The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1474: Chapter 236: This Is...? General Hastings! (Part 2)

Under the tutelage of the British scholar, utilitarian pioneer Jeremy Bentham, and apprenticed to the most talented scientist of the Royal Society, Michael Faraday.

In terms of philosophy and natural philosophy, he could simply be described as:

A successor of Isaac Newton, a pioneer of natural philosophy.

A forerunner for the students of Gottingen, exploring the grand principles of the electromagnetic age.

Moreover, he not only made significant contributions in philosophy and natural philosophy but also demonstrated excellent upbringing and knowledge in his actions and words.

Ladies and young ladies eagerly invited him to their homes as a guest, after all, they had already learned about this outstanding pianist, highly praised by Heine, from the Paris newspapers a year ago.

Although he only has one piece, even from Heine’s mouth, based on just this one piece ”The Clock”, Arthur Hastings is already enough to stand among the top figures in the European piano world.

As for Liszt, that second-rate fellow...

Ha!

Simply the second Arthur Hastings!

No matter how hard untalented people try, how many compositions they create, they cannot compare to the brilliance of a genius.

If only Heine praised Hastings’ talent, perhaps it could be considered an exception.

However, even such renowned European pianists as Chopin and Mendelssohn, when speaking of Hastings, do not hesitate to lavish praises on his musical talent.

Although Arthur considers himself not musically inclined, and usually does not boast about his music.

But in the arts circle, it’s all about the connections!

I don’t have much creative ability, nor can I boast extensive playing skills, but my social connections are excellent!

In the literary criticism circle, Heine hypes him up.

In the literary creation circle, Chopin and Mendelssohn back him up.

In the performance circle, the principal tenor Mr. Nourri at the Paris Opera House, for the sake of Garibaldi and others’ successful transfer, also restrains from speaking ill of the Sir.

With a support group like this, let alone if the pianist is Arthur Hastings, even if you place a monkey at the piano, the audience would still be willing to pay for tickets to see what it’s all about.

After all, a monkey playing the piano, if nothing else, is at least quite a spectacle.

Despite Arthur repeatedly emphasizing to the ladies that his talent is not even a fraction of Liszt’s, unfortunately, no one believes him, considering it merely a modest remark.

Moreover, these romantically inclined and delicate ladies also perceive a hint of melancholy in Arthur’s eyes, but they unfortunately misinterpret it.

There are many factors causing a person’s melancholy, some due to nature, some due to heartbreak, some because their talents are not understood, and some because of the fear of being sent to colonial institutions in India, Australia or Canada as clerks.

But regardless of the reason, at least on the surface, Sir Arthur Hastings is indeed a perfect and impeccable genius.

Such a virtuous person, who, in his spare time from studying electromagnetism and music, also part-times as a policeman, could not help but earn the director’s reverence.

Could a genius do such a menial job so well?

The director doesn’t look down on his own work; the officers are certainly noble and well-educated gentlemen, but the people they deal with daily are a group of indescribably vulgar riffraff.

Arthur casually picked up the ”Police Regulations” on the table, flipped through a few pages, then squinted and chuckled: ”My dear has been completely stolen by Sergei Nikolaevich.”

”Who? Who are you talking about?”

”Ah?” Arthur pretended to be casual: ”Colonel Shubinsky, do you know him?”

”Are you talking about our Moscow gendarmerie supervisor Shubinsky?”

”Exactly, it’s him.” Arthur pointed to a few lines in the ”Police Regulations”: ”You know Shubinsky used to work at the London embassy, right? Before he was transferred back to Moscow from London, he borrowed some police manuals from me. I asked him what he wanted them for, and he told me: ’Buddy, I’m taking them to Russia to teach a few of your students.’”

The police director, recalling this, immediately remembered the suggestion submitted by the Third Bureau a couple of years ago on improving the Russian police system.

After the Tsar reviewed the report, he asked the Home Office to revise the Russian ”Police Regulations” according to the Third Bureau’s suggestions. And the contents Arthur pointed out were included during that major revision.

The director became increasingly respectful towards Arthur: ”Oh my, you... I didn’t expect to meet the founding master today.”

Arthur laughed and asked him: ”Have you been diligently implementing these regulations?”

”Enforcing them, of course, but...” the director started pouring his grievances to Arthur, about how tough his job is: ”But you know, regulations are regulations, and when it comes to actual implementation, there are always situations conflicting with the regulations. Especially in Russia, whenever this happens, regulations have to make way for human emotions.”

Arthur curiously asked: ”What kind of situations are you talking about? I thought these regulations were fairly just, like providing reasons for prolonged detention, for example...”

”Of course, your regulations couldn’t be better written; even if Dante and Shakespeare were called upon, they might not match your eloquence.” The director sighed: ”But let me give you an example. Like the series of cases we’ve been handling recently. Have you heard any rumors? We’ve arrested quite a few people recently along with the gendarmerie.”