Shadow of great britain

Science is to theology what astronomy is to astrology. Although the two have the same origin, their research goals and research methods are quite different.

——Francis Bacon

Tonight, St. James's Palace is immersed in a quiet and solemn atmosphere.

Different from the silence of ordinary nights, its lights are particularly brilliant tonight, just like the falling stars in the night sky lighting up this historic palace. The light shines through the carefully carved window lattice and falls on the red brick wall, reflecting the traces and majesty of the years.

The king's private apartment and the adjacent privy council room were brightly lit, illuminating the long corridors and wide halls. Each window seemed to be an eye, staring brightly in the darkness at the clouds after the changes of the times. Light breeze.

In the corridor, attendants in gorgeous attires shuttled quietly. They were busy and orderly. The candles on the trays in their hands flickered, adding a bit of tension and solemnity to this urgent Privy Council meeting. .

In the center of the conference hall, velvet crimson high-back chairs surround a huge long oak table. On the table are spread out various documents and archives. The sword and scepter, which symbolize the king's supreme power, stand quietly beside it.

William IV sat at the head of the throne, wearing a royal robe embroidered with gold thread and a crown inlaid with gems. He looked solemn and tilted his head slightly to listen to the reports of the advisers beside him.

In addition to the king, the members of the Privy Council who had arrived at the king's call and were sitting at the bottom of the table were also chatting in low voices. They were briefly exchanging the information they had at hand.

Although it is no longer the most powerful period of the Privy Council in the Middle Ages and early modern times, they are no longer the core decision-making body of Britain that combines legislative, executive and partial judicial powers and an important center for the king to handle national affairs.

But this does not mean that anyone in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland can despise the supreme authority and honor of the Privy Council.

This was not only due to their close relationship with the king, but also due to the social status of the Privy Council members themselves.

As usual, in terms of religion, the three most respected lords of the Church of England are among them. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, and the Bishop of London all attended the meeting.

In the legal field, the presiding judges of all high courts such as the Court of Queen's Bench and the Court of Chancery will also receive the honor of Privy Council Counsel.

In the political field, it includes cabinet members of the ruling party, important colonial governors, and some former cabinet members who are trusted by the royal family.

However, although the Privy Council is a huge institution with a hundred people, all these noble Lords will be required to be present only when the monarch announces a wedding or the monarch dies.

In most cases, the king only invites a very small number of his advisers to attend. The process of the meeting was nothing more than the Speaker of the Privy Council reading out a series of boring decrees waiting for the king's approval, and all William IV had to do was just nod in agreement.

Although William IV technically had the power to refuse, the last time a king refused a Privy Council decision was during the reign of Queen Anne in the early 18th century.

In 1702, the Tories proposed a bill with a rather unelegant name - the Occasional Communion Ban, or it could also be interpreted as the Occasional Adherence to Established Religion Act.

Although Britain had already separated from the jurisdiction of the Pope in the religious field at that time, this did not mean that those who did not believe in Catholicism would join the Anglican Church. There were many sects in Protestantism, and the Anglican Church was just a few for believers to choose from. One of the plans.

The Whigs at that time were just like today. Although many of them did not believe in Catholicism, they were not serious Anglicans. Some of them were members of the Scottish Presbyterian Church, and some were Lutherans or other Various Protestant denominations.

According to the "Test Act" passed by Parliament in 1673, anyone who holds a public office or a clerical position must take an oral oath of obedience to the Anglican Church when taking office, and must go to the Anglican Church to receive Holy Communion at least twice a year.

Therefore, most Whigs and other Protestants who did not conform to the state religion would go to the state church twice a year to receive Holy Communion, and at other times they would still go to the church of their own denomination.

As loyal royalists, the Tories were naturally furious at this phenomenon. They believed that they must severely crack down on this group of shameless opportunists who "pretend to convert and regret later."

