Chapter 394 The Afterglow of the Setting Sun

It was pouring rain on the streets of London.

Arthur was sitting in a speeding carriage, and the bumpy carriage made the pipe in his mouth tremble up and down, and some sparks flew out from time to time.

Although it was still working hours, Arthur did not choose to go out in uniform, but casually put on a dark windbreaker, a wide-brimmed hat covered his eyes, and the high collar covered the corners of his mouth, making it difficult to see his expression.

This was the purpose of his outfit, he didn't want others to recognize who he was.

Louis, who was sitting next to him, opened the window, and before he looked out, he heard the shouts and protests of the young people, which echoed with the sound of raindrops hitting the blue bricks.

"Mr. Bentham, we want to see Mr. Bentham!"

"At this moment, we beg Mr. Bentham to continue to lead us as he has done in the past thirty years!"

"The Westminster constituency urgently needs Mr. Bentham to take charge of the overall situation. We don't believe in the Whig Party or the Tory Party. We, the voters of Westminster, only recognize Jeremy Bentham."

Louis looked at the excited young people outside Bentham's mansion with worry. Although it was pouring rain, it did not affect their enthusiasm for supporting Bentham.

As these young people said, the Westminster constituency is quite special among the more than 600 constituencies in Britain.

In the Westminster general election in 1807, the radical liberals led by Bentham unexpectedly defeated the Tories and Whigs, and in the next twenty years, they rarely lost this seat again.

Anyone who understands British politics knows what kind of miracle this is, just as incredible as the shepherd David defeating the giant Goliath.

This incident not only made the political status of Westminster more important than ever before, but also made Jeremy Bentham's name become more important in British politics. After the Whigs and the Tories, Bentham represented the banner of the third party.

The solid power of the radical liberals in Westminster also made Bentham's name widely known, and more and more people began to agree with his political views.

It was during this period that John Mill's father James Mill and Brougham and others became Bentham's disciples and became loyal supporters of utilitarianism. The addition of these outstanding figures also made the formation of utilitarian groups a general trend.

They had their own political organization, the Westminster Union, and their own propaganda publication, the Westminster Review.

Faced with such success, Bentham's supporters could not help but put him on the altar.

Although Mr. Bentham himself sneered at religion, this did not prevent his followers from quoting the Bible to praise him and call him the God of Westminster.

In many trials that followed, these Davids repeatedly showed the courage to overcome difficulties with the faith of "relying on the name of the Lord of hosts."

"I trust in God; I will not be afraid. What can flesh and blood do to me?"

They quoted the words of Saint Paul: "Let no one look down on your youth." This was the encouragement of the older apostle to the young Timothy, because God would never let anyone encounter setbacks due to lack of experience.

We often hear people say: "One person plus God is the majority." This is true, because God alone represents the majority. God does not need people to explain Him, but He hopes that someone can carry out His will.

God rarely uses a large group of people. He often uses a few people, or even just one person. God's glory will not be obscured by the world. God likes to use small people to accomplish great things! We may think too highly of ourselves and are unwilling to be used by God. But we For God, nothing is too small!

Elijah plus God defeated four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. David plus God conquered Goliath. Daniel plus God defeated the enemy's plot. Gideon's three hundred men plus God defeated thousands of enemy troops. A boy gave five loaves and two fish to the Lord, and it fed five thousand people. Moses plus God saved two million people from slavery in Egypt.

Of course, even God himself would have won, but God would rather have someone to do His will. "

It is the nature of young people to worship great people, and Bentham himself is a qualified mentor. It is a blessing to be able to receive his teachings at a young age.

But for Arthur and the Scotland Yard police, this is definitely not a good thing.

Young people are full of blood and often carry out their plans regardless of the consequences. In other words, regardless of the success or failure of things, they are always the ones who rush to the front. And at this age, most of them have nothing but enthusiasm, so there are always heavy casualties.

As for these young men, the Red Devil leaning against the window just laughed at them: "Wars are always started by old guys, and young people go to the battlefield. History always repeats itself, just because humans don't know how to learn lessons. What did Pope say?"

