The Shadow of Great Britain

731: Chapter 351 Big News 731: Chapter 351 Big News The wild boar, when cornered, will turn and charge the hunter.

If the sovereignty you desire is incompatible with their freedom, where will they go?

They would throw your sovereignty back in your face!

—Edmond Burke

In Fleet Street, right next door to the “British” editorial office, there was such an airtight little compartment.

The room had no windows or fireplace for heating.

An old desk was merely furnished with a dim kerosene lamp for lighting.

If it were a guest’s first visit, they might think this place was a storeroom for unwanted items.

From the looks of it, that did indeed seem to be the case.

Old books were piled everywhere, a corner was occupied by a used piano from unknown origins, and on top of the piano rested a violin from Wheatstone Musical Instrument Shop.

And along the yellowing, peeling walls were rows of dusty iron cabinets.

Brass padlocks dangled on each cabinet, as if the contents were some shameful secrets.

Yet, this uninteresting room was Arthur’s exclusive office in the editorial department.

At the same time, it was also ordained by Superintendent Hastings as the central liaison point of the London Police Intelligence Bureau.

The reason for its location, as far as Arthur was concerned, was that Fleet Street, being the hub of London’s news industry, produced a siphoning effect on news from all over the world.

Moreover, the news on Fleet Street usually lacked a specific target, implying coverage of every aspect of Britons’ societal life.

And this was precisely the concern of the Police Intelligence Department, a heartfelt government agency eager to delve into the minutiae of the British people’s lives under Arthur’s leadership.

Of course, matters have priorities, and Arthur clearly cared more about intelligence from significant figures.

They would never imagine that the agency they approved could one day be monitoring them.

However, the establishment of the Police Intelligence Department cannot be entirely chalked up to the negligence of the members of Parliament.

After all, they were far less experienced than the French, failing to grasp the satirical quote from Mister Talleyrand, the French Representative, at last month’s Ormac’s Club banquet.

—A bayonet can indeed do many things, but to sit easy upon it is not one of them.

At the time, people thought Talleyrand was referring to his former boss, Napoleon.

Only a very few noticed the subtle changes in the expressions of some attendees upon hearing those words.

Fortunately, Mister Hastings, a brilliant pianist performing on stage at the time, was one of them.

He distinctly remembered that the few with slightly altered expressions were:

Viscount Palmeston, Foreign Secretary who switched from the Tory Party to the Whig Party,

Viscount Godric, former Prime Minister and present Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, who had a similar trajectory to Palmeston, and the two Lords responsible for drafting the “Parliamentary Reform Bill” — Lord Russell, Paymaster of the Royal Navy, son-in-law of Prime Minister Earl Grey, the Minister for the Seal referred to as ‘Radical Jack,’ Sir John Lambton.

If it were a few years earlier, Arthur would never have associated these four Lords together, let alone believe they had any common interests.

As early as 1827, the Tory Party had split into four factions over the “Catholic Emancipation Act.”

The most radical Canning faction advocated passing the bill and was even willing to join forces with the Whig Party.

The moderate faction led by Viscount Godric, due to cordial relations with Sir Canning, also expressed willingness to support reform.

Duke Wellington and Sir Peel, leading the conservative faction, opposed passing the bill.

As for the ultraroyalist faction headed by Sir Crook and Earl Eldon, they opposed all liberal reforms.

However, upon Canning’s death during his term as Prime Minister and Godric’s failed attempts at forming a government, the King ultimately appointed Duke Wellington, a conservative, to assemble the cabinet.

What happened next, however, was utterly unexpected.

After deep reflection, Duke Wellington decided to persuade his own faction to change their stance, forcefully passing the “Catholic Emancipation Act” over the heads of both the ultra-royalist faction and the King.

But this did not mend the rift within the Tory Party.

Instead, it alienated the ultraroyalist faction and led to the moderates and the Canning faction, who had always supported Catholic emancipation, embracing the Whig Party under the leadership of Viscount Godric.

Viscount Godric’s personal justification was that while he supported Catholic emancipation, he was also a staunch supporter of parliamentary reform, hence his dissatisfaction with Wellington reaping all the credit without further action.

However, Arthur observed, Godric’s words only told half the story.

Godric had held the position of Prime Minister for only 144 days before being replaced by Duke Wellington; had it not been for Canning’s death just 100 days into his own tenure, Godric might have been Britain’s briefest-serving Prime Minister.

This certainly must have caused some resentment.

As for Viscount Palmeston, his situation was much simpler.

Under Duke Wellington, he would not have the slightest opportunity; he was brought up by Sir Canning himself, and in earlier years, he was essentially Canning’s mouthpiece in Parliament, while Wellington’s dislike for Sir Canning was almost public knowledge.