Therefore, in order to defend the king and their own religious beliefs, and even more to attack their old political enemies, the Whigs, the Tories proposed such a funny-sounding "Prohibition of Occasional Establishment of the Established Religion Bill" in Parliament.

As a king, Queen Anne was naturally the most loyal believer in the Anglican Church.

However, although she agrees with the Tories' views from the bottom of her heart, considering that her husband, Prince George of Denmark and Norway, is a Lutheran, and passing this bill is likely to exacerbate the division of the country and set off a turmoil in the political world. There was a purge against the Whigs, so Queen Anne eventually vetoed the bill in the Privy Council.

Just like the problem Queen Anne encountered at the Privy Council meeting more than 100 years ago, William IV also encountered a thorny problem about religion and belief.

In order to be able to solve this problem well, all the Excellencies attending the Privy Council meeting tonight were naturally carefully selected by him.

Among them were archbishops with high reputations among spiritual clergy, important representatives of the Tory and Whig parties, and even several medical authorities from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons who were temporarily invited to attend. meeting.

And the issue they want to discuss today is just as funny as the issue raised by the Tories back then - when a person climbed out of the coffin three days after being shot, was this a medical issue or a theological issue?

What William IV did not expect the most was that on this issue, the medical authorities and the bishops seemed to be wearing each other's clothes.

As a representative of the state church who enjoys the honor second only to the king, the Archbishop of Canterbury William Howley, who has remained silent since entering the door, spoke out.

"Your Majesty, let me start by saying that I am very pleased to hear that Sergeant Hastings is okay and congratulate him on his gradual recovery. I have been making this clear to the faithful since last year when parliamentary reforms triggered widespread social unrest. In terms of attitude, I don’t like politics, and I am even more opposed to the turmoil and evil caused by politics. On the issue of parliamentary reform, I am more eager to have an alliance composed of various parties to formulate moderate parliamentary reform measures.

Although it was very difficult to achieve this, fortunately with God's blessing, we finally got through this difficult time. But unfortunately, many people fell in the pre-dawn hours. And Officer Hastings, who served his country loyally, almost became one of them. There is no more joyful news in the world than to hear that such an upright and kind-hearted young man can continue to be active and active on the earth.

But I must say that if you or some of your Lordships here want to define Sergeant Hastings's normal recovery as a resurrection, you would be quite mistaken. If some of you have many undesirable delusions as a result, such as sacraments or miracles, then you have fallen into the illusion of the Roman Catholic Church.

Because according to Article 22 of the Thirty-nine Articles of Faith adopted by the state church, the Roman Catholic Church’s so-called purgatory, exoneration of sins, kneeling down to icons, venerating relics, and praying for the teachings of saints are all fiction. . These things are not based on passages in the Bible, and are actually quite different from the original content of the Bible. "

The Archbishop of York also solemnly echoed.

"Your Majesty, this is a serious matter and cannot be said as a joke. You are also an Anglican, so of course you know that Christ's death and resurrection were prophesied. He died and was buried for us. We should also believe that He once descended to Hades. After that, He resurrected from the dead, not only as bones and flesh, but also as the body and soul ascended to heaven together. He sits at the right hand of God the Father until the end of the day, when He will judge the world again. .

All of this is true, but they are two completely different concepts from Officer Hastings. If some people believe that Officer Hastings was resurrected from the dead, they are falling into the superstitious and ignorant views of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Church, etc. Breaking away from superstitious idolatry and returning to the harmony between God, reason, and nature is exactly what we Anglican priests wanted to practice during the religious reform process of the Renaissance. "

When the doctors heard this, they couldn't sit still. Some doctors even felt that their medical knowledge was insulted.

Mr. Thomas Vickery, founder of The Lancet magazine, member of the House of Commons, and member of the Royal College of Physicians, said tactfully.

