Chapter 268: Tales from the Editorial Department (K)
Chapter 267 Tales from the Editorial Department (6K)
As the center of London’s news publishing industry for centuries, Fleet Street has always been a mecca for Britannia’s journalists.
And today, this holy ground welcomed a new guest – the general editorial office of the Britannica magazine.
As in recent years quickly jumped to the ranks of the London street popular magazines, “Cockney” after such a long time of haymaking, finally decided to move the newspaper’s headquarters from Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Hastings in the two residences in the Lancaster Gate, and into the formalization of the office of the new track.
Mr. Disraeli, who is committed to fighting tirelessly for the Prime Minister’s goal, has also announced that he will formally step down as Editor-in-Chief of The Briton today, splitting the post into two positions, Editor-in-Chief of Fashion Literature and Editor-in-Chief of Romance Literature.
And it was the reluctant Mr. Alexander Dumas who took over as Editor-in-Chief of Fashion Literature.
Arthur leaned back in the editorial chair, while drinking tea and reading the newspaper, he opened his mouth and comforted, “Alexander, where to write a manuscript is not to write? You still have a salary for sitting in an office in Fleet Street, and Benjamin, in order to take care of you, has specially hired two writing assistants for you to help you collect information, even if you don’t need a fixed office location, those two assistants are still needed, right?”
Dumas sat at the next desk rotating the quill, fat man yawned, a face of impatience: “Here is like a prison, even if you let me stay here, you have to rent a bigger house, right? Not to mention the rest, we have to be more spacious than the editorial office of Blackwood.”
“There will be a day in the future, but for now, please bear with me for now.” Arthur spoke, “But if you don’t mind the cramped conditions here, you can also go to Scotland Yard to assist my police secretary with her training.”
“Training?” Dumas’ hand holding his coffee lurched as he frowned, “What did you snub the Bonaparte family boy for?”
“Not snubbed, but he suggested it.” Arthur opened his mouth and said, “Louis and I reported that: after a week of observation and research of the police districts in London, he found that the quality of the police officers is mixed, especially the execution and discipline still need to be strengthened, so ……”
Dumas shook his head as he listened, “Who would become a police officer if they could have a good job? It’s either a farmer who’s just come into town or a bankrupt artisan, and at fifteen shillings a week, does he still want to hire the Pope’s Swiss Guard to come to Scotland Yard?”
Arthur replied back, “The Swiss Guard certainly can’t be hired, but Louis at least went to military school in Switzerland for a few years, and has some family history in training. He told me that he intends to bring a group of officers to Scotland Yard who are absolutely excellent in their professional abilities according to the training standards of the French Artillery, and the Criminal Investigation Department will be the first target for him to carry out the training.”
Dumas almost spat out the coffee in his mouth when he heard this, “What? He’s going to help Scotland Yard train a team of French artillerymen?”
“That’s right, that’s why I asked if you’d be interested in assisting him.” Arthur shook the newspaper in his hand, “Alexander, I thought you held the rank of Captain of Artillery in France? And worked as an assistant company commander of artillery?”
“More than that!” Dumas got energized when he heard this, he grunted and corrected his collar proudly, “I even led the artillery bombardment of the Tuileries Palace!”
Arthur quickly raised his hand to stop: “This time just training will do, you don’t need to teach them to shell the Palace of St. James. If you really have an itch, you can go to St. Petersburg and teach the sailors there to shell the Winter Palace. Anyway, sooner or later will have to bombard, who bombard is not bombard it.”
Dumas asked, “You have a problem with the Tsar?”
Arthur said calmly, “No, it’s just because I don’t have any friends in Russia for a while.”
Dumas couldn’t help but shake his head at this, “Britons are really cold, you don’t have a problem with the Tsar, but I do. Nicholas I, the cruel tyrant, look what he did to Poland! That hypocrite who prided himself on being the protector of the followers of Christ in the world by sheltering Greece from the Ottoman Empire has now finally torn his false mask.”
When Dumas had finished speaking, he realized that Arthur was not only ignoring him but was still intently reading the newspaper, and he came up to him and asked, “What are you reading?”
Arthur also did not answer, just handed him the newspaper in his hand, “You see for yourself do not know.”
Dumas took the newspaper and glanced at it.
“The President of Greece assassinated, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its sorrow.
According to public information from Athens, Mr. Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias, the leader of the Great Greek War of Independence, a distinguished diplomat of European repute, a staunch liberal fighter, a founding father of the Hellenic Republic and its first President, was attacked in the street by two ultra-nationalists from the Mani region of Greece on October 9 as he was going to the church for the Sunday Mass.
