Shadow of great britain

In the Town Hall Hotel in Göttingen, Garibaldi and several young Italian exiles had pipes in their mouths and several slightly wrinkled English newspapers in their hands.

Not many of them knew English, but fortunately, these newspapers had been translated into Italian with pens in advance.

Due to the excessive workload of translating the entire article, the translator only excerpted some fragments, but even just reading the title can make people feel the shocking scenes.

"The final verdict on the Swain Riots has settled"

Arthur Hastings, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and Special Representative of the Police of the London District Attorney's Office: "1,976 rioters from 34 counties were sentenced to exile, imprisonment, fines, or vowed not to disturb the peace again, depending on the severity of their crimes. penalty."

"Avoid the important and take the easy!" As far as this newspaper knows, 252 people among the rioters were sentenced to hanging! 》

"Prelude to a Police State!" In the context of the army's major disarmament, Scotland Yard openly called for army expansion! 》

According to well-informed sources, a senior London police official suggested to Home Secretary Viscount Melbourne in a private setting that the police department should be allowed to quickly recruit a large number of special police forces, because the recruitment of these "special" police officers can make reforms possible. Demonstrators canceled at least one rally.

"The Home Secretary adopts ridiculous suggestions and introduces the 'Special Police Bill' to Parliament"

According to news this morning, the Special Police Bill passed its third reading in the Whig-controlled House of Commons, but was rejected by a majority in the Tory-controlled House of Lords. Sir Robert Peel joined forces with Home Secretary Viscount Melbourne on the Special Constabulary Bill and tried to persuade Tory members to pass the bill, but faced strong opposition within the party.

Duke of Newcastle: "We must not jeopardize Britain's liberal ethos. Expanding police powers undermines our tradition of local self-government."

"Is the Whig Freedom Flag Wavering? Viscount Palmerston expressed a different view"

Viscount Palmerston: "The original intention of the Tories not to expand the police force is neither to safeguard freedom nor to protect the tradition of local self-government. It is because they want to directly dispatch the army to suppress riots, and the expansion of the police force It will prevent the military from intervening in security issues.”

"Gravity is not only a major discovery in physics, it also belongs to the category of political science"

"How many steps did it take to fall from England's best police officer to the executioner of the Tower of London?" 》

"Freedom or Death?" Britons! Honest people, stand up! 》

The time has finally arrived!

All Londoners come together on Tuesday.

We assure you that our frontline reporters watched as Scotland Yard police moved 6,000 machetes from the Tower of London in preparation for the bloody crackdown.

Remember the King’s hateful speech! Remember Wellington’s haughty face on horseback! Remember the Peterloo tragedy, remember the Six Special Acts, remember the Swain Riot Trial!

Those damn policemen, policemen, and devilish blue lobsters are all armed now. They are fanning their tuxedo tails and are tightly surrounding the new Satan Arthur Hastings. They are ready to fight for good Britain and goodness at any time. The citizens brought disaster to the world.

British people, can you still stand it?

…

In the bedroom, only the dull sound of puffing smoke could be heard, and the air in the hotel seemed to freeze.

These members of Young Italy felt like they had nothing in their chests but anger.

Some people pinched the edge of the newspaper until it tore a slit. Others put down their newspapers, stood up and walked around the room, lowering their heads as if thinking about something.

As for Garibaldi, he put down his newspaper and sat motionless in his chair.

With his innocent and blazing eyes, he stared at Dumas, who was scratching his head in embarrassment across the table, and asked seriously: "Mr. Dumas, as long as you tell me that these news are translation errors, then I will believe you."

Alexandre Dumas looked at Garibaldi and didn't know what to say.

As a straight-laced French republican, there is nothing more unacceptable than admitting that his best friend is a reactionary.

On these issues, Alexandre Dumas is far less flexible than Heine.

Heine's criteria for making friends did not include having the same political views. What he valued most was personal character and cooperation between both parties.

In addition, Heine was not a tolerant person, so this led to the fact that most of his enemies were not conservatives, but radical liberals like him who spoke harshly and had excessive self-awareness.

But Alexandre Dumas was different. He was quite tolerant towards republicans like himself, but deeply hated those conservatives.

It's very easy to get a lunch from Mr. Dumas. All you have to do is praise the French Revolution and you can win the favor of this fat man.

And this way of doing things has destined Alexandre Dumas to be very taboo about others saying that he associates with reactionary conservatives. He doesn't care about exposing his improper relationship with actresses, nor does he care about exposing that he has several illegitimate children, but he only cares about his relationship with Sir Arthur Hastings was ashamed of this friendship.

When Garibaldi saw Dumas lowering his head in shame, he immediately understood what was going on.

He looked at the newspapers covering the table and murmured to himself: "It seems that all these things Mazzini sent from London are true? Is he actually such a person? This... this is really It’s unbelievable... A person who supports the Italian revolution, a person who supports Polish independence, can actually do such a thing in London?”

