The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1222: Chapter 142: Hastings’ Double Life (Part 3)

The letters of accusation from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense were coming to the Emperor one after another, complaining about something bold and reckless that Fouche dared to do: recruit the National Guard, declare the nation in a state of war, and issue orders in the name of the Emperor! Everyone expected Napoleon to punish such disrespectful behavior and remove Fouche from office. But to everyone’s surprise, the Emperor went against public opinion and deemed Fouche’s decisive actions to be entirely correct. Instead, it was the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense who faced the Emperor’s rebuke.”

Upon hearing this, Garibaldi couldn’t help but ask: “If he really is Fouche, then aren’t we…”

Great Dumas sighed and said: “Giuseppe, that’s just his style—it’s exactly like Fouche’s. But don’t forget I’ve also said that this guy has a temperament like Talleyrand, so you and the citizens of London are, in some sense, quite fortunate. Also, because he’s born in Britain, he hasn’t yet wielded such overwhelming power. Although his actions at the Tower of London were acknowledged, he would never receive such high praise as Napoleon did from the King of British. If the King said so, Fleet Street certainly wouldn’t let him off. And this is the main reason he’s pretending to teach as a university professor in Gottingen now.”

Knock, knock, knock!

The sound of knocking came from outside the hotel, and when everyone heard that people had arrived, they quickly gathered up the newspapers on the table.

Great Dumas watched them clean up before slowly opening the door.

Standing outside was none other than the focus of everyone’s discussion – Sir Arthur Hastings.

Arthur entered the room, and the veteran police officer immediately noticed that the atmosphere inside was a bit off.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on him, a display of tension and guilt.

“What’s going on?” Arthur took off his hat and placed it on the table: “I’ve worked as a police officer in London, not Vienna, does that make me worth this much attention?”

“Aren’t we expecting you to bring us good news?”

“Is the house matter resolved, Sir?”

Great Dumas and Nourri were busy trying to change the subject, but Garibaldi remained as straightforward as ever. He glanced at the newspaper in his hand, thought for a long time, and still decided to ask Arthur for the truth.

“Sir, did you really hang over 200 rioters?”

“Hang over 200?”

Garibaldi’s words left Arthur puzzled, and he said with a wry smile: “Last year alone England didn’t hang that many people, and I worked at Scotland Yard for a total of only two and a half years. Giuseppe, how did you come to this conclusion?”

Garibaldi saw Arthur vehemently deny it and immediately produced the newspaper: “But look at the headline on this newspaper.”

“Giuseppe, are you crazy?”

Someone hurriedly tried to stop him, but Garibaldi brushed them aside: “I’m not crazy; we’re already sentenced to death in Italy, and one more accusation of the death penalty doesn’t make much difference. Besides, if he wants to hang us, it seems he wouldn’t even need to exert much effort.”

Arthur took the newspaper and glanced at it, seeing the striking headline “252 rioters in Swin sentenced to hanging.”

He was all too familiar with this headline because his good reputation in London started to deteriorate from this headline.

Back then, to shield the Home Office from criticism, he led the prosecution of the Swin riot at the behest of Viscount Melbourne and Lord Brougham.

According to their requirements, the prosecution process had to proceed normally, but in order not to execute too many people and trigger social resistance, shortly after the verdict was reached, the King ordered the pardon of the vast majority. Of the 252 rioters, 19 were actually hanged, mainly the leaders of the riot and those explicitly guilty of murder; the rest were commuted to exile.

But Fleet Street didn’t care about any of that. On one hand, the headline about hanging 252 people was undoubtedly more attention-grabbing, and combined with the fact that the British society was in the throes of parliamentary reform at the time, amplifying negative news was clearly more in line with readers’ tastes.

As for the other aspect, these newspapers wrote this way to stir public support for reform. After all, many of these journalists only gained their right to vote after the parliamentary reform, so exaggerating the news was hardly uncommon.

As for the article next to it about the “Special Police Act,” that act indeed was proposed by Arthur directly to Viscount Melbourne.

The reason he came up with this idea was that he knew the Whig Party planned to weaken the Tory Party-led military through disarmament, and given the urgent situation at the time where police forces were severely stretched, Arthur speculated that Parliament might agree to pass this act.

Unfortunately, the Tory Party clearly saw through the Whig Party’s little schemes. Despite large-scale riots breaking out in London, Manchester, Nottingham, and other cities, with the Duke of Newcastle’s castle burned down and bishops constantly pelted with mud and stones, Tory Party members frequently attacked and cursed on the streets, they still refused to pass this act.

As for the claim that police took out 7,000 cleavers from the Tower of London, it was obviously a typical London rumor. There simply weren’t that many in stock in the Tower, and the Home Office wouldn’t allow Scotland Yard police to use bladed weapons.

Before the night of riots in London, Scotland Yard police used batons in Strand, Covent Garden Market, and Piccadilly Square.

Speaking of wielding knives and guns, besides Arthur, other police commanders at Scotland Yard were quite law-abiding.

That’s why, despite similarly suppressing the rioters, most of the criticism landed squarely on his head.

Arthur put down the newspaper and raised his head, only to find everyone holding their breath as if waiting to hear how this reactionary police officer planned to defend himself. After all, in a sense, Young Italy had little difference compared to the London rioters. From the practical result perspective, their commotion even paled in comparison to London.”