The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 540 - 281: The Story of Sir Isaac Newton Revisited

London Bloomsbury, Chancery Lane, Court of Equity.

Arthur and Rowan, the head of the hall, walked down the steps of the courthouse, side by side.

Compared to when they had arrived, they now held several more documents in their hands.

These were the newly drafted resolutions from the joint meeting that had just been held by the Lord Chancellor’s office, the Navy Department, the Home Office, the General Post Office, and the Customs Department.

Following the consultation results of this morning’s meeting before the King, the Privy Council, and the Cabinet, King William IV, in agreement with all members of the Privy Council, formally signed the Royal Seal warrant authorizing Lord Brougham, the High Chancellor of Britain, to supervise the nation’s cholera epidemic prevention and control as the highest overseer of national health.

All other government departments and committees of the Privy Council, the House of Commons, and the House of Lords, including Downing Street No. 10, the Prime Minister’s Office, will act in accordance with the recommendations of the Lord Chancellor’s office.

Although Arthur had always known that the power of the 19th-century High Chancellor was much greater than that of a 21st-century Minister of Justice, he was still unavoidably shocked by the formidable power held in his ’mentor’s’ hands when he heard this decision in the meeting.

In administration, the High Chancellor originally had control over the promotion channels of judges in Britain’s peace, criminal, civil, and equity courts, with the power to decide which lawyers could be promoted to King’s Counsel.

In royal affairs, he also served concurrently as the Keeper of the Great Seal and the Royal Legal Advisor.

And in politics, the High Chancellor was inherently the fixed first Privy Counselor of the House of Lords and the Lord Speaker.

In the judicial realm, he was a member and the final judge of the Privy Council and the judicial committee of the House of Lords, and was also the only person in the country with the authority to declare the conviction of treason among the nobility.

As for religious affairs, since the High Chancellor was historically appointed as a cardinal by the Archbishop and even the Pope before Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy in the 16th century, to this day the High Chancellor essentially retained the religious functions of that era.

Not only was he responsible for overseeing all properties of Britain’s National Church, but also by tradition, even the appointment of religious court judges on the territories of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York had to first consult the High Chancellor.

As for the so-called supervisor of the medical and health sector, Arthur had previously regarded this power as nothing more than an insignificant cherry on top of the cake that was the High Chancellor’s range of competencies.

Because in day-to-day operations, since Britain did not have a unified public health department, this power was always distributed among various government departments and local parish committees.

And in ordinary times, no one paid too much attention to this matter.

The High Chancellor had too much authority, and public health could never be his top priority, no matter what.

As far as the local parishes were concerned, so-called public health was just about deciding which sanitation company they would hire to clean and dispose of the trash.

For Scotland Yard, public health was about catching those who sold fake medicine. Besides this, Arthur and his team also had to ensure that drunkards couldn’t urinate or defecate in public, as this was an exclusive right of pregnant women.

Scotland Yard always thought about expanding its power, but the drunkards certainly could not.

However, despite saying this, it was ultimately only a wishful thinking of the police.

It was clearly evident that their efforts in this area had never been effective.

Just like Mr. Dick Whittington, who in the legends of Britain rose from a poor orphan to become the Mayor of London, said on his first visit to London: "I thought the streets of London were paved with gold, but it turned out to be human excrement."

If Mr. Whittington had the fortune of living in the 19th century, he would have found that London remained authentically as it was in the 14th century.

The streets of London had not only ’human gold’ but also ’human mercury.’

If one must point out any progress with these ’gold’ and ’mercury’ compared to the past, it would be that the heavy metal content in this excrement indeed far exceeded that of the 14th century.

In this regard, the outstanding inventions of unscrupulous businessmen, such as arsenic-laden cosmetics or copper-containing fake tea leaves, have made significant contributions.

Rowan continued down the steps, and seeing that Arthur was silent, took the initiative to start the conversation, "With a face as still as dead water and a grave expression, but I understand, the job that the Lord Chancellor’s office has given us is indeed a tough one. Merely quarantining the affected areas is already dangerous and offensive enough, now we also have to cooperate with the Customs Department and the Navy Department to crack down on smuggling, to prevent the continuous import of cases from other regions. Arthur, the first task could be managed by someone else, but the latter relies solely on you."

After saying this, Rowan stopped in front of a restaurant, leaned against the wall to light his pipe, and then threw the tin box of tobacco to Arthur.

Arthur did not stand on ceremony; he took some tobacco, lit it, and said, "It’s a necessity. However, I’m still surprised by the decision of the Lord Chancellor’s office and the Navy Department; how on earth did they think of transferring someone from Scotland Yard to Liverpool to investigate smuggling?"

Rowan took a puff of his pipe, brushed the dust off Arthur’s shoulder strap, and said, "They probably think there are moles within the local Liverpool customs officers. But they have a point; after all, smuggling is something that could never succeed without someone backing it from behind. Moreover, the outbreak in Liverpool is not as clear as in Sunderland; they can’t even find a source. If we go by the miasma theory, that could be explained, but if we consider it from the contagion perspective, it makes no sense whatsoever. Anyway, do your best to investigate. If it’s resolved well and good, but if it’s unclear or too challenging, just blame it on the miasma."