Chapter 307 Politics and Science (4K4)

Arthur and others chatted all the way to the gate of Gresham College.

The three of them had just walked not far when Arthur saw two familiar faces standing under the birch tree beside the college's sermon.

That was Alexandre Dumas and the great German poet Heine who had a similar affinity with him.

After originally finalizing the English version of "Travel Sketches" to be represented by "The Englishman", Heine decided to return to Paris.

But Alexandre Dumas enthusiastically invited this new friend to stay in London for a few more days, so that he could fulfill his friendship as a landlord.

In the past week, Alexandre Dumas took Heine around London during the day, and at night, they stayed at Arthur's house to engage in some dangerous speeches.

As for the topics of the speeches, most of them revolved around the political differences between France and Germany. Although the two great writers had gorgeous words and sharp words, their dialogue was nothing more than summarized into a few core words in the ears of Arthur, who was sitting on the sofa and reading the newspaper.

Alexandre Dumas would generally highly affirm Germany's progress in philosophy, culture and other aspects in recent years, and would occasionally quote a few famous quotes from Kant and Goethe to express his admiration for the German region. He even quoted the German historian von Ranke to prove his point - the Germans were ordered by God to develop a completely different culture and political system from the French.

Unexpectedly, these words, which were intended to show goodwill, fell into Heine's ears and made him feel that it was ironic.

For this reason, the seemingly gentle Heine even sacrificed his own image and exploded on the spot. He said bluntly: "I don't think God has prepared two development paths for mankind, unless God thinks that the French and the Germans are two completely different people." Species. Von Ranke is a historian. I don’t know why he wants to cross over into the field of biology. In my opinion, if he is not mentally disturbed, then there is something wrong with his physiology, otherwise he likes to be licked. How can someone with hemorrhoids use his mouth so skillfully to fart?"

Perhaps it was because of this assertion by von Rank that Heine was so angered that he started Von Rank's Black History Lecture on time almost every night for a week. The most commendable thing was that the stories Heine brought every day were Not the same.

The first thing he attacked was von Ranke's famous work "History of the Latin and Teutonic Peoples". He said that while von Ranke claimed to be a straightforward writer, he did not believe that the development of history is a process from low to high. He believed that human beings Factional struggles in society, and every critical moment, depend on the will of God. And von Ranke's only purpose in doing this was to defend the status quo in Prussia and Austria.

Speaking of which, Heine also mentioned that von Ranke was funded by Metternich, Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire in Vienna, and was sponsored by the Prussian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin to establish the Historical and Political Review to fight against regional democracy in Germany after the July Revolution in France. Everything about ideological trends has been wiped clean.

Alexandre Dumas was naturally shocked when he learned of this situation, but he still looked down upon Heine's behavior of complimenting the current French July Dynasty. He did everything possible to make Heine realize that France was not that good, but every time he compared it with the German states, Heine could always win easily.

In this way, one of them claimed that he was a political prisoner persecuted by the French government, and the other claimed that he was monitored by the Prussian secret police every day while in Germany. And when they were arguing with each other, the British secret police, who were responsible for persecuting and monitoring political prisoners, were so sleepy that they wanted to go upstairs to sleep.

However, even though Alexandre Dumas and Heine often quarreled over issues of opinion, this did not affect their friendship. Most of the time, these two gentlemen were more heroic than heroes.

As soon as Arthur walked over, he heard the two of them chatting happily, and the object of their discussion was naturally Mr. von Ranke, the royal historian of Prussia and Austria.

Heine danced and yelled: "Von Ranke is a complete villain. He successfully won the favor of the Prussian authorities with his "History of the Latin and Teutonic Peoples". He tasted the sweetness of licking hemorrhoids at a young age and took it. He became an associate professor of history at the University of Berlin. From then on, he was out of control. With his book "Ottoman and Spanish Monarchy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries", he was invited by Metternich to study in Austria. He is highly respected not because he holds the truth, but because he is held by someone who defines what 'truth' is."

Arthur walked quietly to the two of them and said hello: "Are you criticizing von Ranke again? Heinrich, there is no need to be so angry. It is not him who caused your work to be banned from publication in Austria. of."

