On a Sunday morning when there was no wave, on a day when all the big guys would go to church to worship God, two uninvited guests came to Gower Street in London.

Perhaps for the rest of Britain, everyone should stay in church at this time.

But for these deviant fellows on Gower Street, it was an uneventful day.

The reason is simple, as Gower Street is the site of the University of London, which is known to be the only university in Britain that does not have a prayer room.

Defensible believers, clergy, aristocrats, and other decent people avoided it, but Arthur and Elder felt comfortable staying here.

Elder with a pipe in his mouth and a dark gray tweed trench coat lifted the brim of his hat with his fingers, revealing half of his eyes in the late autumn wind.

"Go in and show them a hand?"

Arthur took off his black leather gloves and nodded, "Well, show a hand." ”

The two walked side by side towards the gate of the university, and although it was Sunday, there were still many students coming and going in the school.

If Arthur wanted to come to the campus of the University of London today, he naturally wanted to come over and contact Mr. Bentham.

As Elder put it, although Bentham's utilitarianism had been suppressed as heresy in the early decades, it was different today.

In the last decade or two, the influence of utilitarianism has expanded, and utilitarian principles have gained many supporters not only in the Whigs, but also in several representatives of the liberal wing of the Tories Party, such as George Canning, Huskison, and Sir Peel.

In Mr. Bentham's advocacy, the abolition of slavery, freedom of speech, and the reform of the penal code had already been implemented.

Although several other propositions, such as the separation of state religion, the abolition of corporal punishment, the abolition of usury, women's equality, free trade, etc., have not been implemented because they are too bold and resistant.

In any case, no one should underestimate the influence of Mr. Bentham in British politics, economics and even cultural circles.

The Westminster Review, which he founded, was able to challenge both the Tory and Whig newspapers in the public opinion position, and the Quarterly Review and the Edinburgh Review were not left behind.

And in order to be able to defeat the Tories in Parliament, the Whigs could be said to have united all the forces they could.

From the workers and the poor at the bottom who are dissatisfied with their living conditions, to the middle class who are eager to influence the country's decision-making with rising living standards, to the archbishops and priests who are angry because of the Catholic Emancipation Act.

These Whigs are united, how can they not throw an olive branch to the University of London, which has not been treated well by the Tories?

You know, it's not been a year or two since students at the University of London have been anxious about not being able to get a degree, and Mr. Elder Carter is a typical example of that.

Of course, perhaps because Mr. Elder Carter already had a stable job in the system, he was less inclined to target the ruling party, but to target the clergy who regularly attacked the University of London in the newspapers and in Parliament, as well as Cambridge and Oxford, which represented the strongholds of British conservative power.

But the other students were obviously not as tough as someone with a Royal Navy background like Elder, and although they couldn't figure out how the clergy had jumped to this end, in order to get a royal warrant, they could only temporarily pinch their noses and squat in the same trench against Wellington's cabinet with their former clerical enemies.

While Elder was on his way to the bathroom, Arthur's gaze swept over the faces of every student on campus, and he could easily read from the jubilant expressions of the students that everyone should be very happy with the recent political developments.

Arthur raised his eyebrows with his pipe in his mouth: "Maybe it's a good thing for me for the Whigs to go up?" If the royal warrant is indeed issued, at least from now on, no one can say that I read pheasants? ”

The Red Devil who followed behind leaned against the marble sculpture and yawned, "Come on, Arthur." If you want to push for a royal warrant, why don't you just go for a councillor? ”

Arthur glanced at the Red Devil, "You're the one who saves your mind, Agares." Parliamentarians are not something for a small citizen like me to touch, and if I want to elect a councillor, I must first quit my job at Scotland Yard. Then I have to study which constituency to go to, and if it's a large constituency with a lot of voters, then Mr. Disraeli, who speaks in Hyde Park every day and no one listens to him, is a lesson for me.