Mr. Kapodistrias was shot several times in the chest and died that afternoon after failing to be revived.
The two assailants were arrested on the spot by the Greek authorities and, according to reliable sources, the reason for the assassination of the President was the recent arrest and detention of Petros Mavromichaelis, the leader of the Mani people, by the Greek authorities for his refusal to relinquish the autonomy of the region and to pay taxes, which caused extreme discontent within the local community and led to this tragic incident.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Foreign Secretary, Viscount Palmerston, expressed his condolences to the Greek Ambassador and condemned the murderers, claiming that the entire public of Great Britain would be with the Greek people in their fight for freedom at this difficult time.
The Greek government has now declared a temporary state of emergency throughout the country. All military and political affairs during the state of emergency will be taken over by the Supreme Triad of Greece, composed of General Koroktronis, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General Miaoulis, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, and the leader of the Greek Parliament, Mr. Kolaitis.
Arthur tapped his knuckles on the tabletop and couldn’t stop mumbling, “What a typical ancient Greek tragedy, isn’t it? Alexander. Let’s have a three-minute silence in honor of such a brilliant statesman as Mr. Kapodistrias.”
Dumas put down his newspaper and said, “In that case, does Scotland Yard still have to lower its flag at half-mast in mourning?”
Arthur lamented, “I wouldn’t mind doing that if I had the power. But alas, I do not.”
Dumas, of course, would not be fooled by Arthur, as an energetic nineteenth-century republican keystone politician boy, he was not to say that he knew the situation in Europe by heart, but at the very least he was very much on top of it.
And Dumas had his own study of Greece, which had been the center of attention for the past few years.
Pointing to the list of the three members of the Greek ruling council on the newspaper, he said: “The Commander-in-Chief of the army, Koroktronis, was a pro-Russian leader who wore the same pants as the assassinated president of Greece, and the weapons, equipment and training of the Greek army were basically provided by the Russians.
The naval commander-in-chief, Miolis, is also interesting, and I remember that most of the British aspirants like Byron and Shelley who went to Greece to assist in the war were in charge of entrenching and guarding Mytholon Gion, and the supplies there were transported by Miolis for several years.
And after General Thomas Cochrane, the bomb-mad General of the Royal Navy, had been sent by Britain to fight in Greece, Miaolis had been given full-time responsibility for giving him a hand job. What exactly is his composition, Arthur, can you tell me?”
When Arthur heard this, he simply raised his hand and pointed to Colletis, who was adorned at the end of the committee of three, “So before we do that, why don’t we talk about Mr. Colletis? Alexander, he is a great republican like you, a Frenchman in spirit, with a deep and overwhelming love for the land of France. Not even the fact that France itself is not now a republic can alter Mr. Colletis’s fanatical Francophile tendencies.”
There was first a moment’s silence in the office, and then Dumas and Arthur were seen smiling at each other.
Dumas shook his head as he laughed, “Alas …… Arthur, perhaps you are right: there are no people in politics, only ideas. There are no emotions, only stakes. In politics, you can’t say you’re killing a person, that’s just removing an obstacle. Mr. Capodistrias was removed because he was only in the Russian interest.”
Arthur, turning over the manuscript in his hand, likewise quipped, “You are quite right, too, as in The Count of Monte Cristo. When one has a considerable degree of property, a life of luxury becomes a necessity. After a person has a fairly privileged position, the brighter his ideals become.”
“So it’s really you Brits who did this?”
“Given the lack of information at hand, I’m also leaning toward the possibility that it was a French accident.”
“Okay, then let’s compromise and pretend he’s a Greek venting his frustrations.”
“Yes, the review given in the Times was objective enough to meet multiple expectations.”
Arthur’s words had just reached this point when the door to the editorial office suddenly opened.
The faces that appeared outside the door made Arthur and Dumas freeze.
“Alfred, what brings you here?”
Tennyson took off his hat, his expression looked a bit tired, but he still managed to squeeze out a smile, “Didn’t Mr. Disraeli tell you guys? Mr. Dumas is the editor-in-chief of Fashion Literature, while I am in charge of Romance Literature.”
Dumas froze, “Making you the editor? What the hell is Benjamin up to? Doesn’t he know you’re still in school at Cambridge?”
“I ……” Tennyson paused, “I dropped out.”
“Dropped out?” Arthur raised an eyebrow, “Did you stumble into something?”
