Shadow of great britain

At this point in time, Garibaldi was not as famous as he would be in the next few decades, but Mazzini's name had long been on the intelligence lists of various European countries.

In the intelligence files of the British Foreign Office, Mazzini was portrayed as a figure similar to Daniel O'Connell, the leader of Irish nationalism and the Catholic Emancipation Movement. Arthur's old friend, Mr. Schneider, the Assistant Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office, even called Mazzini the Little O'Connell of Italy when he explained the main situation of the European continent to him.

But the difference between Mazzini and O'Connell is that O'Connell united the Irish peasants closely around him by establishing a Catholic Association, and defeated several government-supported candidates with the support of the association's members, and won the election repeatedly in County Clare, Ireland. Even though the law at the time did not allow a Catholic to enter Parliament, and the British Parliament repeatedly declared O'Connell's election invalid, the Tories could never find a guy who could defeat O'Connell in Ireland.

The election results were repeatedly declared invalid, which also angered the Catholic farmers in Ireland. The farmers began to connect with each other, and the Catholic Association under O'Connell also made a harsh statement that if the Duke of Wellington continued to veto the election results, Ireland would not be afraid of a war.

It was under such circumstances that the then Irish Minister, the Marquis of Anglesey, urgently wrote to the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, and the Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel, to explain the angry nationalist sentiment in Ireland. After repeated consideration, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Peel finally decided to promote the Catholic Emancipation Act, which almost ruined their reputation.

In order to make the Anglicans in England better accept such a bill, Sir Peel also cunningly found a small stone of Catholic faith among the front-line police officers in Scotland Yard to explore the way. But what people didn't expect was that although such a move was only a small step in the Irish national liberation movement, it became a big step in the life of Sir Arthur Hastings.

Perhaps because Arthur benefited from it, his impression of the Irish and Catholics was not as bad as that of most English people. Moreover, in order to promote the positive impact of the Catholic Emancipation Act, Sir Peel also arranged for Arthur to meet with Mr. O'Connell, who had been successfully elected as a member of the House of Commons. At that time, Arthur's reputation in London was not as bad as it is now, but the report was still scolded by many London citizens.

Citizens bluntly said that they did not understand why the heroic police officer of England was arranged to meet an Irish mudblood.

However, Arthur always believed that it was too much to describe Mr. O'Connell as an Irish mudblood. Because Mr. O'Connell is a practicing lawyer who graduated from the orthodox Inns of Court. According to the traditional customs of the British, lawyers are high-level intellectuals with the same high status as priests, and their income is also quite generous.

If they want to attack O'Connell for being born in Ireland, it would be even more regrettable, because as far as Arthur knows, the Duke of Wellington and Viscount Palmerston were also born in Ireland, and their families are all true traditional Irish aristocrats.

And the first wife of the Marquis of Wellesley, the brother of the Duke of Wellington, was a serious Irish actress. She didn't even speak a word of English and only knew Gaelic, the traditional language of Ireland. Although this lady had died of illness when Arthur entered the upper class circle of London, he still heard many people tell stories about this lady. Because of her language problem, this lady has always found it difficult to integrate into the social circle of London, but her relationship with the Marquis of Wellesley has always been very good. Even though outsiders have been gossiping, the Marquis of Wellesley has never thought of divorce because his wife can't speak English.

As for the former British Prime Minister Sir George Canning, his mother was also an Irish actress, and he was in the United Irishmen when he was young, but this did not affect him from becoming Prime Minister.

Perhaps nationalist narratives are popular on the European continent, but this set of narratives does not actually work in Britain. Arthur has always believed that rather than saying that the English hate the Irish, it is better to say that they actually dislike the poor Ireland. The communication between the upper classes of England and Ireland has always been smooth, and the middle classes get along well. The root cause of the conflict between the two sides is that the lower classes are tired of the large number of Irish people pouring into England's industrial cities to steal their jobs and lower their wages.

When Arthur was patrolling the streets, he heard dock workers complain more than once that these mud-breeds from Ireland only needed three potatoes a day to survive, and they didn't need any spices for the seasoning, just the cheapest salt. They didn't pursue how good they could live, and a simple, windproof shed was a satisfactory residence for them.

Since the Parliament passed the Anglo-Irish Union Act in 1801, the Irish could come to London unimpeded, and the wages of the West India docks fell by 40% in 30 years. London workers once wanted to pull the Irish to strike together. Although the Irish occasionally responded, most of them took advantage of the strike of London workers to steal their jobs.

Although these words are only one-sided words of London workers, it is an indisputable fact that the influx of Irish people has led to intensified competition in the London job market. Under such circumstances, it is really difficult for ordinary people in England to give Ireland a good face. As for the various reasons they claim, such as the low morals and unsanitary nature of the Irish people, and the fact that the Catholic faith cannot guarantee their loyalty to the king, they are actually excuses derived from dissatisfaction.

The Italian liberation movement led by Mazzini is actually similar to the Irish liberation movement led by O'Connell.

Both of them are people who unite people by inciting nationalism, but O'Connell's slogan is to maintain the Catholic faith in Ireland, while Mazzini did the opposite. He claimed to end the reactionary rule of the Catholic Church and the Austrian feudal lords in Italy.

However, although the two seem to have very different routes of action, in fact, in Arthur's eyes, they both do the same thing, because even O'Connell, who claims to maintain the Catholic faith, does not want the Pope to interfere in the appointment of bishops in Ireland.

If there is any difference between Mazzini and O'Connell, it is that Mazzini prefers to confront each other more than O'Connell, and is more willing to express his position frankly.

And O'Connell is much luckier than Mazzini, because the Duke of Wellington can make concessions to Ireland for a greater goal by pressing the head of the King of Britain, while Austrian Prime Minister Metternich obviously cannot let the Austrian Emperor do so, and Metternich himself may not be willing to bow to the Italians.