If I was looking for a small constituency, I would have to shell out three or four thousand pounds to buy the ballots, and most importantly, I wouldn't necessarily sell them to someone if you wanted to. The worst thing is to run into the kind of constituency that has already been decided, and in that kind of constituency, you can run over and buy votes and be beaten lightly. Those people may have to beat you up, use the crime of bribery to make you messy and stink, and then put you in prison. ”

Agareth took out his handkerchief and blew his nose, he shook his handkerchief: "Arthur, why don't you understand what I mean?" Didn't Wellington let you join the Tory Party before, and he gave you a seat? As long as you nod your head in agreement, it won't be long before you're transformed into Arthur Hastings, a member of the House of Commons. ”

Arthur leaned against the trunk of the tree and took a puff of his cigarette.

"Do you think I'm going to fall for you? If someone else had said this to me, I would have assumed that he did not understand the parliamentary system in Britain. But if you all-knowing devil say this, I can only think that you are ill-intentioned. As you know, there is no salary package for being a member of parliament.

Therefore, usually only those who eat and drink without worrying and have a fixed property will go to get a councillor.

Only a very small part of the legislature, that is, the big names who are the face of the party, will be able to get the various ministerial posts and receive the remuneration of the office when the cabinet is reshuffled.

And the kind of backbench members that the Duke of Wellington asked me to elect were not only unpaid, but they had to vote with the party. What did I do in the past that a donkey can do?

So, even if I wanted to stay in the government, I wouldn't go beyond being a clerk, and I didn't have any spare money for me to quarrel with people in the council every day. ”

When the Red Devil heard this, he couldn't help but rub his hands and laugh evilly: "Then do you think that a civilian university like the University of London, which has an annual tuition fee of 23 pounds and 6 shillings, can give birth to a guy who has spare money to elect parliamentarians?" ”

"No, of course I don't."

Arthur rekindled the wind-blown pipe, "But I think Mr. Bentham must know a lot of people with spare money." In fact, Mr. Bentham would probably have won the election if he had elected the Legislator himself, but he was an old man and had never been willing to bow to either the Tories and the Whigs, so he would not have much effect if he had become a Legislature, so he would not have bothered to vote. ”

Arthur had just lit a cigarette when he looked up and saw in the shade of a tree opposite, Held, who had just returned from the toilet, standing at the entrance of the corridor of the school building, watching the two young people debate with relish.

Arthur stepped forward and bumped Elder on the shoulder, "What are you doing?" ”

Elder was not annoyed when he was hit, but pointed at the two men and snickered: "You don't understand, this is the favorite pleasure of a scholar of classical literature like me, the contest between Wordsworth admirers and Byron admirers." ”

As soon as Elder finished speaking, a fierce argument broke out between the two young men.

The brown-haired young man blushed and shouted at his companion, "John, I ask that you retract your slander against Lord Byron!" Byron's work is a poem of human life, while Wordsworth's work is all about flowers and butterflies. Look at his "Greek War Song", he couldn't write something like that for Wordsworth in a hundred years! ”

Speaking of emotion, the brown-haired young man seemed to have turned on some kind of button, and he couldn't help but start reciting Byron's poems.

"Arise, sons of Greece!

The glorious hour has come,

To imitate our fathers,

Don't be a heroic descendant in vain!

……

Let's resist proudly

The power of the Turkish tyrant,

Let the motherland see her children

Stand up and smash the chains!

The heroic spirits of the first kings and sages

Review the showdown!

……

Wake up, Sparta!

Today

How can you be high and bedridden?

With your old companion Athens,

Unite to fight the enemy!

The lord who has sung the praises of the ages,

Leonidas recalled,

He has saved you,

How strong and terrible!

Hold on to the hot springs

He heroically pinned down the enemy,

Fierce battle with the Persian army,

Let the motherland be free;

And he led three hundred mighty men,

Always stand tall in battle,

Like a mighty and furious lion,

Drown in a sea of blood.

Arise, sons of Greece!

