The Shadow of Great Britain

Eld whistled, ”You’ve certainly written yourself into constitutional history, Charles.”

Dickens couldn’t help but smile, looking happier than receiving his manuscript fees.

He had always had such a desire; ever since he was a court clerk, he fantasized that one day he could also influence the politics of this country. Because of this, he later chose to become an investigative journalist at a newspaper, and even when writing novels, he always chose realistic themes.

Having suffered hardships in his early years and seen much of the world’s coldness and the suffering of the lower classes, he wanted nothing more than to do his best to make Britain a better place for the rest of his life.

Even though Dickens’ background was far better than Arthur’s, this did not mean his childhood was much better than that of a pig farmer in the countryside.

Dickens’ father was an employee in the Navy Department’s supply office. Although he didn’t hold any leadership positions, this job on Great Britain Island was more than enough compared to many others.

Unfortunately, his father was a terrible gambler, and when Dickens was 12 years old, his father was imprisoned in Southwark’s debtors’ prison due to his inability to repay gambling debts. According to the social norms of Britain, Dickens’ mother and young siblings could only live with him in the prison.

But the 12-year-old Dickens clearly did not belong to the category of young children. To help pay off his father’s gambling debts, he was forced to drop out of school and went to work in a shoe polish factory, where he was responsible for labeling shoe polish cans. He worked six days a week, ten hours a day, earning a daily wage of 1 shilling. On weekends, he would spend the whole day with his parents at the debtors’ prison with his sister Frances.

A few months later, Dickens’ grandmother unfortunately passed away, leaving an inheritance of 450 pounds to his father, and with this money, Dickens’ parents were finally released from prison.

Just when Dickens thought he could leave the shoe polish factory, his mother insisted that he return to work. At that time, Dickens’ sister Frances was admitted to the Royal Music Academy, with an annual tuition of 38 guineas. The family could barely afford her tuition, and Dickens’ help was needed, so they truly had no extra capacity to send him to school.

As a result, Dickens had to continue working in the shoe polish factory for another two years, until his sister graduated, he was then sent to Wellington House College in Camden to continue his education. Although Dickens did not hold a grudge against his sister for this, the two almost exchanged letters every few days to ask about each other, but this did not prevent Dickens from hating his mother.

Though Dickens often joked in front of others about his childhood: ”My job then was to label shoe polish tins: first cover them with a layer of oil paper, then wrap them in blue paper, tie them tightly with fine string, and trim the edges neatly until the tins looked as delicate as a pharmacy’s ointment jars. After finishing dozens of such perfect tins, I would label each with a printed tag before moving on to process more tins. Downstairs were two or three other boys doing the same work for the same meager wages. On a Monday morning, one boy came upstairs, wearing a tattered apron and a paper hat, teaching me how to tie a knot with string. His name was Bob Fagin, and long after, I daringly used his name in ’Oliver Twist’.”

At first glance, it looks like he had forgotten the past miseries.

However, judging from his views on marriage expressed in front of friends — ”Fathers should dominate family affairs, while mothers need to find the appropriate place within the family” — the knot in his heart always remained, and he never forgave his mother.

Yet, fortunately in the misfortune, although Dickens suffered a lot because of his mother’s decision, it also allowed him to gather a wide array of realistic writing materials, and his childhood experiences destined him to stand by the lower class for the rest of his life, no matter how much money he would earn later on.

Recalling his past experiences, Dickens’ happy smile slowly turned somewhat bitter.

The smile on his face began to slowly retreat, and his brows unconsciously furrowed: ”If Her Majesty the Queen wants to hear my thoughts on the new Poor Law, I indeed have a lot to say. Only that...”

Dickens suddenly looked up at Arthur: ”Is it convenient on your side?”

Dickens didn’t finish his sentence, but Arthur understood what he meant.

Just as the reform of Parliament was the historical achievement of the Radical Party, the new Poor Law was equally their core accomplishment.

And recently, the discussion in the House of Lords about the new Poor Law has been especially intense.

Although this bill was passed in 1834, the implementation of the new bill required a buffer period, and the real thorough implementation of this bill nationwide precisely happened by the end of last year.

Since the new law began full implementation, from the seventy or eighty-year-old seniors to the two or three-year-old toddlers, as long as they are recipients of relief, they must be sent to the Poorhouse to receive relief, and are no longer allowed to receive outdoor relief at home like before.

Moreover, the Poorhouse strictly enforced gender segregation inside, and the separation of families began to be massively implemented, regardless if you are husband and wife or mother and son, or father and daughter, as long as you are in the Poorhouse, you cannot live together.

These provisions are naturally regarded as harsh governance; the Poorhouse even began to be referred to as the ”New Bastille.” In Devonshire, the local poor even began to believe a rumor that relief officials intentionally mixed poisonous ingredients into the Poorhouse bread.