Heine turned around and saw Arthur, and said with a self-deprecating smile: "Yes! My works cannot be published in Austria. However, his judgments are not only unimpeded throughout Germany, but can even receive official funding. There is indeed a relationship between us." There’s a difference of several levels.”

Seeing Arthur, Alexandre Dumas raised his eyebrows and asked, "Huh? Why are you interested in joining our discussion today? Haven't you been falling asleep on the sofa by the fire for several nights?" "

Arthur just smiled: "Because I think you guys have been discussing it for so long, and it's time to end this topic and talk about something else."

Louis, who was following Arthur, asked: "So? What is your conclusion?"

Arthur just shrugged and said: "Every country can find some happy compensation for its frustrating shortcomings: the ruthless North with its iron strength, the sickly South with its golden sunshine, Gloomy Spain has its faith, the humor given to others refreshes impoverished France, and the fog of England beautifies the power of freedom."

Heine couldn't help but frown and asked: "What about Germany?"

Arthur smiled: "Germany? Germany has nothing."

Heine shook his head slightly when he heard this and said, "I knew it."

"No, Heinrich, please don't misunderstand me."

Arthur said: "As you are familiar with German literature, the tradition of German literature is that there is no tradition. Before the 18th century, Germany could not even produce a work that could be attacked by literary critics. But after 1750, German literature The soil seems to have suddenly become fertile, and various masters and philosophers have emerged one after another. Having nothing is not a bad thing in all situations, because it also shows whether this unfettered state is good or not. If it’s bad, it depends on the Germans themselves.”

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he also laughed and comforted Heine and said: "You are right, and Germany does not really have nothing. At least you still have beautiful German girls."

When Heine heard this, he frowned even more: "Alexander, as soon as you said this, I knew you had never been to our place. The word "beautiful" has nothing to do with most German girls. Have you ever seen a dragon? Cavalry marching? German girls, especially our peasant girls, walk exactly like dragoons."

Alexandre Dumas laughed loudly when he heard this and said: "No wonder Britain's Royal German Legion cavalry is far more capable than Britain's native cavalry. Did they have been trained by their mother when they were in the womb?"

As soon as Dumas said these words, Mr. Cook, the retired second lieutenant of the army who was following Arthur, suddenly became a little unhappy.

He followed up with a sarcastic remark: "When it comes to women's fighting power, I think French girls are number one. If it weren't for Joan of Arc, maybe we would have the same king as the French now."

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he immediately retorted: "Sir, what kind of good wishes are you making?"

Cook was not to be outdone and said: "Sir, do you want to have a fight? Although I have retired from the army, I have to remind you politely that although we cannot defeat the French girl. But since the Hundred Years War, Britain and France have In combat, there are always more wins than losses.”

Seeing the two men pressing their hands to the pistols at their waists, Arthur quickly spoke out to calm the atmosphere and said: "Alexander, you have already dueled with others three times this month. Don't your pistols need maintenance? As for you, Ku Mr. Ke, you also know that you have retired and it is still peacetime, so even if you win the duel, the Department of War and Colonial Affairs will not give you a promotion award. Not only that, I have to ask you to go there. Scotland Yard.”

As soon as Arthur spoke, Cook had to suppress his desire to duel. He took off his hat and apologized: "Sorry, Mr. Hastings, I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."

Dumas also took his hand off the holster: "Luckily for you, I have never lost a pistol duel since I came to Britain."

Arthur changed the subject and said, "Speaking of which, why did you and Heinrich come to the Royal Society today?"

Alexandre Dumas curled his lips and said: "We have basically finished sightseeing everywhere in London. Today we originally wanted to come to the Royal Society to listen to a scientific lecture for a change, but unexpectedly we bumped into Mr. Faraday giving a lecture. As you know, Faraday's lecture We always have to book tickets in advance, but we didn’t get any tickets, so naturally we had to hang out outside the lecture hall and wait for the next show.”

Arthur heard this and asked, "Didn't you go find Charles? Even if you don't have a ticket, ask him to talk to the people at the Royal Society, and he will probably be able to get you in."