Swing your hand at the enemy,

Let them stink of blood

Like a river rushing at your feet! ”

The brown-haired young man had barely finished his recitation when his dark-haired companion had already begun to fight back.

"Oh, Roebuck, I know you're going to mention Byron's poem. But don't forget, he also wrote a lot of love poems, such as "She Walks in Beautiful Glory"

Oh, that forehead, that bright cheek,

So gentle, calm, and affectionate,

The charming smile, the brilliance of the face,

are all illustrating a good life:

Her mind is at peace with everything in the world,

Her heart is full of pure love! ”

When the brown-haired young man Roebuck heard this, he seemed to be clinging to something, and he smirked: "Haha, John, you have to admit defeat now, right?" Don't you know that Byron also writes about these love things?

In terms of butterflies and flowers, Byron and Wordsworth are about the same level, but in the heroic epic, Byron throws Wordsworth more than two streets. Do you know how high Byron is in poetry?

After all, you studied Edinburgh in college, then studied theology, and now you are engaged in political economy and law, and you have nothing to do with literature at all. ”

When Elder on the side heard this, he couldn't help but nod his head when he was just watching the play, and he agreed: "Although I don't like to judge people with stereotypes, I think this brown-haired gentleman is right, people who read Edinburgh first and then study theology usually have no level in literature.

I know one of those people, and he's a little young, like this friend of yours. Thankfully, my friend knew that he had no literary attainments, so he decided to dedicate his life to Lamarckism.

Perhaps when I get back, I can ask him if he would be interested in turning his research to 'whether there is some necessary connection between the trait of human youth and the study of theology at the University of Edinburgh'. ”

Hearing this, the young man who showed some signs of bowing hurriedly straightened his hat, and he glared at Elder and said, "Sir, are you provoking me?" ”

Elder just waved his hand when he heard this: "No, no, no, you may have misunderstood, I'm just evaluating literature." ”

Speaking of this, Elder couldn't help but proudly tug at his collar, put his hands behind his back and said: "As one of the first graduates of classical literature at this school and the winner of the gold medal in the first poetry competition, I personally also think that Lord Byron's poetry level is higher than that of Wordsworth. ”

When Roebuck heard someone supporting him, he was overjoyed and said, "Look, John! These two gentlemen also supported me. ”

"Don't be too happy!" The young man scolded and turned his gaze to Arthur: "Sir, do you also support Roebuck?" Do you also think that Byron had a high level of creativity? ”

Arthur glanced at Elder who was squeezing his eyebrows at him, and nodded reluctantly, "Yes." ”

The young man seemed a little deflated, but he was still unconvinced and asked, "How tall is that?" ”

Arthur was forced by him to be helpless, he looked at the teaching building behind him, and compared: "It's about three or four stories high." ”

But soon, Arthur turned to asking, "But why the hell are you two arguing about such a thing?" I think liking different poets doesn't stop you from being friends. ”

When Roebuck heard this, he laughed and nodded in agreement, "Yes, I agree with that, sir." But John was so brainless, he always told me that the music, the play, the paintings, the poetry that I loved would eventually have a profound impact on my personality in a way that resonated with me.

He hated Byron's poetry, and even more so Byron's character, so he strongly urged me not to read Byron's works, because reading those magnificent epics would dull my sense of things, and only reading more peaceful country stories like Wordsworth could restore my perception.

But what he didn't know was that I had always felt that my feelings were very in the way. I'm more susceptible to painful resonances than happy resonances, so I want to look elsewhere for pleasure and also want my feelings to become duller, not sharper. ”

When Arthur heard this, he always felt as if he had seen it somewhere, and he pondered for a moment, and then patted his head and said, "Did this passage appear in the Westminster Review last week?" Did you write that article? ”

When the young man Xie Ding heard this, he was only slightly surprised: "I didn't expect you to actually read that article, which was the first article I published after two years of stopping writing." ”

The other party admitted it frankly, but Arthur couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth slightly: "So, you are John Mill?" ”

The next chapter is late

(End of chapter)