Chapter 278: The Worried Hastings (K4)

Chapter 277: The Hastings Who Worries About the Nation (5K4)

Arthur didn’t fall into panic when he heard Palmerston’s words, as the other man had expected.

Since joining Scotland Yard and patrolling the East End at night a few times, Arthur realized that the difference between people is actually not as big as he thought, especially in terms of mental quality, which can be completely exercised.

As a time-honored Scotland Yard officer, he thought what looked like a treason threat was obviously less immediate than having a knife held to your neck by East End hooligans.

Arthur only smiled softly as he spoke, “Of course, Your Excellency, I understand your concern about recent public opinion in London. The citizens, in their simple sense of morality, want to force the government to do something on behalf of the Polish people, but limited by their level of cognition, they are not as aware of the true situation in Poland as you are. As a result, it is easy to stir up confrontational feelings among the citizens of London whenever someone with ulterior motives stirs up trouble in the media.”

Hearing this, Palmerston gave a small smile of satisfaction as he got up and opened the wine cooler to pour some for Arthur: “That’s right, Arthur, not all citizens have the ability to screen the truth of information. The Foreign Office has more specific information than they do, and from what we’ve been told so far, it’s clear that the real situation in Poland isn’t as exaggerated as it’s made out to be in the newspapers and magazines.”

Arthur stared at the dark red wine reverberating in his goblet and picked up with a grin, “Of course, that’s precisely why I think it’s kind of good that these stories about Poland are appearing in the Britannica.”

“Hmm?” Palmerston’s motion of pouring the wine suddenly lurched as he laughed, “Arthur, what does that say?”

Arthur returned, “As I was saying to you earlier, I myself serialized a novel in the Britannica, and with the added bonus that my novel was still relatively popular due to the love of the citizenry.

Your Excellency, as you know, the times are different from before. Nowadays, when people evaluate a person’s status, in addition to natural lineage and power, the ability to make money is also a very important indicator.

As it happens, I am quite capable of making money for The Englishman. Because of this, I have a slight voice on the editorial board of The Cockney. If those articles about Poland had appeared in The Times, there would have been very little I could have done about them.

For, as you know, freedom of the press was a bill that the Whigs pressed hard for when the Tories were in power. Scotland Yard cannot overturn the achievements of the party in power today, and that is not a subject in which the police should be involved.

Not to mention the fact that with the influence of The Times, if our police officers stepped onto the editorial page today, they’d have to devote seven or eight pages to denouncing us as authoritarian gendarmes the next day. But the situation with the Cockney is obviously different, and if the article is published in the Cockney, I, as one of their stalwarts and shareholders, naturally have the power to make certain changes and suggestions to the content of each issue of the magazine as it comes out.

If you have a problem with Prince Chertoreschi and Louis Bonaparte’s articles in Britannica, you can find me to convey the Foreign Office’s dissatisfaction to the editorial board of Britannica.

But if The Cockney rejects their piece outright and they turn to The Times and The Manchester Guardian, how are we going to react then? Even though you can continue to put pressure on these two papers in other ways, with all due respect, from my practical experience in my years at Scotland Yard, sales are the life of the news media.

As long as they can increase sales, there will always be a newspaper to publish their articles, even if the Times and the Manchester Guardian do not publish them, other tabloids will always be able to find a bunch of unafraid of death. Oh, I don’t know if you’ve heard of William Corbett of the Poor Man’s Political Monthly and Hatherington of the Poor Man’s Guardian? They’re both classic examples of people who aren’t afraid to die.

The most troubling thing is that I’ve heard that Mr. Corbett is actively running for Congress these days and has a decent chance of being elected according to recent polls. When Mr. Corbett was not yet a Member of Parliament, he dared to sharply attack the corruption of the government and the military, for which he was imprisoned for two years. After his release, his attitude has not only not softened, but has become even more arrogant.