Alexandre Dumas only felt that he was in a mess. He lit the match and lit the cigar: "I was also very surprised at first, because if you put aside a series of things that happened in London in May and June last year, Arthur is actually a pretty good person. But I It can only be said that he lacks something that you and I both have - ideals. And in order to fill this gap, he chose an extremely bad route, and his ideals were replaced by his nature as a police officer."

Garibaldi held his chin and thought: "I think this may be because he is a peasant? The biggest lesson I learned from the failure of this uprising is that we must not let peasants join our rebel army. Not only do they lack fighting spirit and discipline, And there are questions about loyalty. When Mazzini made the plan, he never expected that the Italian peasants would be so indifferent to our revolutionary activities.

Not only did they not follow us, some even reported our whereabouts to the government. The same was true for the Carbonari uprising that year. As soon as the Pope's decree came out from Rome, these farmers immediately stood on the opposite side of the Carbonari. They were too deeply influenced by local interests and religious traditions. "

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he immediately thought of Arthur's unstable religious beliefs and his repeated jumping between the two parties.

Perhaps this York farmer was indeed influenced by traditional concepts, but Alexandre Dumas is sure that he is still a trendy farmer in general, and the phrase "We are here for Britain" under the Tower of London also shows that he has a strong sense of 'Fighting spirit' and 'discipline'.

But Alexandre Dumas was unwilling to reveal this, because if Arthur was really a new-fashion peasant, wouldn't he, Alexandre Dumas, have made friends with a born reactionary? Such a statement is simply more vicious than saying that he had an affair with all the actresses in Paris.

Alexandre Dumas said tactfully: "But you can rest assured, I can guarantee that he is not hostile to you. Because based on what I know about him, if he was really interested in you, you would not be in Göttingen now." Not in a hotel, but in a jail in Mainz or Frankfurt.”

"That's what I find strange."

Garibaldi stood up and said: "We Italian wanted criminals have been in Göttingen for a week, but he has no intention of arresting us. In fact, he still has 10,000 francs among our uprising funds. Sponsored, what’s going on in his head?”

Alexandre Dumas couldn't help complaining after hearing this: "This is what I want to ask too. Reactionary, but not reactionary to the end. Progress, but only a little progress." While suppressing the demonstrators under the Tower of London, he also agreed with "The British" to publish the opposition "New Poor Law" article. If it were placed during the French Revolution, a guy like him would be in trouble at both ends. No matter who was in power, he would be guillotined, but he was prosperous in London. "

Nuli, who was leaning against the wall, shook his head slightly and said: "Alexander, have you forgotten our dear Ambassador to Britain, Talleyrand? In my opinion, people like Mr. Hastings are more likely to be there." era to survive.”

Alexandre Dumas curled his lips and said: "Adolf, he and Talleyrand only look alike on the surface. Their methods are equally dirty, but at least in Talleyrand's mouth, his bottom line is quite clear, and it will not waver no matter who is in power. . He liked the France before the Revolution and firmly believed that France was better.

As for my friend, God knows what his bottom line is. His bottom line always fluctuates with the government's line. If there is one thing that he feels cannot be changed, it is that he realizes that he is a policeman, but his definition of police duties seems to be different from what is expressly stipulated in the law. In this respect, he is closer to Fouche.

But maybe what you said is right. Maybe a guy like him could shine more brightly during the Revolutionary Era, and his energy cannot be used in calm days. As the proverb goes: The most despicable and evil actions require the most courage and talent. There is an unruly power in these people who work underground. Unless they are forced to do so or are in extreme need, no one would want to use them.

As long as the situation was controllable, Napoleon would resolutely refuse to re-appoint Fouche and rebuild his police department. As long as he is strong and doesn't make mistakes, the emperor doesn't need such a worrying, overly smart servant. But it is obvious that it is impossible for him not to make mistakes, and it is impossible for him to handle everything by himself.

He needs a nimble, flexible and unscrupulous assistant to help him rise to the top and become the first consul. And when he no longer wanted to be the first citizen among the French citizens, but wanted to become a Caesar above all his servants, he needed an Antony to support him. "

When Nuli heard this, he walked to the table and picked up the newspaper and took another look.

He smiled and said: "Indeed, he dared to order the police to shoot directly without receiving the order to go up to the peak. This is indeed Fouche's style. This reminds me of Napoleon's troops in Austria in 1809. As a result, the British He took the opportunity to land on Walcheren Island and planned to go straight to Paris. At that time, everyone in the cabinet insisted on waiting for the emperor's order, but Fouche made a decisive decision, bypassing the prime minister and the minister of defense, and directly went to the emperor's name. National Guards were called up in the provinces and put out the British attack.

Letters of complaint from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense reached the Emperor one after another, accusing Fouche of having done something audacious and without authorization: he had recruited the National Guard, declared a state of war in the country, and issued orders in the Emperor's name ! Everyone thought that Napoleon would punish this disrespectful behavior and remove Fouche from his post. But what is surprising is that the emperor actually went against the consensus and believed that Fouche was absolutely right to act decisively and take action quickly. But it was the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense who were reprimanded by the emperor. "

When Garibaldi heard this, he couldn't help but ask: "If he is really Fouche, then wouldn't we..."