“That’s right, just tell me what’s difficult.” Dumas put his arm around Arthur’s shoulders and pounded his chest with his hand and said, “See, we can take care of the lee-way for you, and if we really can’t, we’ll remove the obstacles.”
Arthur glanced at him, lit his pipe and sipped, “Alexander, it’s just a schooling, I don’t think it’s worth it to that extent.”
Tennyson hung his hat and coat on the coat rack, “It’s nothing, you two don’t have to worry about me. I just can’t afford Cambridge because my father died.” “This …… your father is gone?”
“Alfred, I’m sorry to hear that.”
Tennyson found a chair and sat down, “It’s nothing, God always calls people over, only this time it happened to pick my father. Cambridge is certainly not as reasonable as God though, when you run out of money you should drop out, that’s the rule.”
When Dumas heard this, he fished his wallet out of his pocket, “How much does Cambridge cost? Just ask, I can lend you the tuition first, you don’t have to pay it back in a hurry.”
Seeing this, Tennyson hurriedly signaled Dumas not to be impulsive: “Alexander, thank you for your kindness, but it’s really not necessary, I’ve already dropped out of school. There’s no turning back, and besides, paying a couple hundred pounds a year for a second or third class diploma from Cambridge is just too expensive.”
“One or two hundred pounds?” Dumas’s hands trembled as he listened: “Are Cambridge diplomas made of gold? Do you have to pay so much money to go to school? If you finish your studies in one piece, the money spent on studying is enough to buy two suites in London.”
Said here, Dumas suddenly came back to the flavor: “In that case, Charles that little bald man’s family is quite rich?”
Arthur glanced at him, “What did you expect? I told you a long time ago, among our group, I’m the only one who’s really a mudblood.”
Tennyson seemed to be quite open-minded, he smiled, “Arthur, you can’t say that, now that I am too. Coming back to it, Cambridge education is actually quite boring. At the beginning of the year when William withdrew from school, I thought about whether I should withdraw with him and forget about it. Now that my father has died, it’s just as well that I’ve been given a reason to officially drop out. So it’s just as well to drop out.”
Dumas was puzzled, “That friend of yours, Mr. Thackeray’s father, died too?”
Arthur looked at Dumas, “Alexander, you’re quite a talker.”
Tennyson shook his head and said, “William’s father passed away earlier, but his father was a senior staff member of the East India Company, plus William was an only son, so he was able to inherit a considerable amount of family property. Only well, William that person character although good, but is a bit withdrawn, so not quite able to deal with the relationship with the students, coupled with the previous and was stimulated by Mr. Carter, a few times to the magazine article also unsuccessful. So at the beginning of this year he withdrew from school and went to the Weimar Republic in Germany, intending to find Mr. Goethe to study poetry and art.”
Dumas could not help exclaiming at this, “Goethe? That’s really capricious!”
Arthur also chimed in, “I think it’s mainly because of the money. However, I think he should get something out of this trip, after all, even Bernard, who has always despised Mr. Goethe, could only reduce Mr. Goethe to a ‘rhyming lackey’. This shows that even his detractors cannot deny the beauty of Mr. Goethe’s poetry.”
Speaking of this, Arthur suddenly asked again, “But then again, don’t I remember that Cambridge has a work-study quota? Sir Isaac Newton graduated as a work-study student back then. If you can become a work-study student, you should be able to get a discount on the tuition fees, in which case Alexander and I should be able to help you put together the remaining share and living expenses if we put it together.”
Hearing this, Tennyson quickly waved his hand and said, “Arthur, I really appreciate your kind help. But the status of a work-study student is not that easy to take. Work-study students are more in the area of natural philosophy, while the classical literature I read doesn’t have the term work-study. After all, it’s only things like math, physics, and chemistry that require an apprentice to help out a professor.”
The more Dumas listened, the more confused he became, “What about work-study? Are there even classes of Cambridge students?”
“Exactly.”
Tennyson nodded, “To be precise, the students of Cambridge and Oxford are divided into three grades, the best are noble students, like Lord Byron, they don’t have to take many exams to graduate successfully.
Secondly, it is Charles and I this kind of self-funded students, Charles this kind of reading theology is considered to be the mainstream of self-funded students, out of the Anglican Church as a sitting priest, the salary treatment is not low but also a very social status.
The worst of all are the work-study students like Sir Isaac Newton. Although they get a discount on tuition, they are responsible for a lot of odd jobs, such as cleaning the campus, serving tea to professors, and running errands for noble students.