"I have no offense to Your Majesty the Archbishop of England and His Majesty the Archbishop of England, and I myself have collaborated with Constable Hastings in the London murder and body robbery case a few years ago. Scotland Yard publicly dissected the criminals who had stolen the bodies. I must say that Constable Hastings is probably the best police officer I know in all of Britain, not only in Europe, but also in the world.

What I say next is by no means intended to criticize different viewpoints, but rather to objectively express my own insignificant opinions. From a doctor's perspective, it's not uncommon for a person to recover after being shot.

If the location of the shot is the heart, it can still be cured afterwards. Although such cases are rare, among our field doctors, some people have seen several cases. The Lancet even published this earlier. Published a paper on such a case.

But what if a gentleman was not only shot, but he was shot in the heart, and three days after his heart stopped beating and he was declared dead, he crawled out of the coffin. In this case, I cannot say without conscience that this is a problem that current medical research can explain. "

Benjamin Brunod, a senior doctor from the Royal College of Surgeons on the side, also nodded and agreed: "Your Majesty, I must say that even if this is not a miracle, it can be said to be a miracle. I have treated many injuries. Someone with a gunshot wound, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Lord Brougham, the newly re-appointed Chief Justice, couldn't help but smile softly when he heard this. It could be seen that this eccentric and harsh-tongued barrister was in a good mood because his student had come back from the dead.

As the recorder of this meeting, he bowed his head slightly to William IV seriously and introduced: "Your Majesty, let me summarize for you. Based on the current situation, the doctors recommend that you believe in theology. Then I suggest you trust science.”

When the Archbishop of York heard this, his expression changed, and he replied in a deep voice: "Your Excellency, although I have always known your reputation, but based on this principle that cannot be blasphemed, it is best not to speak too harshly. Or Say you are actually on the side of the Vatican and are a spy sent to Britain by the Pope?”

The Bishop of London also followed up in a subtle way: "If this is the case, then it is not difficult to explain why your Lordship established the 'Atheist College on Gower Street'. You say it is 'atheism', but in fact you Is it secretly idolatry?"

Seeing that the bishops were planning to go ahead with the plan, the Prime Minister, Earl Gray, hurriedly spoke out to smooth things over: "Your Majesty, I actually agree with the bishops' views to a certain extent. The resurrection of Officer Hastings should be a medical misdiagnosis, not a true He walked from the underworld and came back."

But as soon as he said this, he quickly aroused objections from the doctors.

Weekley insisted: "Your Majesty, I still stand by my opinion. What I say is completely justified. We have previously specifically asked the doctor who performed the surgery on Officer Arthur Hastings and obtained from him The conclusion that Officer Hastings is indeed medically dead.”

Unexpectedly, when the Bishop of London heard this, he just frowned and interrupted: "Your Majesty, regarding the matter of the person who was regarded as the dead rising from the coffin... Although this kind of situation is rare, it has not happened before. It has happened. At least in the more than thirty years that I have been serving God, there have been two similar incidents in my diocese.

As Mr. Weekley said, the two deceased persons had been notified of medical death by doctors. But in fact, a deceased person crawled out of the coffin in a daze half a day after his heart stopped beating. When his wife came back from outside, she happened to see him cooking for himself in the kitchen. As a result, her wife was almost frightened and went over there.

The other so-called 'deceased' had the same misdiagnosis, except that he woke up earlier, right at the funeral. Everyone was mourning in the church, but they heard a banging sound from the coffin. People opened the coffin and saw that the unfortunate victim of the quack was lying inside with despair in his eyes, and his hands were scratched.

The first lucky guy lived peacefully for another five years after his 'resurrection' before passing away. As for the second one, if you send someone to look for him in the countryside of Lancaster now, you might still see him sweating profusely doing farm work in the fields. "

After saying this, the Bishop of London couldn't help but glare at the doctors, and immediately added: "Because of this, believers in rural Lancaster are worried that they will be buried alive. So they go to the coffin shop to order coffins for themselves. Sometimes, the rich would ask for a coffin with good ventilation, and the poor would ask for a small hole to be opened in the coffin to insert a tube for ventilation. This has almost become a custom, and I found that This trend has even gradually spread to London. If you don’t believe it, you can go to a coffin shop in London and ask if there are similar styles.”

