The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 566 - 290 Social Dance_2

Compared to hiring an assassin to kill his creditor, Mr. Disraeli was usually more worried that the creditors might hire an assassin to kill him.

Arthur even suspected for a while that the lad wanted to run for Parliament just for the parliamentary immunity.

In that way, during the session of Parliament, he could avoid the fate of being thrown into debtor’s prison and shamelessly hide out in Westminster Palace as a deadbeat.

Even without parliamentary immunity, British creditors were relatively more tolerant of MPs.

As far as Arthur knew, in London’s bankruptcy court there had been lawsuits against merchants, writers, factory owners, and generals.

Several renowned figures from the Royal Navy had to move abroad to dodge debts, including Admiral Sidney Smith whom Arthur had met before.

Mr. Eld Carter, a legend from the University of London, joining the Royal Navy also seemed to have considered this point, at least Arthur could be sure of one thing, that lad hadn’t even settled his rent when he went off on his fantastic voyage.

However, in the ecosystem of the bankruptcy court, where one can witness the diversity of British species, one conspicuously couldn’t find any lawsuits against MPs.

If Disraeli, the person with the greatest interest, didn’t have the motivation, Arthur could only attribute potential attackers to religious reasons.

Although Britain had achieved religious tolerance quite early, it did not mean that Nonconformists could really mix with the Anglicans on equal terms.

Catholics had only just been allowed to become MPs last year, and there was still open discrimination against other faiths such as Judaism at the political level.

And at the enforcement level, the discrimination against Nonconformists was even stronger. Even Scotland Yard, with their Catholic sergeant, often incorporated religious beliefs into the criteria for judging criminals.

If there were two suspects, one a Protestant and the other a Catholic, the Catholic would surely undergo a much stricter interrogation.

Whether in government or amongst the people, British society still held a deep mistrust of Catholics. Although they worshipped the same God, Britons believed that Catholics were spies sent by the Pope in Rome.

Just one slip, and they would hand over the entire country to Pope Gregory XVI in the Vatican.

And if the Catholic happened to be Irish as well, that was just the icing on the cake.

In the eyes of most Englishmen, these two identities together amounted to a walking embodiment of evil: lazy, unclean, of low quality, and disloyal to the King.

For this reason, before the establishment of Scotland Yard, once the London Sheriffs found an Irishman suspected of a crime, it was tantamount to having conclusive evidence and immediate execution ensued.

Arthur, luckier than the Irish Catholics, was an Englishman, and moreover, a little peasant who had rolled out of a pigsty in York. Most praiseworthy was that he had an uncle, a small farmer who had been rendered delirious by the Devil.

Therefore, although Arthur’s Catholic faith seemed rather questionable, the agricultural part of his identity made him quite genuinely noble.

And since Mr. Hasting was invariably indifferent to religious matters, hardly ever setting foot in a Catholic Church throughout the year, and having graduated from the atheistic stronghold of the University of London,

It was after examining Arthur’s profile that Sir Peel confidently moved him to a senior officer’s position.

As unbelievable as it may sound, within the British Government, a person with little faith actually had an advantage over a devout Catholic.

Arthur had reached his position today, and in his own words, a small part was due to hard work, a larger part was due to luck, and what finally sealed the deal was his consistent slacking off.

There was no way around it, devout believers were just too hard to mimic.

When he first joined Scotland Yard, earning but a few shillings a week, why would he play along with their charades?

With Arthur’s attitude, if someone really came to assassinate him over religious issues, then he felt that it might not necessarily be a Protestant who dispatched the assassin, it seemed more likely that Catholics would have the motive to get rid of him, someone who appeared to be a ’feigned convert, who would repent later’ Anglican spy.

Arthur pondered for a long time without coming to a conclusion. Suddenly, his sixth sense honed in the East End reminded him that someone seemed to be approaching from behind.

Arthur discreetly placed his hand on his holster and had barely turned when he heard a polite greeting from behind.

"Good day, Mr. Hastings."

"Hmm?"

Arthur turned around, but the first thing he saw was not Gladstone, but Agares perched on top of the head of a wood-chopping expert.

Arthur was momentarily taken aback, he didn’t pay attention to the Red Devil squatting on what was soon to be the highest point in Britain, focusing first on Gladstone’s identity.

"Mr. Gladstone, it’s quite unexpected to meet you here."

"I also just learned that you’ve been sent to Liverpool. What’s your impression of Liverpool? Do you need me to introduce some worthwhile sights to visit?"

At these words, Arthur laughed and pointed to a block ahead, "No need to trouble yourself about that. The citizens of Liverpool are very enthusiastic, I had barely arrived for a short time yesterday when I was stopped by several ladies. They clung to my arm and extensively introduced me to the customs of Liverpool, and warmly invited me to visit their homes. Unfortunately, their accomplices, the kids hiding behind me, were not so ’clean-handed’."