Shadow of great britain

Arthur and Newman sat on a long bench in the cemetery. In front of them was a low small tomb, with a small milky white coffin pressed under the blue-gray stone slabs.

This is a simple tomb, and the burial objects inside are also very simple, including a small red dress, a wooden horse toy, a "Disaster" magazine, a few unopened candies, and three bouquets of mourning flowers. White Rose.

Newman looked at the small shallow grave, shook his head and said: "I know that we are living in a novel era. Human beings have always relied on others, especially priests, to spread faith and knowledge since ancient times. But now, Everyone starts judging themselves.

Religious freedom and separation of religions have all turned into money worship in the end. They will do anything for money. But there is no way, even the geniuses of this era are anti-church, let alone ordinary people.

But we can’t blame them. As Anglican priests, we are supposed to help these poor and helpless people.

But the clergymen, the justices of the peace, the poor law enforcers, seemed more interested in collecting pews, parish taxes, funeral expenses and tithes. But they don't pay much attention to the poor relief matters that they should be responsible for.

Even if the clergy worship money so much, it is no wonder that the Anglican Church is in decline in Great Britain. We are all to blame for this.

To tell the truth, Britain has never seen such a moral depravity in the past thousand years.

I know that the feudal era is certainly bad, but its damage to the generosity and kindness of human nature is far less than that of the commercial era. "

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but think of what Bentham said to him that day.

He asked: "It seems that you must hate utilitarianism, right?"

Sure enough, Newman couldn't help but frown when he heard the word.

"Utilitarianism? In my opinion, this is the root of all evil. Bentham is a liar. The so-called ultimate bringing the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people is exactly what only those who benefit will crazily advocate.

Although the spirit of pursuing wealth has existed since ancient times, this kind of philistine value has been on a rapid upward trend in recent decades and has become the current mainstream.

The prosperity of society is only superficial, and those who are crushed to death under the stone are far more than what is seen in the newspapers.

The poison of pursuing material desires and money has penetrated into the bone marrow of this country. It makes everyone put all their energy on success and wealth in life, amass property, desire power, eliminate dissidents, defeat their bosses, and at the same time pretend A hypocritical face that is arrogant, arrogant and polite at the same time.

Religious rituals have been simplified again and again, the status of faith has been constantly shaken, moral concepts have continued to be diluted, and doctrines have become empty words on paper.

To be honest, sometimes I think those people are worse than Thomas Paine.

Since the last time I talked to you, I feel more and more that you are right. Atheists like Paine are far better than those who claim to be religious but always deviate from the doctrine.

What those people worship is not God at all, but their desires. Those scattered factions that split off from within the Anglican Church are full of personal selfish desires, which makes people feel sick just by looking at them.

Look what stupid things these people are doing? Kill people and sell their bodies. Relatives of workers die, yet they are not even given a day off to attend the funeral. These people should all be burned at the stake! "

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but said: "Mr. Newman, to be honest, I came to you this time because I hope you can do me a favor."

Newman asked: "What are you doing? Just ask, as long as it is something that does not violate moral teachings, I am willing to help. Although you are a Catholic, this is no big deal to me. Paine I can accept all kinds of atheists, let alone you?"

Arthur said: "Well... I know that you have a high reputation in the Oxford University diocese, you are extremely eloquent, and you have many followers.

I heard that Oxford University was very angry about the Catholic Emancipation Act and organized an anti-Robert Peel movement, and you played a very important role in it? "

Newman frowned suddenly: "Why do you know this?"

Arthur smiled helplessly: "It's simple, because you are on the watch list of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so as the police inspector of Scotland Yard, I naturally know what you have done."

Newman did not shy away from this matter: "Yes. The reason why Oxford University wanted to push Peel to the House of Commons was because it hoped that he could speak on our behalf. However, he not only broke his promise, but also openly attacked Oxford in the newspaper, saying that we Is a 'slave to vanity'.

This is intolerable to us Oxfordians. Peel deserves it. You don't have to plead for him on this point. Even if he puts me in jail, I will not change my opinion.

If he can, he will drive me out of Great Britain. Then I can try to imitate Paine and go to the United States and France.

However, I am luckier than Paine in that I am still a little richer. At least I can afford a ship ticket and do not have to go to the North American colonies as an indentured servant like him. "

When Arthur heard this, he was suddenly stunned.

He originally wanted to start with Newman, persuading Newman to change the Oxford diocese's understanding of the Anatomy Act, and make him willing to lead the Oxford priests to conduct funerals for those who had dissected the dead, but he did not expect to ask a question about a blind spot in knowledge.

He said: "Indentured slave? What is an indentured slave?"

Newman asked: "Don't you know about indentured servants? But yes, you basically can't see such things as indentured servants in Britain.

Most of the people here who owe debts and cannot repay are imprisoned in debtors' prisons, and Britain completely abolished slavery more than 20 years ago, so you can't see this kind of thing.

However, this kind of thing still existed in the North American colonies. The so-called indentured slaves were white slaves.

They come from three main sources.

The first is that they can no longer live in the country, so they sign a selling agreement with the shipowner and exchange four to seven years of labor for a ticket to America.

The second type is debtors who owe money in the United States. Because they are unable to repay their debts, they sell themselves into slavery and use their labor to pay off their debts.

The third type is the condemned prisoners who were exiled in the past and used labor to pay off their crimes. This type should be the main source of indentured slaves in North America.

However, Mr. Paine belonged to the first type of indentured servant. He was very lucky at first. When he arrived in America, he used the recommendation letter written by Franklin to get a job as a newspaper editor in Philadelphia, so he paid off his debt quickly and did not suffer much. Sin, but others may not be as lucky. "

Arthur frowned, remembering the missing list provided by the Duke of Sussex.

Most of the people who disappeared from the streets were women and children, and the whereabouts and bodies of these people have basically been identified.

As for those middle-aged men who disappeared from prison, most of them were neither alive nor dead, and it was impossible to figure out where they had gone.

An idea flashed in his mind, and the vague clues seemed to gradually become clearer and clearer to him.

Agares suddenly appeared beside him, and the red devil whispered: "Arthur, that's it for now, don't investigate any further."

There are two more updates in the evening, I’m writing now