The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 997: Chapter 57 Carter Route_2

Although these words are just one side of the story from London workers, the influx of Irish people making the London employment market more competitive is indeed an indisputable fact. In such circumstances, it is indeed difficult for the ordinary populace of England to show a friendly face to the Irish. As for the various reasons they claim, such as the Irish being morally inferior, unhygienic, and their Catholic faith not guaranteeing loyalty to the King, are actually just excuses derived from discontent.

The Italian liberation movement led by Mazzini, in fact, shares a striking resemblance with the Irish liberation movement led by O’Connell.

Both of these figures are individuals who unite the people by stirring up nationalism, except O’Connell’s slogan is to uphold Ireland’s Catholic faith, whereas Mazzini does the opposite, claiming to end the reactionary rule of the Catholic Church and Austrian feudal lords in Italy.

However, even though their routes of action appear different, in Arthur’s eyes, they are essentially doing the same thing because even O’Connell, who claimed to uphold the Catholic faith, did not want the Pope to interfere in the appointment of bishops in Ireland.

If one must point out a difference between Mazzini and O’Connell, it is that Mazzini is more inclined to confront and more willing to state his position frankly.

Moreover, O’Connell is far more fortunate than Mazzini because the Duke of Wellington could press the head of the King of Britain to make concessions to Ireland for a greater goal, whereas Austrian Prime Minister Metternich obviously cannot make the Austrian Emperor do the same, and Metternich himself may not be willing to bow to the Italians.

According to Arthur’s knowledge, just recently, Mazzini orchestrated an uprising within the Sardinian Kingdom’s army in Italy, but due to insufficient planning, the conspirators were uncovered before their work was complete, leading to the arrest of many Young Italy members in the Sardinian Kingdom and their sentencing to death. If Mazzini hadn’t been clever enough to retreat in time, he too would have met his end in Piedmont by now.

It wasn’t Mazzini’s first failed uprising. As early as 1830, he was arrested in the Sardinian Kingdom on suspicion of participating in the Charcoal Party.

However, at that time, Mazzini was not a leading figure of the Charcoal Party, so the Sardinian Kingdom did not accumulate enough evidence, and ultimately chose to exile Mazzini abroad to settle the matter.

It was precisely this failure that made Mazzini realize there was no future in mixing with that bunch of Charcoal Party people. So Mazzini began using his experience and connections accumulated within the Charcoal Party to form Young Italy centered around himself, successfully securing the semi-public protection of Louis Philippe, King of France, who was eager to present himself as a paragon of freedom.

Mazzini’s oratory skills and personal charm allowed the initially obscure organization of Young Italy to develop rapidly over more than two years. Almost every Italian exile in France participated in or at least heard of this organization, and in Italy, the major cities of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, the Sardinian Kingdom, and the Papal States also had underground branches of Young Italy.

According to estimates from the British Foreign Office, at this moment, the Young Italy supported by the French government should have at least 20 to 30 thousand members.

And Louis Philippe’s act of sheltering political prisoners from other countries quickly brought retaliation from Italian states. For example, last year’s Royalist Vendee rebellion in France was suspected to have been supported by the Sardinian Kingdom, and the recent assassination attempt at Kaidao Sai Mansion was even more dubious.

Mazzini, hearing Arthur recount all the glorious deeds of the Charcoal Party and Young Italy as if they were commonplace, was pleased yet filled with many doubts.

Mazzini stirred the spoon in his coffee cup: “I never expected that Britain had grasped our operations to such a detailed extent.”

“Not quite detailed.” Arthur blinked and smiled: “At least I’m sure that the intelligence the French Foreign Office has is more detailed than Britain’s. But now that Louis Philippe has issued an expulsion order against you, and Young Italy has just suffered a major setback in Genoa, you’ve not only lost an important source of funds but also your morale is very low, which is somewhat unfavorable for you.”

Arthur spoke the truth, but the truth is often unpalatable.

Mazzini didn’t know how to respond because he came to see Nourri today to raise funds from Paris’s free art community.

But, the world’s most difficult problems are often about money, and Young Italy wasn’t the first organization to approach Nourri for funding. Before them, there were the Polish revival movement, the liberal movement in Austria and Prussia, and the Spanish republican voices were not to be underestimated either.

Mazzini was silent, but Garibaldi, on the other hand, spoke up with a pipe in his mouth: “Mr. Hastings, for a sailor like me who has drifted at sea for ten years, there’s nothing I can’t overcome. Achieving our goals is indeed not easy, but that doesn’t mean we have anything to fear. If you’re expecting to hear any discouraging words from us, that’s impossible. A sailor’s fate is to battle with the sea, struggle with the waves in the storm, and fight fierce and evil sharks. You’re a British man; if you don’t understand what I mean, I suggest you read a book called ‘St. George’s flag still rises.’ This book was introduced to me by Mr. Dumas earlier, and now I recommend it to you. After reading this book, you will understand what a man is, what courage is, what a sailor’s destiny is.”

Arthur was first taken aback by these words, then immediately turned to look at the Great Dumas. He saw that this stout man maintained his composure and calmly told Garibaldi: “Giuseppe, Arthur doesn’t need to read that book, I forgot to introduce you, Arthur is also one of the authors of that book; the climax of the plot was mostly written and polished directly by him.”

Garibaldi, hearing this, took a surprised puff, then, as if he discovered a treasure, first showed some embarrassment, then, laughing all by himself, warmly stood up to welcome Arthur to take a seat: “So you wrote that book, I was planning to use that book to convince you, I didn’t expect you to understand what a man and a sailor’s fate is better than I do.”

Arthur removed his hat and said with a smile: “It’s very pleasing to see you like my friend the tough guy Carter, it’s a very joyful thing indeed.”

The two people who were unfamiliar before suddenly had a common topic, as Garibaldi warmly discussed with Arthur: “Sure enough, Eld Carter really, as Mr. Dumas said, has a prototype. I heard at this moment he is floating on the seas of South America, a brave Royal Navy warrior?”

“That’s right,” Arthur affirmed: “Sir, if you meet Eld in person, you will be greatly surprised, it will be a moment you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”

Garibaldi laughed heartily: “Unfortunately, I mostly run the Mediterranean line, if there’s a chance to run a ship to South America next time, even just to meet this legendary figure, I must go. To be honest, just because of Eld Carter, I’m now not that averse to enlisting in the Navy anymore.”

Arthur took out a pack of cigarettes and signaled Garibaldi to taste his tobacco: “What? You want to enlist in the Navy?”

Garibaldi received a bit of tobacco from Arthur: “You may not know, I was born in Nice in the Sardinian Kingdom, according to the laws of the Sardinian Kingdom, all merchant ship sailors must join the navy for a period before the age of forty. But you know as well, the Royal Navy’s pay is not high, and the Sardinian Navy’s pay is even worse. Even though I’m only 26 years old, I’m already able to navigate a ship independently, and being a merchant ship captain pays much more than in the Navy, so I had been procrastinating on the enlistment order. But after reading ‘St. George’s flag still rises’, I feel it might not be such a bad thing to join the navy for some experience.”

Arthur was about to speak, but he suddenly noticed Mazzini’s expression seemed somewhat off.

Garibaldi also noticed this, he patted Mazzini on the back: “Brother, is something bothering you?”