"Mr. Wheatstone, it's better to forget it."

Alexandre Dumas shook his head: "You also know his character. Entrusting others to do things has never been a consideration for him. And in order to prevent others from approaching him, that guy also imitated Mr. Faraday and locked himself in Faraday. You can do your research safely in the cage. The room is full of high-voltage electricity, and I don’t want to get shocked when I go in. By the way, why did you come to the Royal Society today?”

"Me?" Arthur took out a manuscript from his arms and raised it to Alexandre Dumas: "I promised Mr. Faraday that the paper was finally completed, so I took the time to give it to him while I had nothing to do today. "

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he immediately remembered what had happened before. He suddenly realized: "Is this paper the reason why you pulled so many potatoes from me? But I still don't understand, what does potatoes have to do with electromagnetic research? relation."

Louis had seen Arthur's invention before, so he smiled and helped explain: "Although it is hard to believe, I did see with my own eyes how Arthur used a few potatoes to generate electricity."

As soon as Louis finished speaking, Cook looked puzzled.

The medical graduate from the University of Heidelberg rubbed the back of his head and asked in confusion: "Potatoes? Generating electricity? How are these two things connected?"

Arthur just smiled and said: "The specific principle is still to be studied. It's like the electromagnetic induction phenomenon. Maybe someone will get some inspiration from this phenomenon and come up with an idea like the telegraph."

Cook shook his head and said: "Although I don't want to admit it, sometimes it does take some talent to do scientific research. Geniuses like you and Mr. Faraday spent an afternoon discovering things that mediocre people like me have to spend months or even years to understand. The Royal Society just announced the discovery of Faraday's wave this morning, and you brought me another one this afternoon. I have a potato battery, this is really..."

Arthur looked at Cook who was in distress, just smiled and waved his hand at him: "Mr. Cook, please don't underestimate yourself. The telegraph you mentioned to me before has made me very interested. I promise you that if you can develop it, I can immediately place an order with you on behalf of Scotland Yard. Not only that, I can guarantee that the City of Finance will also be very interested in this thing. After all, for those stockbrokers, if they get the news one day earlier, they may be able to earn tons of gold. "

As soon as Arthur said this, Cook, who was a little depressed just now, immediately swept away his depressed mood , the young man, who already had one foot on the edge of bankruptcy, patted his chest and assured: "Mr. Hastings, you can rest assured about the telegraph. I dare to guarantee you that this thing is completely feasible in theory, and it is only a matter of time to make it."

"If that's the case..." Arthur smiled slightly: "Maybe I can help you and Charles solve the patent problem, take the fast track, and it will be done in a week. But... Mr. Cook, you also know that just like you were in the army, taking this path in patent application will definitely require some insignificant efforts."

Cook heard this He nodded deeply: "Of course... That's how things work in Britain. I understand what you mean. Those bastards only care about money, and they brazenly call it commodity economy and free trade. They are really shameless."

Arthur smiled and shook his head: "No, Mr. Cook, you misunderstood. Money has never been a problem. The wealthy Mr. Whetstone will naturally solve it. As for me, you know that Scotland Yard is a police department, so we just need a clear confidentiality agreement."

"Confidentiality agreement?"

Before Cook could react to what was going on, he saw the crowd of people dispersing outside the lecture hall.

Among the crowd, Faraday, who was wearing a pleated white shirt and an old tuxedo, was still a standout.

It's just that Faraday didn't have his signature gentle smile on his face today.

On the contrary, Faraday's expression was a bit ugly, and even a hint of anger could be detected between his eyebrows.

Several well-dressed men followed Faraday in a panic, walking and chasing him: "Mr. Faraday, Mr. Faraday, please listen to our explanation. The minister absolutely did not mean to offend you at that time. He is so casual at ordinary times, whether in front of the prime minister or other members of the cabinet, he is like that. We assure you that the minister definitely did not do that just for you."

Arthur didn't pay attention to those people at first, but when he looked carefully, he found that the gentlemen chasing Faraday were all familiar faces. They were all officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs without exception.

"Did Viscount Melbourne offend Faraday?"

Arthur pondered for a while, and finally followed him.