The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1783 - 94: University of London Hastings College

Eld clicked his tongue, momentarily forgetting to smoke, and only regained his composure after a while.

Indeed, after a mere three days, one must view a gentleman with new eyes.

In just five short years, Arthur Hastings, who once was a destitute university student renting a place in Bloomsbury, who had to scrounge up meals every weekend with friends, has now risen to prominence, reaching the point where he can influence the allocation of civil service positions in the Navy Department.

Eld felt a deep sense of emotion and immediately intended to celebrate: "How about going to the Alhambra Theater to watch ballet tonight? It’s such a pity that your private box is always empty."

"I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it tonight." Arthur withdrew his gaze from the car window, gently stroking the eagle head of his cane with his fingers, "I must attend a cocktail party tonight, arranged by the Marquis of Hastings. It’s said to be a family reunion, where I’ll meet those relatives I’ve never encountered."

Eld, upon hearing this, instantly widened his eyes: "You’re... making familial connections already? I thought this would take much longer."

Arthur put on his white gloves with his head lowered: "I’m not in a hurry, but the Marquis of Hastings is, especially since the position of Chief Instructor at the London Police Academy has recently become vacant. Just like the civil service positions in the Navy Department, many are eyeing it. A few days ago, some seasoned Police Chiefs from Scotland Yard even privately approached me to discuss this."

Eld nodded half-understandingly: "It seems they have the same thoughts as I do. Those who have worked long at the front lines deserve to have their achievements rewarded, yet if things don’t go well, the responsibility lies with you. Come to think of it, being a Police Chief at Scotland Yard may sound prestigious, but surely nothing beats sitting comfortably in an office at the school."

At this point, Eld sensed something amiss: "Arthur, what does the vacancy at the Police Academy have to do with the Marquis of Hastings?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow: "What kind of question is that? Then let me ask you, what does a vacancy at the Hydrographic Office have to do with you as a sailor? Good positions are always sought after, and even the Chief Instructor at the Police Academy, no matter how undesirable, is paid by the Home Office, plus it gives a reputation in academia. If one has thick skin, why wouldn’t you say you’re a university professor? After all, the professors at the Police Academy are officially drawn from the University of London."

The history of the London Police Academy, when discussed, isn’t complicated.

Simply put, it was created by Sir Arthur Hastings during his tenure at Scotland Yard to enhance the quality of active police officers and to cultivate senior commanders of professional police forces.

As the first systematic police training institute in Britain, the academy had not received any public governmental funding nor displayed any official signage till now.

Everyone understood that establishing an officially funded police academy in 19th-century Britain would be tantamount to a suicidal political gamble, as the British public at the time regarded a "police state" as a barbaric invention of Napoleonic France. The idea of police, considered a necessary evil, was best kept out of the public eye.

Hence, Arthur skillfully maneuvered the situation by leveraging the cooperation between Scotland Yard and the University of London. He camouflaged the police training program under various seemingly purely academic, and even somewhat mundane titles: such as "Fundamentals of Criminal Psychology," "Urban Management and Public Safety," "City Hygiene and Order Maintenance," and even "Crime Scene Evidence Preservation and Forensic Analysis," all taught under the guise of academic instruction.

The list of course instructors often included names of the most prestigious professors and scholars from the University of London, which effectively clothed the police training program in an air of academic integrity and neutrality, successfully mitigating public skepticism and criticism.

For the University of London, this commissioned collaboration was not without benefits.

On one hand, the teaching funds provided by Scotland Yard discreetly filled the university’s accounts, substantially alleviating the financial strain the burgeoning institution had faced over the long term.

On the other hand, these incumbent professors and instructors had gained an excellent channel to forge good relations with governmental departments. After all, those receiving training at this academy were either promising young professionals or influential mid-level police officers at Scotland Yard, and they were poised to ascend to higher positions in the near future.

Of course, all this must remain undisclosed. Should the public discover that a so-called institution of liberal learning was secretly recruiting faculty for the police academy and offering it shelter, then perhaps...

All in all, Fleet Street would certainly revel in such news, and even the Empire Publishing Company might struggle to keep things under control.

However, Arthur intends to use this opportunity to make the matter public, eliminating any future troubles.

Of course, the publicizing doesn’t mean that the London Police Academy is formally open to the public. Instead, it refers to his plan to give back to his alma mater, the University of London, by donating all the stocks of the Great Western Railway Company he holds. He aims to fund a new college for his alma mater through personal sponsorship.

According to the common naming convention for new colleges in British universities, it is named after the sponsor.

Therefore, the name of this new college will be Hastings College of the University of London.

Unlike other colleges, the main educational mission of Hastings College will focus mainly on social adult education. It will serve as an institution that undertakes business training and lectures for large companies and government departments.

Of course, since this new college’s name is not yet well-known, and its teaching quality has not received widespread social recognition, its main client for now is only Scotland Yard.

