The Shadow of Great Britain

82: Chapter 42: Contract Slave 82: Chapter 42: Contract Slave Arthur and Newman sat on a long bench in the graveyard, facing a small, low grave with a milky-white little coffin pressed under a slate-gray stone slab.

It was a simple grave, the burial treasures inside modest too, a tiny red skirt, a wooden horse toy, a copy of “Calamity” magazine, several unopened candies, and three bunches of white roses meant to express sorrow.

Newman gazed at the shallow little grave and shook his head, “I know we are living in a remarkable era.

Humanity has always been dependent on others, especially on priests to spread faith and knowledge, but now, everyone has begun to judge for themselves.

Religious freedom, religious separation, in the end, it has all boiled down to materialism.

People would do anything for money.

But there’s no helping it, even the geniuses of this age are anti-church, not to mention the ordinary people.

But we can’t blame them.

As priests of the Anglican Church, we should be helping these poor and helpless people.

Yet, those priest representatives, those justices of peace, poor-relief officials seem more keen on collecting money for pew rentals, parish taxes, funeral fees, and tithes.

They hardly care about the poor relief duties they should be responsible for.

So, it’s no wonder that the Anglican Church in Britain is in decline.

This is all our own doing.

Honestly, for the past thousand years, Britain has never seen moral decay to this extent.

I know the feudal age was bad, but its damage to the generous and kind aspects of human nature was far less than the commercial age has done.”

Hearing this, Arthur couldn’t help but remember the words Bentham had once spoken to him.

He asked, “It seems you must despise utilitarianism a lot, don’t you?”

Sure enough, upon hearing the word, Newman frowned involuntarily.

“Utilitarianism?

To me, it is the root of all evils.

Bentham is a charlatan — the notion that everyone acts for the ‘greatest happiness of the greatest number’ is only fervently advocated by those who benefit from it.

The spirit of pursuing wealth, though ancient, has seen a sharp rise in market-based values over the last few decades and has become the mainstream.

The prosperity of society is just superficial.

Underneath those stone slabs, there are far more crushed individuals than what you see in the newspapers.

The poison of chasing material desire and money has seeped into the marrow of this country, causing everyone to focus all their energy on achieving success and wealth in life, amassing assets, desiring power, excluding others, overcoming superiors, while maintaining an arrogant, conceited yet superficially polite facade.

The rituals of religion are continually simplified, the standing of faith constantly shaken, moral principles ever diluted, and doctrines have become mere texts with no substance.

Honestly, sometimes I feel these people are even worse than Thomas Paine.

Since our last conversation, I am increasingly convinced you were right; atheists like Paine are much better than those who claim to be religious but constantly betray their doctrines.”

These people worship not God, but their desires.

The scattered factions that have branched from the Anglican Church are filled with personal, selfish demands, disgusting even at a glance.

Look at what foolish things these people are doing?

Murdering, then selling corpses.

When workers’ relatives die, they can’t even manage to give them a day off for the funeral.

These people, they all should be put on the stake!”

Hearing this, Arthur couldn’t help but speak up, “Mr.

Newman, frankly, this time I’ve come to you hoping you could do me a favor.”

Newman asked, “What favor?

Just say it.

As long as it doesn’t go against moral doctrines, I am willing to help.

Although you are a Catholic, that doesn’t really matter to me anymore.

I can accept an atheist like Paine, so why not you?”

Arthur began, “Well…

I know you hold high esteem in the academic community of Oxford University, you are an exceptional speaker, and you have many followers.

“I heard that Oxford University is very angry because of the ‘Catholic Emancipation Act’ and has organized a movement against Robert Peel, and you are playing a rather important role in it?”

Newman frowned sharply, “Why do you know about this?”

Arthur smiled helplessly, “It’s simple, because you are on the watch list of the Home Office, so as a Police Superintendent at Scotland Yard, I naturally know what you have been doing.”

Newman wasn’t secretive about it, “Indeed.

Oxford University wanted Peel in the House of Commons because we hoped he would represent us, but he not only broke his promises but also openly attacked Oxford in the newspapers, calling us ‘slaves to vanity’.

“That is something we Oxfordians cannot tolerate.

Peel had it coming; you don’t need to plead for him.

Even if he throws me in jail, I will not change my opinion.

“Let him try to drive me out of Great Britain; then, I might try to do what Paine did, wandering around America and France.

“However, I am luckier than Paine in that I’m somewhat affluent; at least I can afford a boat ticket and don’t need to go to North America as an indentured servant like him.”

Upon hearing this, Arthur suddenly paused.

He had initially intended to start with Newman, persuading Newman to help shift Oxford Parish’s perception of the ‘Anatomy Act’ and to lead the Oxford priests in conducting funerals for those dissected, but he had not expected to uncover an area of ignorance.

He asked, “Indentured servant?

What is that?”

Newman asked, “You don’t know about indentured servants?

Well, it’s understandable; such things are basically unseen in Britain.

“Mostly here, those who can’t repay their debts end up in debtors’ prisons, and moreover, Britain thoroughly abolished slavery over twenty years ago, so you wouldn’t see anything of this sort.

“However, the concept still exists in North American colonies.

Indentured servants are essentially white slaves.

“They mainly come from three sources.

“The first type is those who cannot carry on in their homeland, so they sign a contract selling themselves to shipowners, trading four to seven years of labor for a ticket to America.

“The second type are debtors in America who, unable to repay their debts, sell themselves into servitude to work off what they owe.

“The third type consists of convicts who were shipped over in the past, selling their labor to offset their sentences.

This type is probably the primary source of indentured servants in North America.

“However, Mr.

Paine belonged to the first type of indentured servants.

He was fortunate, for right upon arriving in America, he secured a newspaper editor job in Philadelphia with a recommendation letter from Franklin, so he quickly cleared his debt and didn’t suffer much, but others might not be as lucky as he was.”

Arthur frowned, reminded of that missing persons list provided by the Duke of Sussex.

“Those who disappeared from the streets were mostly women and young children, and the whereabouts or bodies of these individuals have mostly been accounted for.”

“However, the strong adult males who disappeared from the prisons are mostly ‘neither seen alive nor found dead,’ utterly unclear where they have gone.”

A flash of insight struck him, and the vague clues seemed to be coalescing more and more clearly in his mind.

Suddenly, Agares appeared beside him, the Red Devil murmuring softly, “Arthur, stop here, don’t investigate any further.”