The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1770: Chapter 88: The London University System’s Decline

The die is cast.

— Julius Caesar

Arthur was unlike Eld in how much importance he placed on his ancestry. After all, this Yorkshire farmer was quite clear about his origins. He knew his surname was Hastings, but before he adopted the surname Hastings, he did not know what it was.

Even if he had some blood relation with the Hastings Family, it was through his uncle, who had connections with the Hastings Family in his late years when his mind was no longer clear.

As for himself?

Sorry, the education he received at the University of London did not allow him to take pride in noble blood, especially when it’s just a name.

In the eyes of the students, teachers, and founders at the University of London, relying on nepotism to advance was considered disgraceful. Even though many of them were from the nobility or knightly class themselves, such as Eld, the Earl of Dalmo, and Lord Brougham.

But perhaps precisely because of this, when they achieved success, they were even less inclined to associate with noble forces.

Indeed, they preferred others to view their success as the result of their own efforts.

Take Lord Brougham as an example, this fellow who was born into a Scottish lawyer’s family, who was so fond of Arthur, perhaps because he saw a reflection of his own youth in Arthur.

Brougham had shown a passion for science in his youth, and at the age of 17, during his first year of employment, he published an optics paper in the Royal Society Journal, which drew the attention of the natural philosophy community.

As he continued to publish several papers on light, color, and prisms, Brougham was smoothly elected as a member of the Royal Society at the age of 25. Just when everyone thought a new brilliant young talent had emerged in British natural philosophy, Brougham unexpectedly put his interest in science aside and turned to study law. Just two years later, he passed the examination and was appointed a practicing lawyer in Scotland.

During his studies, Brougham began to try writing for a living to support himself.

His first paper discussed colonial economic policy, and it was from this time that he suddenly discovered an interest in economics and went on to establish the future Whig Party left-wing mouthpiece, the Edinburgh Review.

While writing for the Edinburgh Review, Brougham would occasionally take time to write natural philosophy papers attacking Thomas Young’s arguments on the wave nature of light, or mock the claims of Sir William Herschel, head of the Royal Observatory, opposing the ”connection between the number of sunspots and wheat prices.”

Of course, Lord Brougham’s interests were not confined to this; besides natural philosophy and economic colonial policy, his articles in the Edinburgh Review often explored literature, poetry, surgery, mathematics, and art.

And after Brougham was elected as the President of the British Lawyers Association and helped the Queen win the divorce case against the King, he took on the role of leader in the abolition and religious liberation movements, although he couldn’t gain much support in Parliament due to his radical views.

However, he soon shifted his focus to the public. Joining forces with Jeremy Bentham, the Earl of Dalmo, and others, Lord Brougham eventually founded the ”Atheist Academy on Gower Street,” the University of London.

”Portrait of the First Lord Brougham and Vaux,” painted by British artist Thomas Lawrence in 1825.

In British society across various segments, whether Tory or Whig Party, whether the upper class or lower class, or even Brougham’s supporters among the middle class; whether you liked him or disliked him, everyone was willing to acknowledge that Henry Peter Brougham was a remarkably brilliant figure.

Even a world-renowned scholar like Faraday often lamented that if Lord Brougham had focused his main energy on research, his achievements might have approached those of Isaac Newton.

But unfortunately, just like his student Arthur Hastings, Lord Brougham had such wide-ranging interests that after reaching excellence in each field, he was irresistibly drawn to explore other areas.

For instance, he recently invented a new carriage, the ”Broham Carriage,” for which he had already obtained a patent.

This is a four-wheeled enclosed carriage designed specifically for the middle class, far more comfortable than the travel carriages currently available on the market.

”Broham Carriage”

More absurdly, when Arthur personally saw this carriage, he realized that this classic Victorian carriage design was actually his teacher’s creation.

To support his teacher’s business, this chairman of the Empire Publishing Board placed an order for three carriages as soon as they hit the market: one for personal use, one as a company vehicle, and one ordered on behalf of Eld.

Typically speaking, apart from buying a house, which was usually a rare occasion for large expenses, Sir Arthur Hastings seldom made such large expenditures.

Even the house was purchased because Lionel offered him an unmissable bargain, which compelled Arthur to ”ruthlessly” acquire it.

But this time, when buying carriages, Arthur not only refused Lord Brougham’s proactive offer of a twenty percent discount but even ordered three of them at once.