The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1580: Chapter 15: The Publishing Empire of “British

Although public opinion holds terrifying power, it is created by a group of ignorant and complacent fools. I know hundreds of journalists, most of whose personal opinions are worthless, but when they speak on behalf of their newspapers, those opinions become the opinions of the newspaper and thus, their words become thunderous predictions that shake society.

——Mark Twain

While much of the editorial team at “The British” were gleefully engrossed in the gossip about Arthur’s sudden “spring awakening,” the protagonist himself, Sir Arthur Hastings, had little interest in participating.

Two years of “exile” in Europe taught him a lot. Long-term isolation from the power center, the vengeful feeling of being snubbed by White Hall, and the sense of loss like “out of sight, out of mind” after losing his official position intertwined, ultimately turning into a huge driving force compelling him to act.

However, due to his personality, Arthur did not forget the principle of eating one’s meal bite by bite.

Informing Mary Taglioni and Michael Faraday of his introduction to Kensington Palace was certainly important; benefiting from his network through mutual benefit and reciprocity was also a strategic action Arthur had long adhered to.

But after the Tower of London incident, Fleet Street attacked him en masse. After the Caucasus incident, British public opinion collectively reversed its personal evaluation of him. All of this profoundly reminded Arthur of the reasoning “three men make a tiger, many mouths melt gold, accumulated destruction erodes bones, people’s words are to be feared.”

If we mention the differences between the industrial era and the previous agricultural era that mankind experienced, it’s naturally the improvement in productivity.

However, the word productivity is indeed too hollow; if described more specifically, it refers to the enhancement in work efficiency brought about by changes in production methods.

And the most direct manifestation of improved work efficiency is that the speed and breadth of information dissemination have reached unprecedented levels.

Readers in St. Petersburg can easily understand changes in the British literary scene from a month ago, London citizens who’ve never stepped out of England feel sympathy for the struggles of Caucasus Mountain People thousands of miles away, and ladies in New York are concerned about fashion recommendations in Paris across the Atlantic, meanwhile in South America’s Rio de Janeiro, Italian immigrants have just welcomed the failed Genoese uprising leader, one of the Young Italy leaders, Giuseppe Garibaldi, with heroic treatment.

In such a crazy era, in a world increasingly connected by newspapers, magazines, and various advanced communication methods, “The British,” with an issue circulation of 80,000, is gradually becoming an unignorable force within British society.

Considering “The British”‘s affiliated publications like “Economist” and “Nature,” combined with Britain’s population of 25 million, it means that out of every 1,000 Britons, 3.2 are long-term subscribers of “The British”.

If we further consider the prevalent existence of private libraries and the spread by tavern storytellers, even under conservative estimates, “The British”‘s cultural penetration within British society should easily break through 1%.

In numerical terms, one percent isn’t particularly striking, but it must be noted that this is the result “The British” achieved under Britain’s overall literacy rate of 55%. Furthermore, as a magazine headquartered in London, its penetration into London society, and the social influence obtained by having readers located at Britain’s power center in London, could only appear more splendid than the overall paper data shows.

Moreover, from a historical perspective examining this newly founded magazine agency which quickly achieved significant commercial success, under the lead of long-term authors like Dickens, Great Dumas, Disraeli, Andersen, Mrs. Shelley, Stendhal, Heine, Tennyson, and with the continually rising literacy rate in British society as the backdrop, the current success of “The British” is merely a starting point.

Additionally, having John Stuart Mill and other utilitarian economists at the helm of “Economist,” its influence on London’s Financial City cannot be overlooked.

As for the natural philosophy periodical “Nature”?

Though this periodical was founded only a year ago, don’t forget that it was born with the gold spoon of the “Gottingen All-European Electromagnetic Conference.”

The Central Europe review editors of “Nature” are John Gauss and William Weber, its Nordic editors are Jons Berzelius and Hans Oersted, while review work for Western Europe is managed by Jean Alarco and Simeon Denis Poisson.

As for the manuscript review in Britain and North America?

Sorry, naturally that task falls to Michael Faraday, Charles Wheatstone, and Sir Arthur Hastings.

But talking back, although “The British” series magazines are attacking on all fronts in various fields, whether in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Stockholm, through to Saint Petersburg and Moscow, Arthur Hastings is regarded as an outstanding publisher. He even leveraged the influence of Washington Irving and Eld Carter to successfully showcase the unique charm of “The British” to North American readers and dolphins in South America.

The commercial achievements he has attained in Britain’s publishing industry made veteran powerhouses like “The Times,” “Manchester Guardian,” “Blackwood’s” and “Edinburgh Review” quite wary.