weak and has lost a lot of weight, she was able to get out of bed and walk when I left Ramsgate. Of course, she can’t walk very far yet, and her steps are unsteady.”

William IV listened quietly.

Seeing that the King was interested in the topic, Arthur went on to provide more details: "I heard from Lady Lezen that yesterday, after Her Highness got up, she lay on the sofa and played the piano with the Duchess of Kent until noon. For lunch, she had potato soup and orange jelly. In the afternoon, Lady Lezen read Sir Walter Scott's 'The Bride of Lammermoor' with her."

At this point, Arthur pulled out another slip of paper from his pocket: "When I came back this time, the Duchess of Kent and Lady Leather asked me to go back to London to help buy some gifts that Her Highness has wanted for a long time, such as ceramic figurines, vases, dolls from Dresden, and a few novels that she has always wanted to read."

William IV was initially relieved to hear that Victoria could get out of bed and walk around, but when Arthur mentioned "porcelain figurines, jelly, and dolls," his face suddenly darkened, and anger flared up in his eyes.

The king slammed his withered hand on the armrest with a dull thud.

Snapped!
"Absurd!" William IV's hoarse voice suddenly rose, filled with barely suppressed rage. "Deline was so ill, and they put her in such a state, sending her to the gates of hell! She almost died at the hands of these fools, and now they think they can cover it all up with a few dolls, a few novels, these paltry sums of money? They almost killed her, and now they want to pretend to be a mother and a loyal servant! Deline may be a child who can be bought with small favors, but I am not!"

Arthur bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty is absolutely right. Her Highness's illness this time is indeed alarming. If it weren't for divine intervention, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

He paused deliberately for a moment, as if carefully choosing his words: "You may not know, but when I was at Scotland Yard, I had a police secretary by my side..."

William IV coughed repeatedly in anger: "Bonaparte's son? Napoleon's nephew?"

Arthur asked in surprise, "You know him?"

William IV said irritably, "Of course I know him! I saw him at a court ball earlier this year! He said a lot of nice things about you back then."

Arthur chuckled awkwardly, “In that case, you surely know better than I that once Bonaparte’s name reappears on the European political stage, it’s destined to attract countless followers. Among these followers, there are certainly loyal ones, but most are opportunists. He thinks he’s got the upper hand, but little does he know that the most dangerous people are often not his enemies, but those who, under the guise of loyalty, give him a push in his time of need. Without these hypocritical supporters, he might not have made such a fool of himself as the Strasbourg Uprising.”

Wilhelm IV raised his eyelids: "Are you trying to excuse that German woman?"

Arthur paused for a moment upon hearing this: "It's not so much an excuse as I'm saying this, but I did witness the same thing in Ramsgate. The Duchess of Kent... she was exhausted at her daughter's bedside, but unfortunately, not everyone around her was innocent. Some people, posing as strategists, placed their own calculations above the princess's safety. The princess is too young and easily swayed, while the Duchess is not strong-willed and easily manipulated..."

"Ha..." William IV said sternly, "These people are all birds of a feather. They think they can do whatever they want just because of a child's future. Humph! They call it assistance, but it's really plunder. If it weren't for the fact that revoking the Regency Act is too troublesome, and even if we start the process now, it won't be finalized until next year's Parliament opening, I would have removed her regency long ago! Arthur, young man, remember, I am not a senile old man! If they dare to try to control Delina, or try to seize power under my nose, I will personally overthrow them!"

William IV's reply was not unexpected for Arthur. Before he arrived at Windsor Castle, he knew that the Regency Act was unlikely to be repealed.

As the king said, overturning the bill was a very difficult task.

Because any bill, once passed, becomes a formally recorded case in Parliament.

If one wishes to repeal it, the bill must first be reopened, then pass its first and second readings in the House of Commons, then be reviewed article by article by article by the committee, and after confirming that there are no errors, it must be voted on in the third reading, then transferred from the House of Commons to the House of Lords for a vote, and finally be signed by the King.

This means that not only will the process involve procedures in both houses of parliament, but also a lengthy debate and dispute.

By the time the Regency Act is repealed, Victoria will probably be an adult, so there's really no need to go through all that trouble.

For William IV, simply living to Victoria's eighteenth birthday would be a complete victory.

As for Arthur, he didn't really care about the Regency Act; he just needed Conroy out of the picture.

Although Conroy had worked diligently at Kensington Palace for nearly twenty years, he had long since made his fortune off the Duchess of Kent and Princess Sofia.

Even from the perspective of changing the distribution of wealth, Conroy should step down in time, or at least make his retirement date clear.

By now, news of his and the Duchess of Kent's coercion of Victoria into signing the regency agreement has spread throughout high society, and Lady Lerzen is willing to testify on the matter. If it weren't for the potential backlash from the Duchess of Kent against the Hastings family, Miss Flora Hastings might even have considered supporting Lady Lerzen on this issue.

Conroy's fate was already sealed; Arthur's delay in making a move after taking the general's place was merely to save face for him.

Besides, there are so many people willing to pay a high price to make the final move for him, so Arthur is happy to sell this last move for a high price.

Arthur stood quietly beside William IV, listening to the sailor king recount all that he had learned in the Royal Navy.

After William IV had vented his anger, he gently advised, "Your Majesty, if your words were to reach the outside world, they would surely cause a stir. However, I worry that after the stir, the reporters on Fleet Street might suspect that the Royal Navy has set up another flagship in Windsor, because Your Majesty's cannon fire is simply too powerful."

William IV was taken aback at first, then glared at Arthur and tapped his withered fingers on the armrest: "Insolent brat!"

Even so, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily, and his anger subsided somewhat.

