[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

According to the textbooks of later generations, people like Sir Romilly should be called great pioneers of reform. To be honest, Mary admired these warriors very much.

Although Britain is now far away from the ignorance and cruelty of the Middle Ages, and various sciences are flourishing, the social framework has not broken away from the confinement that has lasted for hundreds of years.

The people's ideas are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but the people still fear the kingship.

Rather than ruling but not governing, the king divided the world with the parliament. The nobles still occupy the vast majority of seats in the House of Lords, and the king's influence is unquestionable.

So this creates an atmosphere: traditional and long-standing things are stubbornly held by many conservatives, no matter whether it is reasonable or not, because they are afraid that once a hole is opened, emerging forces will take the opportunity to seize the city.

In recent decades, the Tory Party, which represents the conservatives, has been in control of the government. The recent prime ministers are all Tories, and the Whig Party is no longer what it was a century ago.

Although there are many people in the Tory Party who support the reform, it is very difficult to reform in terms of the overall environment of the whole society.

The life of the lower classes in the UK is difficult, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening, the crime rate is increasing year by year, and social conflicts are intensifying. Coupled with the successive wars with France, the relationship between the UK and the United States has deteriorated this year, and there are rumors of another war. It can be said that the UK Already on the verge of internal and external troubles.

There are many people of insight, but reforms are needed in all aspects of society, and the priorities are not so easy to determine, not to mention that there are so many conservative forces hindering reforms.

A person like Sir Romilly who has been fighting for the realization of reform must have put in unimaginable painstaking efforts. She couldn't help admiring Sir Romilly, and she said to him with a serious face: "I can't say anything exclusive to the law. Nouns are used to explain the advanced nature of criminal law reform, but I think the current punishment is too harsh. Any era in history where severe torture laws were rampant is notorious, and facts have proved more than once that excessively harsh laws are very harmful to crime itself. It is difficult to have a real deterrent effect, especially the death penalty for crimes that do not contain violent elements. Moreover, many death penalties were stipulated many years ago. With the development of social civilization and economy, it is now very inapplicable. I saw in the newspaper that a judge sentenced a female worker who cut cloth to be exiled according to the law more than 100 years ago. Ten shillings to be hanged is barely enough to buy a small family bread for a few weeks, and not even as much as my pocket money for a month."

"You are a very kind man, Miss Mary," said Mr. Fox flatteringly.

Mary humbly continued: "In my opinion, it is the execution or the possibility of the death penalty that prevents the prosecution and conviction of crimes. In my hometown, although the folk customs are simple, petty theft is not common." A small number, but the victims are afraid that the criminals will be hanged after reporting and prosecution, so many times they disappear, and people’s intention is to pity those who are forced to steal, but in the end it encourages crime.” She said. I thought of Alice's father, that bastard was lazy, defaulted on the rent and sneaked around, not a good guy, butler Galen suggested several times for Mr. Bennet to sue him, but Mr. Bennet refused because the punishment was too heavy He always kept silent and only let Galen teach him a lesson, but that bastard went too far, and finally brought disaster to the children.

"The people in your hometown are also very kind, Miss Mary," Mr. Fox added.

Mary: "Kindness does not prevent crime, Mr. Fox. There are many reasons for crime, but it seems to me that most people commit crime because of poverty, except for a small amount of hatred, greed and lust."

"Poverty is not the cause of crime. There are many poor people who will never commit crimes in their lifetime." Mr. Alfred retorted with a frown.

"I don't look down on the poor," Mary quickly distinguished, joking, she was a poor person at the bottom in her previous life, okay? "It's just that I think if those people had a lot of money, they probably wouldn't have committed crimes."

Mr. Alfred still disagrees: "When a person is poor, he will commit crimes for 1 pound. When he is rich, he will only commit crimes for 1 pounds. This is certain. Just like Jennifer Crowe today Miss Leigh, she is very poor and faithful, and Stevens is a thoroughly wealthy villain, and I am very sorry that such a villain cannot be imprisoned in Newgate Prison."

"Young people don't have to be angry about this kind of thing. We all know that if you accuse Stevens of false accusation, you will be acquitted in nine cases out of ten." Mr. Fox seemed to be used to this kind of thing and didn't take it seriously.

Mary stopped the knife and fork in her hand and thought about it carefully. Whether a crime has nothing to do with poverty or wealth, the key is to look at personal quality. Do not prevent him from doing evil.

Mary put down the knife and fork, and solemnly said to Mr. Alfred: "You are right, Mr. Alfred, I am indeed somewhat biased. Whether a person will do evil is really related to his property. It doesn't matter how much. I owe you an apology that I was wrong."

Unexpectedly, after she said these words, Mr. Alfred's face showed a look of annoyance. Mary was a little dazed when she saw his expression, and wondered if she said something wrong?But she thought about what she said, and there was nothing wrong with it.

In fact, Mr. Alfred was just annoyed by himself, and he said, "I should be the one apologizing to you, Miss Mary, your thoughts come from your kind nature, which should be encouraged and praised, I But to be arguing with you, even being aggressive, asking you to apologize to me is really inappropriate."