Doctors Weekly and Bruno couldn't help but widen their eyes when they heard this. They didn't believe that such a thing would happen.

They stood up and said: "It's not that we don't believe in the character of His Majesty the Bishop, but we hope to verify the relevant situation."

But Dr. Barry, who was sitting next to him and had been silent for a long time, was sweating profusely. He gritted his teeth and said cruelly: "Actually, in this case, I... I was really lucky to have encountered a case..."

Vickery was stunned: "Have you encountered this before?"

Dr. Barry nodded slightly and said: "Not only have I encountered it, but it is also similar to the situation described by His Majesty the Bishop. You also know that whether we are physicians, surgeons, general practitioners, or even pharmacists, we all treat cardiac arrest. Considered a symbol of death.

The patient I met was in the same situation. His heart had stopped beating for more than thirty minutes, so I issued a death notice to him. However, what I didn't expect was that when I asked the apprentice to put him into a body bag, he suddenly sat up on his own.

At that time, I thought I had been misdiagnosed. Because I was worried that a misdiagnosis would affect my reputation, I kept this matter in my stomach for many years, and I was ready to take this secret into the coffin. However, after hearing the story told by His Majesty the Bishop and seeing the case of Officer Hastings, I now really doubt that cardiac arrest is really the criterion for identifying the death of the deceased?

But even though I say that, after all, Officer Hastings’ heart has stopped beating for three days, and he was injured by a bullet. If it can be healed, I can only sigh at the magic and infinity of God’s creation. Possibility. "

Although Dr. Barry's frowning expression was indeed worrying, but to the other members of the Privy Council meeting, he felt extremely comfortable.

Because they could finally convince themselves that this was really not a miracle, but a trivial medical accident.

When the Bishop of York saw that there were divisions within the doctor group, he took the opportunity to make trouble.

"However, although Officer Hastings' so-called resurrection from the dead is not a miracle, I also have reasonable suspicion that his 'resurrection' is probably due to some despicable and evil methods used by you doctors. Even if it is not two years in advance The frequent murders and corpse thefts can be traced back to 1818, when Mr. Andrew Yule of the University of Glasgow conducted an almost sacrilegious experiment on the corpses of executed prisoners. I believe no one will forget it."

When everyone heard this, they immediately remembered what he was talking about.

Because that incident was so famous and even appeared in newspapers, the "Scottish Medical Journal" recorded the entire experimental process in detail.

To be precise, Andrew Yule inserted electrode rods into the neck, buttocks and heels of the corpse, and then stimulated them with different levels of current.

According to his own account: After being powered on, the corpse seemed to shiver, and its fingers were very flexible, as if they were the hands of a violinist. Every muscle on the corpse's face was moving, and expressions of anger, fear, despair, pain, and joy all appeared on the corpse's face.

Although Dr. Yule failed to resurrect the corpse in the end, he had no regrets. Instead, he was satisfied and concluded in his experimental record book titled "The Goodness of Man": "If death is not caused by physical trauma, , then the corpse may be resurrected. However, even if this experiment is successful, I will not be happy. Because what I will resurrect is a hanged murderer."

Although Britain may be the most tolerant country in the world, Dr. Yule's behavior still inevitably aroused the anger of the church. The clergy quickly scolded Yule in public opinion and politics, and protested in Parliament. This guy is dishonoring a corpse and blasphemous.

Under pressure from the church, Parliament soon ordered the University of Glasgow and Dr. Yule to immediately end this farce of the living dead.

However, although this farce has died down, there are still many reports and cartoons about this incident in newspapers.

The most impressive one is that of a deceased person lying in a coffin who was raised with positive and negative electrodes connected, while the devil stood beside him.