Without the status of a parliamentarian, Mr. Corbett was already like this. If once he is allowed to be elected as a member of parliament, then Scotland Yard can be …… Your Excellency, you must have heard of Bernie Harrison’s case some time ago, the police officers still have palpitations until now.”

Palmerston leaned back gently on the sofa when he heard this, and he mulled it over with his glass of wine.

It was as Arthur had said, London had been full of newspapers and magazines criticizing the Polish problem lately, but the identity of a few of the writers for the Briton supplement, The Economist, was so sensitive that it had brought Parmesan to focus on them.

But to put it another way, even if the Cockney didn’t publish these articles, other newspapers would. If by that time they really did find a stinking rock like Corbett and Hatherington, then there really wasn’t much the Foreign Office could do about them.

First of all, it’s not the first time these two have been in jail, and they don’t have any public office, so they’re not even afraid of being arrested.

Secondly, Hesselington’s Poor Guardian is an illegal tabloid newspaper that doesn’t pay stamp duty, has a low selling price, is highly mobile, and has a wide range of distribution, making it one of the most difficult to suppress.

Even worse was Corbett’s Poor Man’s Political Monthly, a regular magazine, but Corbett himself was highly regarded in Britain, not only as a long-established political activist and writer, but at the same time as a representative of the British petty-bourgeois radicals.

In other words, William Corbett belonged to the political allies of the Whigs in the parliamentary reform movement. To handcuff him would be to openly call the bluff of the Prime Minister, Earl Grey.

Although Palmerston disliked Corbett, it was still too much of an irritation to have the prime minister do a cabinet reshuffle and remove his official hat as foreign minister over this trivial matter.

And as Arthur had said, getting Scotland Yard to censor a highly promising parliamentary candidate was almost impossible. Director Rowan wasn’t as mindless as Superintendent Clemens who was dead set against him, and Rowan and Scotland Yard didn’t mind selling the Foreign Office a favor if it didn’t affect either side.

But this was the sort of thing that could potentially hit Scotland Yard in the ass with a stick, and there was no way they would carry it out even if Palmerston talked his way out of it. Of course, if Palmerston could directly persuade the Home Secretary, Viscount Melbourne, to give a written order to Scotland Yard, then they could also hold their noses and do it.

But although Viscount Melbourne was a bit lazy and often slept during parliamentary meetings, it didn’t mean that he didn’t know anything.

Viscount Melbourne as a sensible politician, a wife and Lord Byron to have an affair for more than ten years but still can be as stable as a mountain stalwart man, he is not so much for his sister’s lover to take the initiative to get into a mess.

That’s why Palmerston directly bypassed Melbourne today, privately called Arthur here, he is simply intended to first from him to probe the wind.

Parmeston saw that Arthur didn’t take the bait, so he changed his words: ”Well …… I have to say, Arthur, there really is a reason why you can be appreciated by so many big names. You’ve got a bit of a point there, but they can’t find too many good places for their articles to go, even if they don’t run in the supplement of the Britannica, can they? Are you sure Corbett or Hatherington would be willing to take them on?”

Hearing that Palmerstonken’s attitude had softened, Arthur took advantage of the momentum to continue to raise the stakes, and he opened his mouth to ask, “Your Excellency, are you aware of the Westminster Union?”

Palmerston sipped his red wine and said, “Of course I know about it, it’s a bunch of gentlemen there. But it would be better if they could show some friendliness towards me. But …… what are you doing bringing up this group of gentlemen all of a sudden?”

The Westminster Federation that Arthur and Palmerston were talking about was not unfamiliar to everyone in the political world of London, even Elder knew something about this organization.

For no other reason than that one of the founders of the Westminster Union was none other than Mr. Jeremy Bianchin, the father of the spirit of the University of London.

And Mr. Hunt, the Member of Parliament who attacked Palmerston’s position on Poland in the House of Commons, and William Corbett, the founder of the Poor Man’s Political Monthly, who scandalized Palmerston, likewise came from this organization.

But of course it is not either of them that Arthur is talking about now.