As for the Red Devil's ridicule, Arthur just recited softly: "Mortals make many mistakes, only God can forgive them. Arrogance is a habit of fools for a long time."

Louis on the side was stunned. He didn't know why Arthur suddenly said this.

But the Red Devil understood what Arthur meant. He put his arm around Arthur's shoulder and laughed: "Don't you know it clearly? You have the opportunity to become a god, why do you want to become a mortal?"

Arthur did not answer the question, but turned his head and smiled softly at Louis: "What direction do you think things will develop in?"

Louis was silent for a while, and then turned his head to look at the excited crowd outside the window.

Perhaps he will become a great man who is not afraid of changes in the future, but at this moment, he can't achieve such a calm mind.

Louis shook his head: "I... I don't know. But when I see them, it always reminds me of the Carbonari uprising in Rome when I was in Italy. The expressions on their faces... are almost exactly the same as those of the Carbonari. To be honest, Arthur, I have no idea."

Arthur patted Louis' shoulder gently and took a puff of cigarette leisurely: "Don't worry, Louis. I know the follow-up, everything will be fine."

"You know?" Louis frowned, he looked a little confused: "How do you know? Have you received any reliable news?"

"I have no news." Arthur chuckled and said: "But I am a historian, and the University of London provides me with the best history education."

"So, is there any connection between the two?"

Arthur joked: "Louis, do you know what the antonym of historian is?"

Louis scratched his head: "What is it?"

Arthur controlled his pipe towards the window, pushed open the door and got out of the carriage.

In the carriage, his voice was still echoing.

"Prophet."

...

Bentham's housekeeper and servants stood outside the door, looking at the growing number of supporters outside the mansion, and could only do their best to appease them.

The housekeeper shouted with his hands down in the heavy rain: "Gentlemen, Mr. Bentham is old, he is 84 years old, and he has been in poor health recently. When his physical condition improves, we will arrange for Mr. Bentham to continue speaking.

In the past thirty years, he has stood on the podium almost every week. Whether it is the streets of London, the lecture hall of the university, or the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, you can see him everywhere.

He knows your enthusiasm for utilitarianism and your support for parliamentary reform. Everyone hopes that this country will become better and better, and everyone hopes that they and everyone in society will live a good life.

In the past half century, the utilitarian team has grown from a few people to everyone in Britain. Now we even have the University of London that can cultivate talents. Mr. Bentham has devoted his entire life to the cause of reform, but you should at least give him time to take a nap, right?"

When the supporters heard this, some felt disappointed, while others thought that there must be something hidden behind Bentham's delay in showing up.

"Sir, did the authorities put any pressure on you and Mr. Bentham?"

"Mr. Bentham cannot back down. Based on our understanding of Mr. Bentham, he will definitely stand up as always at this critical moment."

"That's right! After Mr. Bentham drafted the parliamentary reform plan in 1818, he was rejected by 106:0 in the House of Commons without being discouraged. We don't believe that Mr. Bentham will retreat behind the scenes when the situation is so good! Mr. Andrew, you must have been threatened by those opponents to silence you, right?"

"Mr. Andrew, tell me their names. With us here, no one can put pressure on Mr. Bentham. Even though he is 84 years old, we are still behind him."

Butler Andrew couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this.

These young people are good at everything, but they just can't listen to others. He actually wanted to let them in to see Bentham and let them know that what he said was not a lie.

However, Bentham had already ordered that he would not see anyone today. And from the butler's point of view, the old man is indeed not suitable for meeting guests. He is too old, so old that he doesn't even have the strength to get out of bed.

The health of the elderly is like the golden leaves hanging on the branches in autumn. Although they don't look seriously ill, just one winter can make their physical condition take a sharp turn for the worse.

Mr. Bentham is in this situation right now.

But the butler certainly can't say everything in front of his supporters. He knows these young people very well. If they see Bentham's current appearance, they will definitely not blame the cold winter, but will think of the cholera control some time ago.