As far as Arthur knows, not long ago, Mazzini had just planned an uprising in the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia in Italy, but because of the poor planning, the connection work was not completed before it was reported by an officer. Many members of the Young Italy were arrested in the Kingdom of Sardinia and sentenced to death. If Mazzini himself had not been smart enough to withdraw in time, he would have been beheaded in Piedmont at this time.

And this was not the first time that Mazzini's uprising failed. As early as 1830, he was arrested in the Kingdom of Sardinia because he was suspected of participating in the Carbonari.

However, at that time, Mazzini was not yet the leader of the Carbonari, so the Kingdom of Sardinia did not collect enough evidence and finally had to choose to exile Mazzini abroad.

It was this failure that made Mazzini realize that there was no future in following the Carbonari, so Mazzini began to create the Young Italy with himself as the core based on his experience and connections accumulated in the Carbonari, and successfully won the semi-public asylum of King Louis Philippe of France, who was eager to show himself as the embodiment of freedom.

Mazzini's oratory talent and personal charm made the Young Italy, a small organization that was initially penniless, develop by leaps and bounds in more than two years. Almost all Italian exiles in France participated in or at least heard of this organization, and there were also underground branches of the Young Italy in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the main cities of the Papal States in Italy.

According to the British Foreign Office's estimate, at this moment, the Young Italy, which has been supported by the French government, should have at least 20,000 to 30,000 members.

Louis Philippe's act of sheltering political prisoners from other countries was soon retaliated by the Italian states. For example, the royalist Vendée rebellion in France last year was suspected to be supported by the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the assassination at the Kedousay Mansion not long ago was even more suspicious.

Mazzini heard Arthur tell the glorious deeds of the Carbonari and Young Italy in the past one by one, and he was happy, but he also had a lot of doubts in his heart.

Mazzini stirred the spoon in the coffee cup: "I really didn't expect that Britain had mastered our actions to such a detailed level."

"It can't be called detailed." Arthur smiled and blinked: "At least I'm sure that the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has more detailed intelligence than Britain. But now Louis Philippe has issued an expulsion order for you, and Young Italy has just suffered a major defeat in Genoa. Not only have you cut off an important source of funds, but your morale is also very low. This situation is a bit unfavorable."

Arthur said the truth, but the truth is often unpleasant to hear.

Mazzini didn't know how to answer him, because he came to see Nuri today to raise funds from the liberal arts community in Paris.

But the most difficult things in the world are often about money. Young Italy is not the first organization to come to Nuri to raise funds. Before them, there were also the Polish Restoration Movement, the Austrian and Prussian Liberal Movements, and the voices of the Spanish Republicans should not be underestimated.

Mazzini was silent, but Garibaldi on the side said with a pipe in his mouth: "Mr. Hastings, for a sailor like me who has been at sea for ten years, there is no difficulty that is insurmountable. If you want to achieve this, Our goal is indeed not an easy one, but that doesn't mean we have anything to fear. If you want to hear anything discouraging from our mouths, it's impossible. The fate of sailors is to be with the sea. Fighting, fighting against rough seas and vicious sharks in a storm. If you don't know what I mean, I suggest you read a novel called "St. George's Flag Rises". Mr. Dumas introduced it to me, and now I recommend it to you. After reading this book, you will understand what is a man, what is courage, and what is the fate of a sailor."

Arthur was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then immediately turned to look at Dumas. The fat man said to Garibaldi without changing his expression and without a beating heart: "Giuseppe, Arthur doesn't need to read that book." , I forgot to introduce it to you, Arthur is also one of the authors of that book, and the climax of the book was basically written and polished by him himself. "

When Garibaldi heard this, he took a puff of his cigarette in astonishment, and then seemed to have discovered some treasure. He was a little embarrassed at first, and then he laughed to himself and stood up to welcome Arthur to his seat: "So it turns out that This book was written by you, and I originally wanted to use that book to convince you, but I didn’t expect that you actually understand the fate of men and sailors better than I do.”

Arthur took off his hat and smiled and said, "It's very gratifying to see that you like my friend the tough guy Carter very much."

The two people who were strangers just now suddenly had a common topic. Garibaldi discussed with Arthur enthusiastically: "Sure enough, the character Elder Carter really has a prototype as Mr. Dumas said. I I heard that he is floating in the sea of ​​South America at this time and is a brave soldier of the Royal Navy? "

"That's right." Arthur affirmed: "Sir, if you see Elder in person, you will be surprised. It will be an unforgettable experience in your life."

Garibaldi laughed and said: "Unfortunately, I mainly travel on the Mediterranean. If I have a chance to travel to South America next time, even if it is just to meet this legend, I will go. To be honest, because of Egypt "De Carter, I'm not that averse to joining the Navy now."

Arthur took out his cigarette case and motioned to Garibaldi to try his tobacco: "What? Are you going to join the navy?"

Garibaldi shared some tobacco from Arthur: "You may not know that I was born in Nice, Kingdom of Sardinia. According to the decree of the Kingdom of Sardinia, all merchant sailors must join the navy and serve for a period of time before the age of forty. But you also know that the salary in the Royal Navy is not high, and the salary in the Kingdom of Sardinia is even worse. Although I am only 26 years old, I can already steer a ship by myself. The income of being a merchant ship captain is much higher than that of the navy. , so I had been putting off the draft order, but after reading "St. George's Flag Raise High", I thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to go to the navy for some training. "

Arthur was about to speak, but he suddenly noticed something was wrong with Mazzini's expression.

Garibaldi also noticed this, and he patted Mazzini on the back with concern: "Brother, are you uncomfortable in any way?"