Alexandre Dumas sighed and said: "Giuseppe, his style of acting is completely Fouche, but don't forget that I also said that this guy's temper is Talleyrand-like, so you and the citizens of London are in some kind of relationship. In a sense, he is very lucky, and because he was born in England, he has not yet mastered such huge power. Although his actions in the Tower of London have been recognized, he will never be treated like Napoleon by the British king. Such high praise, if the king said that, Fleet Street would definitely not let him go, and this is the biggest reason why he is now pretending to be a university professor in Göttingen."

Boom, boom, boom!

There was a knock on the door outside the hotel. When everyone heard that someone was coming outside, they quickly collected the newspapers on the table.

Alexandre Dumas watched them finish cleaning up, and then slowly opened the door.

Standing outside the door was the center of everyone's discussion-Sir Arthur Hastings.

When Arthur walked in, the old policeman immediately noticed that something was not right about the atmosphere in the room.

Everyone's eyes were focused on him, which was a sign of nervousness and guilty conscience.

"What's wrong?" Arthur took off his hat and put it on the table: "I worked as a police officer in London, but not in Vienna. Is it worthy of your attention?"

"Aren't we expecting you to bring us good news?"

"Is the house thing settled? Jazz."

Both Dumas and Nouri were busy changing the topic, but Garibaldi was as magnanimous as ever. He glanced at the newspaper in his hand, and after thinking for a long time, he decided to ask Arthur to find out.

"Sir, did you really hang more than 200 rioters?"

"Hang more than 200 people?"

Garibaldi's words stunned Arthur. He said with a smile: "England didn't hang so many people last year, and I only worked at Scotland Yard for a total of two and a half years. Giuseppe, how did you do it?" Did you come to this conclusion?"

When Garibaldi saw Arthur's denial, he immediately took out the newspaper: "But look at the title of this newspaper."

"Giuseppe, are you crazy?"

Some people hurriedly stopped them, but Garibaldi stretched out his hand to ward them off: "I'm not crazy. We are all already death row prisoners in Italy. One more death penalty charge is not a big deal. Besides, if he wants to be hanged, It doesn’t seem like it takes much effort on our part.”

Arthur took the newspaper and glanced at it, only to see that it read "252 people among the Swain rioters were sentenced to hanging."

The title was all too familiar to him, for it was from it that his good reputation in London began to sour.

In order to protect the Home Office from gunfire, he led the prosecution of the Swain Riots at the behest of Viscount Melbourne and Lord Brougham.

According to their request, the prosecution process must be carried out normally, but in order not to execute too many people and trigger social antagonism. Not long after the verdict came out, the king pardoned most of them. Among the 252 rioters, 19 were actually hanged. Among them, they were mainly riot leaders and those who had clearly committed murder. The rest were His sentence was commuted to exile.

But Fleet Street didn't care about that. On the one hand, the headline of the hanging of 252 people was obviously more eye-catching. In addition, British society was in the midst of parliamentary reform at the time. It was obviously better to amplify negative news to cater to readers.

On the other hand, these newspapers also wrote this to stir up public support for the reform. After all, many of these journalists only obtained the right to vote after the parliamentary reform. This is a matter related to their vital interests, so it is no exaggeration to write about it.

As for the news about the "Special Police Bill" next to it, that bill was indeed proposed by Arthur to the Viscount of Melbourne face to face.

The reason why he proposed this idea was because he knew that the Whigs planned to weaken the Tory-dominated army through disarmament and other methods. In addition, the situation at that time was indeed urgent and the police force was seriously insufficient, so Arthur guessed that Parliament might Agree to pass this bill.

But unfortunately, the Tories obviously saw through the Whigs' little tricks. Even though large-scale riots broke out in London, Manchester, Nottingham and other places, the Duke of Newcastle's castle was burned down, bishops were thrown mud and stones all day long, and Tory MPs were often attacked and abused on the streets, they still did not agree to pass this bill.

As for the claim that the police took out 7,000 machetes from the Tower of London, it was obviously a typical London rumor. Because there was not so much inventory in the Tower of London, and the Ministry of the Interior did not allow the police from Scotland Yard to use knives.

Before the night of the London riots, the police force of Scotland Yard used sticks to suppress the riots in the Strand, Covent Garden Market and Piccadilly Circus.

Speaking of using knives and guns, except for Arthur, other police commanders of Scotland Yard were quite disciplined.

This is why most of the saliva fell on his head despite the same suppression.

Arthur put down the newspaper in his hand and looked up to find that everyone was holding their breath, as if they were waiting to hear how he, a reactionary policeman, wanted to defend himself. After all, in a sense, there was not much difference between the Young Italy and the rioters in London. If we look at the actual results, the commotion they made was not even as big as that in London.