He looked at Arthur and slowly exhaled: "But then again, I have seen your work in Ramsgate this time. Delina's life was not saved by the dolls and porcelain figurines in the hands of those fools, but by people like you, Arthur Hastings, young people who can always distinguish between what is important and what is urgent at the most critical moments and step forward."

Arthur smiled and said, "Your Majesty flatters me." "No need to be modest." William IV beckoned to the servant at the door to pour Arthur a glass of wine. "Did they mention the matter of the Police Act amendments to Melbourne to you?"

Arthur feigned ignorance: "When I came to Windsor today, I did hear some rumors. However, there's one thing I don't quite understand."

"Just say what you mean," William IV said. "You don't want to go?"

“It’s not about whether I want to go or not, but about the lack of legal procedures,” Arthur said. “Although I don’t know the specifics of how things were handled, if it’s about revising the Police Act, then the House Police Committee should be commissioned to conduct investigations and hearings, and then issue a report with reform recommendations based on the opinions of all parties. But as everyone knows, the House Police Committee is a temporary body of the House of Commons, and its members must be members of the House of Commons, and I don’t meet that standard, so… you understand, I certainly have doubts about this.”

William IV raised his glass to clear his throat. “Of course I know about the procedures you mentioned. But do you think they in Melbourne just want to go through the motions in the House of Commons? No, their plans this time are much bigger than you think. You’re not going to the House of Commons’ provisional committee. The Whigs are planning to establish a police committee, nominally under the Home Office, but actually operating independently, specifically responsible for overseeing the law enforcement practices of police nationwide, and regularly providing the government with opinions and perspectives on police reform.”

At first, Arthur thought the Whigs wanted him to take on the title of civilian advisor to the House of Commons Police Committee, but William IV's words completely exceeded his expectations.

As Arthur had said before, the members of parliament held power in the various temporary committees of the House of Commons. Even if a civilian like him participated, he could only offer advice as an advisor.

However, the independent standing committee of government that William IV mentioned—the Police Commission—was a completely different matter.

Although Arthur did not yet know exactly what powers this newly established agency would hold, he happened to know of an agency similar in nature to the Police Commission—the Poor Law Commission.

The Poor Law Commission was a statutory body independent of the Whitehall departments, established after the passage of the New Poor Law in 1834.

In theory, it is accountable to Parliament, but in practice, the Poor Law Commission is affiliated with the Home Office and overseen by the Home Secretary. However, in actual operation, the Poor Law Commission is almost independent, not subject to the Home Secretary's orders on every clause, but acting directly according to the statutory powers granted to it by Parliament.

In other words, while the Poor Law Commission was not a completely "independent kingdom," it was not directly led by a minister like the Ministry of the Navy or the Ministry of Finance.

In terms of power structure, the newly established Poor Law Commission has strong and direct administrative power, and can directly order local Poor Societies to build poorhouses, and uniformly manage relief affairs and audit local accounts.

In terms of centralized power, it would be difficult to find an institution in Britain today that is more "authoritarian" than the Poor Law Commission.

This system design allowed the government to bypass the House of Commons' provisional committees and also broke through the traditional control of local sheriffs and parishes over relief affairs.

However, this very institution, which was supposed to have absolute authority over poverty relief, was actually led by only three full-time commissioners, with at most a secretariat and a dozen or so assistant commissioners.

And coincidentally, the most prestigious member and secretary-general of the Poor Law Committee was an old acquaintance of Arthur's: Edwin Chadwick, who had served as private secretary to Mr. Jeremy Bentham and the former Lord Broham.

Perhaps the Whig Party had tasted the benefits of an independent standing committee within the Poor Law Commission, seeing its advantages in issuing orders, auditing accounts, enforcing reforms, and punishing uncooperative local officials.

Therefore, while the Poor Law Commission was both efficient and ruthless, and it also sparked a series of social controversies, from an administrative perspective, it was a swift and effective tool that every ruling party would dream of.

It can both take on tedious tasks for the government and allow the cabinet to shirk responsibility when problems arise, shamelessly shifting the blame by saying: "This is the committee's idea, not the cabinet's."

Logically speaking, this approach does indeed align with the Melbourne Viscount's "non-stick pan, aversion to trouble" personality.

For the Viscount of Melbourne, someone like Arthur was the perfect candidate. Young, yet with police experience. Not in the House of Commons, but able to play a role on committees as a member. He could share the risks for the government without threatening the ruling party's social reputation.

Of course, the above conclusions are drawn from the perspective of the Viscount of Melbourne.

However, if you look at the issue from Arthur's perspective, that's a different story.

He knew all too well what that being was like.

Since the implementation of the New Poor Law in 1834, the three members of the Poor Committee have become the most feared figures among the lower classes across the country. Their orders can overpower local sheriffs, supersede parish priests, and subdue stubborn gentry.

On the surface, they were merely an office attached to the Ministry of the Interior, but in reality, they were a "permanent department" that held real power and operated independently.

For Arthur, the Poor Committee held more real power than most members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Except for their titles, the three committee members were equivalent to ministers in every other respect, making them "more powerful than ministers even though they were not ministers."

As for his old acquaintance, Mr. Edwin Chadwick, since he also held the position of Secretary General, he effectively combined the powers of both Minister and Permanent Secretary.

If the Whig Party intends to establish a police commission by simply copying the structure of the Poor Committee...

So, this means...

From this day forward, policing in London and the surrounding counties will be under the supervision, scrutiny, and guidance of a few dedicated commissioners, including Arthur!

Although Arthur wasn't sure if the Viscount of Melbourne intended to give him more responsibilities, like Chadwick, he certainly wouldn't hesitate to take on such duties if he did.

(End of this chapter)