There’s a Dean of Instruction at Hastings College named Hastings. Other than Sir Arthur Hastings, the sponsor also includes the Marquis of Hastings. This shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Eld does not know Arthur’s calculations in his heart. Compared to who the new Dean of Instruction of the Police Academy is, he is more concerned about the well-promulgated street rumor.

"Speaking of..." Eld thought of the matter, immediately feeling nauseated: "Arthur, is it true that we’re going to merge with King’s College?"

Arthur merely nodded lightly: "There are people in the Whig Party pushing it from behind. I heard that Chancellor of the Exchequer Thomas Rice strongly supports this proposal, and Viscount Melbourne also thinks that the merger of the two schools is a good idea. However, since Lord Brougham just stepped down, they can’t push the case too hastily. Besides, it seems that Home Secretary Lord John Russell doesn’t like this idea either. You know, with Lord Brougham’s departure, Russell is now the leader of the reformist faction in the Whig Party. I don’t think he’ll make concessions on the school merger issue anytime soon."

Eld felt slightly relieved upon hearing this: "After all, it’s the two Jacks of the Whig Party, ’Radical Jack’ Earl of Dalmo and ’Final Jack’ Lord John Russell. He probably despises King’s College as much as we do... But... can he stop this?"

Arthur lit a match: "Hard to say. Since Viscount Melbourne came to power, he’s been trying hard to ease relations with the King. But appeasing the King on other issues is too risky and might provoke a wave of opposition within the party. Relatively, merging the University of London with King’s College into a new London University is already the least risky option. Moreover, he has a plausible reason, saying it’s to better coordinate London’s higher education resources to build a quality university that can compete with other top universities. Besides, according to his idea, the only loss for the University of London is a name change, and the two schools would essentially still operate separately."

"Just a name change? That’s easy for him to say." Eld could hardly resist cursing Viscount Melbourne’s ancestors for eight generations, but when the foul words were at the tip of his tongue, he was caught in a dilemma over whether to curse Melbourne’s biological father or his legal one: "Why should we change our name? University of London’s original name, if crowned on King’s College’s head, calling them King’s College London University, it would merely stick gold on those heirs’ faces."

Arthur glanced at Eld and his lips twitched slightly: "That’s not even the most absurd part. According to the merger plan proposed by those people, merging University College London and King’s College is just the first step. In the coming years, they plan to integrate all schools related to education in London under one name, and call it the London University Alliance."

Eld was completely stunned, nearly dropping the pipe from his mouth: "Alliance? Did I hear wrong? Are you sure you’re not joking with me? Are they planning to merge Haileybury Theological College and the London Business and Shipping School too? I’m not keen on getting the same degree certificate as those baldies holding the Bible or the little scribes."

Arthur shook his head helplessly: "As far as I know, Viscount Melbourne himself is not very interested in higher education. This plan was actually copied from France by Chancellor of the Exchequer Thomas Rice. They thought the University of Paris’s united system was suitable for London, so they were eager to set up an experimental field here."

Listening to this, Eld couldn’t help but grit his teeth and snort: "Those people dare to import any nonsense into London. I bet there’s even credit to Foreign Secretary Palmerston here. Doesn’t he always believe that Britain and France should learn the strengths from each other? He actually thinks the French have strengths. This man must have drunk too much of Paris’s horse urine."

Arthur burst into laughter at the mention of Palmerston’s name: "Although I don’t like that old Cupid either, I don’t think Palmerston would care about school affairs. However, someone from inside the Cabinet tipped me off that the real mastermind behind this idea is Trade Commission Chairman Charles Thomson. He thinks our University of London’s talent cultivation model is too liberal, not at all meeting the British business community’s needs for technicians. He hopes we would learn from the Prussian technical college system to train more obedient and compliant employees in the future."

"Prussians!" Eld’s face looked even more grim: "German-trained technicians? First step, confirm environmental temperature. Second step, verify whether the screw material matches the valve. Third step, measure the diameter of that thing. Then, after spending an entire afternoon, they ultimately just turn the valve from ’closed’ to ’open’?"

"Enough, Eld, don’t be so harsh. It’s not like we don’t have Prussian friends."

"You should be enough, Arthur. Heinrich swears at the Prussians much harsher than I do." Eld said, becoming more restless: "Arthur, you’re the Dean of Academic Affairs. You can’t just stand by and watch our beloved alma mater be ruined by those bastards from King’s College, can you? Mr. Jeremy Bentham’s remains are sitting in the hall. If the school really merges, do you still dare to face him directly?"

Arthur had anticipated Eld’s reaction because when he first heard the news, he hadn’t felt much better than Eld.

He motioned for Eld to sit down: "Don’t rush, Eld. Whether the schools merge or not can’t be decided by just a few people. Besides, have you forgotten? I recently got a new Dean of Instruction for the Police Academy. Although the Hastings family is not as prominent as it used to be, after all, they still have some standing in the Tory Party. The Marquis of Hastings served as Chamberlain to His Majesty the King, and his sister, my dear cousin Miss Flora Hastings, is a Maid to the Duchess of Kent... and as for me, well, let’s just wait and see."