Arthur opened his mouth and said, “The reason why The Cockney published the article about Poland contained many hidden reasons. After all, ‘The Englishman’ was originally just a fashion fiction magazine, and we didn’t really want to get involved with politics. But the situation is stronger than others, just like Britain’s foreign policy, we always have to choose to improvise when the situation changes, right?” Palmerston smiled as he put down his glass of wine, “Arthur, are you guys having any difficulties? If so, feel free to say so. But wherever I can help, you can just ask.”

Hearing this, the Red Devil on the side couldn’t help but slap his thighs and laugh, “Arthur, this Minotaur’s speech is quite interesting, obviously he wants to spy on the news, but when it comes to his mouth, it has become a worry for you. All the good words let him finish, no wonder he can become the Foreign Minister!”

Arthur just smiled back, “Thank you for your concern, but since this pressure has been put on The Englishman, it’s best to try not to upset his balance. Let me be honest with you, you may have also noticed that a large number of articles by Polish exiles have appeared in The Briton lately.

The reason for the appearance of these articles is that we have been approached by Mr. Thomas Campbell, a member of the Westminster Union. Oh yes, by the way, you may not know that Mr. Campbell, because of his sympathy with the Polish people, has founded a Literary Society of the Friends of Poland, from which nearly all our Polish writers come.

Mr. Campbell told us that many of these Polish exiles were struggling to make ends meet because they had lost their livelihood. So he tried to contact me through his friendship at the University of London, hoping that I would agree to allow these exiles to use their skills to write some novels to subsidize their families and help their compatriots on account of their relationship with him as teacher and student.

The editorial board of The Cockney discussed the matter and felt that, from a literary point of view, as long as the quality of the work was up to standard, there was nothing to prevent the authors from earning a fee from us, regardless of their nationality.

My consideration, on the other hand, was that if I refused Mr. Campbell on behalf of The Cockney, they would certainly eventually approach Mr. Corbett, who is also a member of the Westminster Union, and ask his permission to publish the articles in the Poor Man’s Political Monthly.

And once the articles are in Corbett’s hands, I won’t even have the power to suggest changes to them. Your Excellency, surely you can figure this out, and the impact on Cabinet policy would be disastrous.

Instead of placing the enemy’s weapons in the hands of emotionally unstable madmen, it would be safer to hide them in your own hands. So, even though it was necessary to sacrifice a part of the objectivity and impartiality of the Cockney, and a part of our newly established reputation in the literary world, the editorial board finally relented and launched that supplement called The Economist.”

Here, Arthur deliberately paused as he continued, “Your Excellency, you may think that those things published in The Cockney are too radical. But I’ll bet you anything that if you had read them in their original form, you might just pass out from anger.”

Palmerston’s brow furrowed slightly, “You mean that the articles in the Cockney are still revised?”

“Of course.” Arthur nodded seriously, “That’s already the third edition, and we’ve done our best to hide quite a few controversial remarks.”

“Well ……,” Palmerston took a deep breath, “So Thomas Campbell was involved in this?”

Thomas Campbell was not a particularly difficult character for Palmerston to deal with, but his status as a co-founder of the University of London forced Palmerston to consider it carefully, as the other founder of the University of London was sitting in Chancellor’s Hall at this very moment.

Or rather ……

Palmerston glanced up to measure Arthur’s clear gaze, and from those eyes, which sparkled with a slight reddish aura, he finally sensed a hint of something wrong.

Doubt rose in Parmeston’s mind, “Could it be that this in itself represents a Distributed Lughum?”

It was nothing to intimidate a common Scotland Yard petty officer, but Palmerston hadn’t made up his mind to intimidate the high-powered Lord Chancellor of Britain, nor did he intend to take the Foreign Office to war with the Lord Chancellor’s Office.

After much thought, he finally got up to see Arthur off and said, “Arthur, your views are very insightful. I also think it would be far better to hold these Poles in their own hands than to push them to Corbett’s side. Publishing these things in the Britannica, there is no doubt that you have chosen to do the right thing for once.”