Some of the doctors present couldn't help but their eyes lit up. They suddenly remembered Arthur's life experience. This is currently the British researcher in the field of electromagnetics second only to Michael Faraday!

Could it be that……

Was his resurrection due to some electrical and magnetic reaction?

Thinking of this, even the doctor who had spoken the loudest just shut his mouth. Although no one spoke, they all tacitly pondered a new question.

When William IV saw that the discussion finally came to an end, the sailor king couldn't help but smile a few times with a bright face.

Although he regretted not being able to discover a miracle, he was also glad that it was within the scope of scientific explanation.

William IV smiled and asked: "So, the answer is already out? Is this a scientific question?"

Duke Wellington, who had been silent all the time, nodded slightly and said: "Your Majesty, this can only be a scientific question."

The Prime Minister Earl Gray also understood the subtext of the Duke of Wellington. He implicitly reminded the king: "Officer Hastings is a Catholic. Although according to our investigation, he seems to be an occasional Catholic." A believer, even when he was sworn in at Scotland Yard, he took the oath of office in accordance with the oath of the state religion without any hesitation. However, he is a Catholic after all, so if this is not a scientific issue, there is still Ireland...is all in trouble.”

William IV was touched by Earl Gray, and he suddenly woke up as if from a dream, and even his smile faded: "Well, I almost forgot about this..."

Although Britain has been free of the Vatican in the religious field for a long time, the Pope has been trying to regain his right to speak in the British religious field since Henry VIII. For this reason, he even launched a holy war against Britain and called on Catholic countries to encircle and suppress Britain. This was also one of the important reasons why the war between Britain and Spain broke out.

Although the Holy See is no longer as majestic as it used to be, and they never consider canonizing living people. However, if the Pope insists on using this matter to disgust Britain, such as asking to send an investigation team to Britain, or to ordain Arthur as a Catholic saint, then the matter will be a bit big.

Even with the best intentions, even if Catholics living in England and Scotland are indifferent to the pope's little actions, there is no way that the millions of Irish Catholics on the island of Ireland will be indifferent to the pope's edicts.

Just as William IV thought of this, he heard the Duke of Wellington on the side lower his voice: "Your Majesty, it is true that this is a scientific issue, but in the eyes of most ignorant people, many things cannot be explained. Therefore, In view of Officer Hastings's well-known sensitive beliefs, and from the perspective of maintaining national stability, I suggest that the impact of this incident should be minimized and dealt with coldly. If possible, we should send someone to persuade him in the future. He converted to the state religion.”

Although the parties are different, Earl Gray reached a rare agreement with the Duke of Wellington on this matter: "More than that, from the perspective of public opinion and protecting him, Constable Hastings is currently unfit to continue to serve in Scotland." Serve on the field.”

William IV pondered for a while, and he said with some regret: "Gray, are you suggesting that I remove him from office? He has just made a contribution. Even if we intend to let him leave with a decent farewell, this would be too much. It’s so inhumane.”

Lord Brougham on the side smiled and replied: "Your Majesty, he needs to find a sunny place to recuperate, and stay away from the sight of the domestic public for a period of time, so that everyone will gradually forget his religious attributes, but this does not mean He's not coming back and I think you and we will need to bring him back when the time is right. And just because he leaves Scotland Yard doesn't mean he can't play for his country."

William IV was surprised and said: "You mean?"

Brougham bowed his head and said: "I remember that you mentioned before that in view of the current tension in the German region, you are considering following the successful experience of Britain and passing a relatively liberal new constitution in the Kingdom of Hanover? I think, This student of mine may be able to go there and make some small contribution, at least in terms of police reform, he is definitely an expert.”

William IV originally felt regretful, but after thinking about it, he suddenly had an idea: "The sunshine in Hanover seems to be really good. As a police consultant to the Hanover Parliament to provide suggestions for the new constitution, this young man seems to be really qualified..."