But Mr. Fox laughed loudly: "Alf really lacks the experience of talking with ladies. When you reach the age of Sir Romilly and I, you won't refute the kindness of ladies."

"I don't think I lack that kind of experience. I have been educated as a gentleman since I was a child." Alfred pursed his lips tightly.

"Come on," said Sir Romilly, "gentlemen's education doesn't teach you to talk too seriously with ladies. If Miss Mary hadn't been lenient, you might have quarreled with her, and in that respect, you It is true that you lack experience, so you must not be too serious when dealing with women."

Mary turned to Sir Romilly, and said dissatisfiedly: "Sir, Mr. Alfred and I are good friends, and disputes between friends will only make them understand each other better, thus deepening their friendship. Besides, Alfred and Mr. I don't want to quarrel. He regards me as an equal individual, and we communicate on an equal footing. Instead, what you said just now, can I think that your words mean that you actually look down on women? I think there will be a day when women are going to be in politics, and if we can have a queen, then of course we will have a female prime minister."

"Oh, miss, you are very wrong about this. You can ask my wife and daughters for proof. In my heart for decades, their status is far above mine."

Mary laughed: "My father used to say the same thing, but in his heart he always thought that none of us had brains—except my second sister."

"My dear lady, love itself is mindless, so please don't go any further. It's really not easy to be a satisfactory husband and father."

Sir Romilly made a speech in favor of the Women's Liberation Movement, expressing profoundly how he supports women should have the same rights as men, and the atmosphere of the lunch returned to enthusiasm.

After lunch, everyone broke up. Alfred and Mary strolled on the streets of London, and they came to a small square surrounded by geometrically trimmed bushes, where many people wandered.

The two of them walked and chatted, and finally sat down on a bench.

Alfred was a little absent-minded, and Mary asked him, "Are you thinking about something?"

He turned to look at Mary next to him. The young lady was asking him curiously, her black eyes were shining with a charming light. He nodded involuntarily: "I'm still thinking about the issues we argued at lunch. , the number of crimes has been rising these years, what is causing this? Poverty is not the root of crime, so what is it? Is it upbringing and character? If that is the case, then the number of crimes should show every year Average, but that's obviously not the case, and I should be wrong."

This issue is too complicated, and Mary also rested her chin and pondered. The causes of the crime rate involve all aspects, ranging from the gap between the rich and the poor, the social environment, to family education, and how to behave in the world. Even after 200 years, human beings are still doing this Headache.

"people"

Alfred stared at her and said slowly: "I think maybe you are right. Poverty is indeed a factor that causes crime. Whether or not a crime is related to whether a person is noble or not, but in fact, absolutely noble people are not as good as absolutely There are only a small number of bad people, and many people will vacillate between them. When they live a happy life, they will not commit crimes, but if they face desperation, they will take risks. Therefore, our focus is to guide this group of people, but we There’s nothing we can do about it for now.”

"I support universal education, because I have always believed that the character of a person is the key to crime. If a person can stick to his noble sentiments and be faithful to God and his conscience, then there will be no more crimes in this world. What is the origin of evil? Greed and desire exist forever, how can we eliminate these and reduce the occurrence of crime?"

He looked at Mary distressedly: "I decided to join the judicial career when I was a teenager, and I swore to be fair in everything, but I have only been working for a few months, and I feel countless anger and helplessness piled up in my heart .”

Mary looked at this young gentleman with sympathy. Many fledgling young people have high spirits and dream of changing the world, but the reality often breaks their backs cruelly. She asked softly: "Do you regret being a a lawyer?"

He turned his eyes to the distance, where two children were playing, and the mother next to him was carrying a bucket to fill a bucket of water from the water pipe on the street, and then called for the children to go home together, he turned Turning around, his eyes sparkled and he said, "Of course not. This kind of life full of anger and depression is my job content. I believe that my natural duty is to reduce this kind of pain and helplessness."

Mary chuckled: "After the passage of the Abolition Act proposed by Mr. Wilberforce and his Clapham League a few years ago, a newspaper published an interview with a member of the Clapham League. It is said that they When he was hit hard and disheartened, a congressman brought three little turtles and put them on the table to crawl slowly. He said to the people of the Clapham League: "Everyone, I am honored to be with you, Like a little turtle, slowly and firmly, moving towards the goal of slave freedom? "Mr. Alfred, you are also slowly and firmly moving towards your goal. I participated in the process of your progress during lunch. Although it is slow, we are indeed moving firmly towards The goal is to move forward, and in the face of perseverance, all obstacles will be overthrown."

Alfred's gaze suddenly softened, and his voice was also full of warmth, like a brook under the shade of a tree at noon in summer, which is cold and warm at the same time: "What sows with tears will reap with joy. Honorable friend, Miss Mary."

The author has something to say:

I recently wrote and revised, revised and rewritten, after reading it, what I wrote is messed up, I don’t know how to let these two young people fall in love naturally ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ..

I'm going to have a difficult childbirth, I've written three or four chapters, alas...

I'd better let Mary go home as soon as possible. I wanted her to watch Elizabeth and Darcy, but I found that these two people played too little...