Although the butler does not rule out that cholera control has also played a negative role, if these young people associate Bentham's deteriorating physical condition with cholera control...

It's really hard to imagine what they will do.

Attack London City Hall?

Set fire to Westminster Palace, where the two houses are located?

Or attack St. James's Palace, Kensington Palace or Buckingham Palace, where the royal family members live?

Just when the butler was at a loss, he suddenly felt someone approaching him.

Just as he was about to look up, a familiar voice sounded in his ears: "Mr. Andrew, do you need help? If necessary, I can send someone to maintain order at the scene. I currently have a team of 20 people on standby nearby."

Andrew was shocked: "Arthur, you..."

He looked up and glanced at his supporters, and quickly pulled Arthur aside and asked: "Don't act rashly, young people can do anything. Sending the police at this time will only intensify their emotions."

Arthur nodded and said: "I understand, that's why I didn't transfer the police team directly from Scotland Yard, but carefully selected some smart and capable young men from the Police Intelligence Bureau. They are also young people, and they are also like me Neither was wearing a police uniform.”

When Andrew heard this, he felt relieved a little: "That's good... they didn't bring weapons, right?"

Arthur expressed euphemistically: "They are equipped with the minimum force just in case. Please understand that although I want to solve the problem peacefully, at the same time, I have to be responsible for the safety of my men."

"Minimum force means...a stick?"

"The kind with a short handle." Arthur said: "As long as the situation does not get out of control, they will not take action. If these young people successfully accept their guidance, maybe they can fight with the police officers under me after a while. Let’s go to the pub and have a drink together as brothers.”

Having said this, Arthur also advised: "Scotland Yard already knows the situation here. Mr. Andrew, if you insist not to let me intervene, then there will be more than just sticks coming. You should You know, the Guards Cavalry has also joined the law enforcement team recently, and I don’t want things to get to that point.”

When Andrew heard this, he also understood that he could not delay it any longer.

He sighed and said, "I understand. But is it really appropriate to dispatch plainclothes police? You should also know that once plainclothes police are discovered, their fate will be much worse than that of ordinary police."

Arthur nodded and said: "Of course I know. That's why I put a stick in their waist and gave them double the salary during the special period."

Andrew shrugged helplessly and said: "Okay, now that you have considered everything, I have no reason to refuse. I just saw Officer Bonaparte. Should I coordinate with him for the next thing?"

Arthur smiled and said: "That's right. But before that, I can politely ask you, can I go see Mr. Bentham?"

"This..." Andrew was quite embarrassed: "Mr. Bentham said that he doesn't want to see guests today."

Arthur took out the tobacco box from his pocket and patted it in Andrew's hand: "Go and ask for me, just say that I hope to see him, just ask a few words, it won't waste too much time. If Bentham If you still refuse, sir, then you can just pretend I haven’t been here.”

Andrew glanced at the cigarette box, shook his head and smiled, then patted the cigarette box back to Arthur.

"Please stop playing this trick with me. I'm not a gangster from the East District. I can help you ask, but whether to see you or not depends on Mr. Bentham's own decision."

As soon as Andrew finished speaking, he heard a rush of footsteps behind him.

A valet went downstairs in a panic, walked to Andrew and said: "Mr. Andrew, Mr. Bentham said that he saw an acquaintance from the window, an outstanding graduate of the University of London, and he wanted to meet that person. "

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but look up at the second floor window.

In front of the transparent glass window, Bentham, who had age spots on his face, sat quietly there. He looked a little tired, but he still smiled at him with the gentle smile he often showed when giving speeches on the street. Everyone waved.

"Mr. Bentham! It's Mr. Bentham!"

Bentham's appearance soon triggered bursts of cheers among the supporters, who waved to Bentham equally excitedly, and the streets were filled with flying hats.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief: "They are in a good mood. It seems that the next work will be much easier."

Andrew took advantage of the cheers of the supporters and pulled Arthur behind him: "Follow me, let's go through the back door, don't let them find out that I let the others go to see Mr. Bentham."