The Shadow of Great Britain

The winter fog drifted slowly over the surface of the Thames River, as if it too were craning its neck to peer at this sudden farce.

In this instant, countless question marks flashed through the Observer’s mind.

Wait, they are... saluting whom?

Why?

Weren’t they supposed to hate autocracy? Then how could this ”initiator of the Police Bill” possibly...

Why do they look like old acquaintances?

Did I get up too early today and still haven’t woken up properly?

The group of young gentlemen who had just been booing the loudest now looked at one another in bewilderment.

Someone opened his mouth, yet couldn’t squeeze out a single word.

Meanwhile, among the dockworkers farther away, an openly puzzled discussion broke out.

”Huh... what on earth is going on?”

”What are those Germany blokes jabbering about?”

”Why has everyone gone quiet?”

Just at this moment when time seemed to have frozen, Arthur finally moved.

Smiling, he took off his hat, stepped forward, grasped Dalman’s hand and gave it a firm shake: ”Welcome to Britain, welcome to London, Professor Dalman...”

”I give you my word.” Here Arthur deliberately paused—a speaking technique honed to perfection by an old White Hall bureaucrat: ”This is a country that will never expel you.”

Arthur’s voice was not loud, yet it spread slowly across the dock along with the winter fog; the instant it landed, it was as if someone had lit the fuse of a powder keg on the quay.

The breath that the citizens had been holding in their throats suddenly loosened. Their expressions went from confusion, to astonishment, and finally to a kind of almost instinctive joy. It was not even their own heartfelt political judgment, but rather that they had been struck by the confidence in Arthur’s tone.

An explosion of cheering burst without warning from the very front row and rolled backward like waves.

”Welcome to the Seven Gentlemen visiting England!!!”

”Welcome to London!!!”

”Welcome to the land of freedom!!!”

”To hell with Hanover’s Ernst!!!”

The lads who had been holding up satirical cartoons, newspapers, and little flags completely forgot that barely ten minutes ago they had been the loudest jeerers. They bumped into one another; someone was so excited he slammed his hat down on his companion’s head.

The dockworkers were jolted by their sudden outburst, but now they too were swept up in the mood.

”What just happened?”

”Are those Germany fellows praising Britain?”

”Looks like it!”

”Then what are we standing around for—shout along!”

So even the cargo handlers, the boatmen, passersby, and the ones who had simply come to watch the spectacle all joined the surging tide of shouts.

The reporters standing near the platform began feverishly taking notes.

Few of them knew any German, and they might not have clearly caught what the Professors had just said; but judging purely from the scene before their eyes, they already had more than enough material to write up.

Senior officials of the Police Commissioner Committee shook hands and exchanged courtesies with the seven German Liberal Professors, and even publicly pledged that they would be under protection.

Coverage of this sort was already enough for them to secure at least half a page of space at the paper.

...

”Gottingen Seven Gentlemen Arrive in London — Unexpected Scene of Tribute on the Docks”

Yesterday afternoon, seven Professors from Germany who had been dismissed amid Hanover’s political upheaval arrived in London by invitation to commence a month-long program of visiting scholarship.

Our reporter witnessed that the docks were crowded and emotionally charged, with supporters waving flags inscribed ”Academic Freedom” and ”Oppose Autocracy” as they shouted.

Yet during the interaction between the Professors and the citizens, an unexpected scene unfolded.

After disembarking, the delegation did not immediately proceed to the long-awaited platform, but instead walked straight toward the Scotland Yard line maintaining order at the scene, and, under the gaze of all present, removed their hats to pay tribute to Sir Arthur Hastings, who was overseeing order on site.

Sir Arthur then responded: ”Welcome to London. I give you my word, this is a country that will never expel you.”

These words instantly stirred up immense enthusiasm among the crowd on the docks.

The delegation of Professors then delivered a brief address at the platform, stressing that Britain’s ”spirit of tolerance” and status as a ”land of liberty” were of great significance to them.

It is believed that Sir Arthur Hastings and the leader of the Gottingen Seven Gentlemen, Professor Darmann, once jointly took part in drafting the now-abrogated Liberal constitution of Hanover.

”The Applause on the Docks Yesterday Belongs to the Spirit of Liberalism”

Yesterday, London once again proved her status as a beacon of modern civilization.

The seven scholars from Gottingen, setting foot on free soil for the first time after leaving tyranny, offered as their first words a profound expression of respect toward Britain.

What was moving was that, upon discovering the old friend who had once safeguarded their personal and intellectual freedom in Hanover, the Professors resolutely stepped down from the platform and transferred to that young British official the first tribute that the watching citizens ought to have bestowed upon them.

This gesture was not only an expression of respect toward an individual; it was the highest homage to Britain’s constitutional spirit.

We call upon the Government to ensure to the utmost that these scholars receive full personal protection, opportunities to lecture, and academic dignity within our country.

”Gottingen Professorial Delegation Responds to the Canada Crisis: The Spirit of Liberty of Which the British Public Is Proud Must Not Be Squandered at Will by Colonial Administrators”

After the conclusion of yesterday’s welcoming ceremony, our paper was able, in a brief interval, to ask several members of the Gottingen Seven Gentlemen for their views on the ”Canada crisis.”

Although the purpose of the delegation’s visit is academic exchange in linguistics, classics, and philosophy, upon hearing of the ”extraordinary measures” recently adopted by the colonial Government, they clearly found it difficult to entirely sidestep their own political stance.