I remember the campus legend that Sir Isaac Newton earned his tuition by persuading noble students to do business with him. Cambridge in the seventeenth century was not quite the same as it is now, the campus and the town of Cambridge were almost completely connected, full of mud and garbage, and the river was dirty, beggars, merchants, vagabonds, prostitutes, peasants, there were all kinds of things in the town, so there were also business opportunities everywhere.”
Tennyson said here, also could not help but joke, he self-consoled: “Perhaps Sir Isaac Newton is too obsessed with business, so he graduated with nothing more than a second-class degree from Cambridge. Thinking about it this way, it doesn’t seem like a big deal for me to drop out of Cambridge.”
“A second-class degree?” Dumas looked back at Arthur, “What class degree did you take at the University of London.”
Arthur picked his hat, and instead of talking about himself, he turned to him and asked, “Three years of academic gold, what do you think?”
Dumas sniffed and asked again, “And Elder?”
Arthur took a sip of his tea, “First class as well.”
“Huh?!” Dumas exclaimed, “How did he get first class?”
“I don’t know.” Arthur shrugged his shoulders, “But the professors in the Classics Department all say the tea Elder sends is first class.”
Speaking of this, Arthur suddenly had a flash of light within his brain, he pondered for a while and suddenly spoke, “Alfred, although it’s very inappropriate to say this, I don’t think that studying Classics necessarily needs to be in Cambridge. And since you’re going to be moving to London in the future, why don’t you find a school that’s affordable and doesn’t hold you back from work?”
“You ……” Tennyson echoed, “You mean your alma mater.”
Dumas sniffed in disgust, “Come on, Arthur, what good can be taught in the classics department at the University of London?”
Arthur didn’t retort, he just spoke, “Maybe it used to be mostly an animal research institution, but with Alfred here, isn’t it different? Besides, Cambridge and Oxford charge one or two hundred pounds a year, and the tuition fees of the four main lawyers’ chambers in London can reach three hundred pounds a year, whereas the University of London’s tuition fees are only thirteen pounds and six shillings a year, so where are you going to find that kind of value for money?”
“But ……” Tennyson was a little embarrassed, “But I have heard that the University of London does not have a royal charter?”
Arthur sipped his tea and said, “Don’t worry, there will be one soon.”
Tennyson froze, “How do you know?”
Arthur put down his teacup and leaned forward to ask seriously, “Alfred, do you know who is responsible for issuing the royal charter?”
Tennyson thought for a moment, “It should …… be the Chancellor, right?”
Arthur nodded, “That’s right, but the Chancellor is now the chairman of our school board. So you understand, it’s not us who have to worry about the Royal Charter now, it’s Oxford and Cambridge. If they continue to incite the Board of Education to vote against granting a Royal Charter to the University of London, then by the time their Royal Charter expires, they had better pray that Lord Brougham has been ousted from office, or we’ll see.”
As soon as Tennyson heard this, he burst into laughter, “That …… if that’s the case, perhaps I should really consider attending the University of London ……”
Arthur saw his intention and directly took out a piece of paper from the drawer and wrote a note and handed it to him, “Alfred, when you go to enroll take this and give it to Headmaster Horner, he will certainly arrange for you to skip a grade at his discretion, taking into account the fact that you have already been studying at Cambridge for some time.”
“Arthur, I ……” Tennyson’s mind was swept away, “I really don’t know how to thank you.”
Dumas also couldn’t help whistling, “I told you, Alfred, the obstacle has now been cleared.”
Just as the three of them were talking and laughing, the door to the editorial office was slammed open again.
Disraeli, who walked with a step and three shakes, wandered into the office, covering his head while complaining, “Damn, I shouldn’t have drank so much yesterday, as soon as I woke up this morning I felt like the whole world was spinning around, and I haven’t gotten better until now.”
Seeing this, Dumas couldn’t help but tease, “It seems that our future Prime Minister has already had his first taste of politics. Benjamin, how does it taste?”
“How does it taste?” Disraeli glared, “Hot and spicy, a little sweet at first taste, but afterward it just feels like there’s still a little burn in my throat.”
Dumas let out a loud laugh, “Then I think the politics might be twenty-eight degrees.”
“Something like that.” Disraeli still felt a bit of a pang when he thought about it, “God! You guys didn’t see that scene last night, the feeling of being watched by several ladies can be too apprehensive. I was afraid of offending one or the other, so I didn’t dare leave anyone out, or they could have pressed me to death on the table with a single wink. By the way, Arthur, why did you call me here today?”
When Arthur heard this, he just took out the file bag he had put aside and threw it over, “What else can I do? Of course it’s to help you pave the road to Prime Minister.”
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(End of chapter)