Arthur also smiled and rose to his feet, “I have heard that you have also been under attack recently for not agreeing to grant grants to Polish exiles, and on that point, I have another little proposal here. Provided, of course, that if you are willing to hear it.”

Palmerston vehemently denied, “Oh, Arthur, you must not listen to the unfounded words of those people; I am equally full of sympathy for the Polish people. It’s not because I hate them that I don’t allocate funds, but our finances are also very tight. You may not know that I invited many Poles to dine with me last week, and I paid for it myself. Of course, if you have any suggestions that would help to improve the lives of Polish exiles, I would certainly like to hear them.”

Arthur smiled and spoke up, “I knew you must have a point. Financial constraints are indeed a very important reason, and we at Scotland Yard are also perennially strapped for cash. Therefore, just as you said, I think that if we can’t directly subsidize the exiles, it would be better for you to pull the strings and let them do something like writing articles to get paid for their work.

As the old saying goes, those who don’t work don’t eat. Though the space of our “Cockney” is limited, we can still squeeze out a little more space for them. Your Excellency, I think it is really unfair to see you being attacked so much by the Parliament. If you could recommend three or two more Polish authors to us, it would not only lessen the danger to them, but it would also improve the climate of public opinion in which you now find yourself, so why not?”

Palmerston did not pay much attention to Arthur’s suggestion at first; he had thought that the other party was only making a casual remark, but when he heard it, his mind came alive.

He hadn’t intended to grant money to Poland from the start anyway, and it did seem like an economically practical deal if he could whip up two or three lucky Poles in exchange for a news headline that read, “The Righteous Foreign Minister Personally Resettles Polish Refugees.

Palmerston smiled broadly and stepped forward, patting Arthur’s shoulder affectionately, saying, “Arthur, Britain is truly a blessing to have such a righteous officer as yourself. I must thank you for the suffering Polish people, if The Britisher will take in a few Poles. It’s just that I think the Poles who are capable of writing and painting poetry have probably all been absorbed by the Friends of Poland Literary Society, so are there any relatively low-end jobs left on your side of the pond now? Like a cleaner or a tea lady or something?”

Arthur’s smiled as he obliged, “Actually, the cleaning of the editorial office was originally the responsibility of our literary editors themselves. However, if you feel that the Polish people have this need, then I’ll go back and discuss it with them, and I believe in principle that cleaners and tea serving ladies can also be had. By the way, I’ve also been recruiting housemaids lately, and I’m willing to contribute those two positions as well, if your desire to help Poland is so urgent.”

“Lo and behold! Look at that! Arthur, that’s you, always able to share your country’s worries! Belgium’s problems were yours, and now Poland’s problems are yours. I told you, you were born to do diplomacy.”

Arthur humbly said, “Your Excellency, you are too kind.”

“It’s not an overstatement, I’m speaking from the bottom of my heart with these words.”

Palmerston smiled with an open brow, “Of course, although you and the editorial board of The Britannia are willing to share the country’s worries, the Foreign Ministry will surely take your needs into consideration as well. We’ll certainly try to sift through the options and do everything we can to provide both you and the Polish people with a satisfactory response. After all, there’s no use in stuffing so many cleaners and housemaids, and surely one more cleaner is not as helpful as one more novelist in terms of helping the Polish people.”

Arthur smiled and nodded, “Exactly, and from a publicity point of view, too.”

Palmerston coughed at his words as he pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it, “If there’s any room left in my schedule, it looks like I’ll be able to get to work on this these days. By the way, Arthur, do you have Prince Czartoryski’s address there? I intend to visit him in a few days for a condolence visit, and incidentally ask him again if he has any young Polish talents worth recommending to me.”

Arthur sniffed, but simply reached into the inner pocket of his tuxedo and removed a palm-sized address book, which he then flipped open to a page, tore it off along the edge, and smiled as he pressed it down on the coffee table.

“Your Excellency, then, have a safe journey.”

(End of chapter)