The Shadow of Great Britain Chapter 661 - 661 323 Brighter than the Stars

661: Chapter 323: Brighter than the Stars 661: Chapter 323: Brighter than the Stars “Gentlen, Mr.

Hastings has arrived.”

Arthur, led by his secretary, walked into the office and imdiately saw two important mbers of the Cabinet leaning on the sofa, smiling as they sized him up.

Although Arthur had already learned about today’s main event from Chadwick’s mouth, he still felt uneasy until the matter was completely clarified.

Frankly, it was just another junior rank knighthood; he already had plenty of those honorifics.

More than being addressed as ‘Sir,’ he preferred to fish for sothing substantial.

At the very least, he needed to extract so useful information from the two Gentlen—what exactly was going on with the assassination in Liverpool, and whether the Ho Office was involved.

He was still in the dark about it.

Although Talleyrand insisted that the matter was related to the Russians, Arthur always took the words of the old cripple with a grain of salt.

How could it be that tternich spent millions of Francs for intelligence from Talleyrand, much of which was false, yet he, a small police officer from Scotland Yard, hadn’t spent a penny, and he was expected to make the experienced European player spill his guts?

The precedents set by Louis XVI, the Directory, Napoleon, Louis XVIII, and others were all there—as doing business with Talleyrand always required caution.

Arthur politely took off his hat and greeted the two Gentlen, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, they quickly got down to the matter at hand.

Brougham took out the docunt that Arthur had sent from Liverpool from a drawer of the office desk and began with a smile.

“Your work in Liverpool is there for all to see.

The Customs Administration is quite excited about the inspection of the unreported customs duties.

As for the Central Health Committee, while the dical authorities still have their doubts about the new treatnt, at the very least the ergency asure of closing the wells in Liverpool has, from an objective standpoint, indeed contained the further spread of cholera.

Coleridge, Sosse, and Wordsworth, these three nuisances from the Lakeside faction, previously ridiculed the Governnt’s mandatory quarantine asures and Liverpool authorities’ use of beer to replace drinking water.

Now, with the trend of cholera spread being gradually controlled, they’ve also gone silent.”

Confused, Arthur put down the docunt bag in his hand and asked, “How did those three get involved with cholera prevention?”

Viscount lbourne, reclining on the sofa with a cup in hand, replied softly, “It’s not that they got involved; they attached themselves to it.

They bla the Liverpool assassination on the Governnt’s over-control of the epidemic, and they say that cholera occurred because of a century of industrialization and urbanization in Britain.

The dirty and chaotic cities have beco breeding grounds for diseases, many of which were unheard of in the past decades.”

Arthur, sitting on the sofa, pondered for a mont and tentatively offered, “In a way, I think they are not entirely wrong.

But if we’re only talking about cholera, according to the statistics I’ve received, the incidence rate in the countryside is actually not lower than in the cities.

Moreover, due to a lack of professional doctors, once cholera breaks out in rural areas, the mortality rate is frighteningly high.”

Brougham, upon hearing this, asked, “You’re talking about that small village near Sunderland, aren’t you?

That’s indeed a tragedy.

A village of dozens, none spared, and it was only when the postman went to deliver a letter the following week that he discovered there were no survivors in the village.

If it weren’t for that cash-on-delivery letter, we might still be unaware of what happened there.”

Viscount lbourne shook his head and said, “Such matters, those three can’t scrutinize; after all, they are not working with the Governnt.

And since the French Revolution, their thinking has also gradually beco more conservative and pragmatic.

If it’s just moral issues they want to discuss, then let them be.”

At these words, Arthur couldn’t help but frown.

He never would have linked those three Lakeside poets with the French Revolution.

Arthur asked, “Are you saying that the three of them are Republicans?”

“They used to be.”

Viscount lbourne laughed, “When the French Revolution happened, Wordsworth was in Paris, and during that ti, he was close to the Girondins and even joined them for a while.

Even after returning to Britain, he vigorously promoted what was called the advanced ideas of France in London.

However, after the Jacobin dictatorship of 1793 and the bloody suppression that swiftly followed, a large number of Wordsworth’s friends were executed.

In his own words, it was Robespierre and the Reign of Terror that cast a shadow over the brilliance of the Great Revolution, yet his downfall did not restore hope.

He claid that he still believed in the early Republican ideals and, like all radicals, was convinced that the wars could have been avoided.

But as France’s expansionist ambitions beca evident, especially after their rejection of Britain’s peace proposal in 1796 and Napoleon’s victories in Italy, Wordsworth completely changed.

Faced with reality, he could no longer believe in the French Governnt’s propaganda, no longer believe that the continuance of the war was rely a plot by the British Pitt Cabinet, nor maintain that amidst the chaos in Francey, the ideals of the Great Revolution remained intact sowhere.

After 1796, Wordsworth disappeared from public view for a considerable ti.

When he reerged, he had beco—the man without clear creeds he is now—a once fervent radical who had lost his faith, without even an opposite set of beliefs to hold onto.”