Chapter 2385 - 311: The Thames River Cannot Flow Backward

To some extent, the recent public-opinion offensive Arthur launched on Fleet Street was indeed not only because the Whig Party had pissed him off; there was also the consideration of giving backing to Disraeli.

Ironically enough, as a Conservative Party Member, Disraeli has lately been supporting a new round of Parliament reform in the Lower House. On issues such as amending the parliamentary term and introducing secret ballots, the Young England under his leadership has actually come out openly in support of the Charter Party’s petition, and Disraeli himself, in a forty-five-minute speech in the Lower House, delivered an energetic and brilliant defense of the arguments in the Charter Party’s petition.

Even more ironic is that, after defending the Charter Party, Disraeli turned around and solemnly cast a vote against that very petition in the Lower House.

Still, although Disraeli did not support all of the Charter Party’s demands in the vote, he has indeed been repeatedly voicing the need for further reform, for example shortening the parliamentary term to three years and immediately implementing a secret-ballot system.

Disraeli’s proposals have also created an extremely paradoxical atmosphere in the Lower House; many newspapers on Fleet Street could not resist the sarcasm: "Nowadays, the Conservative Party is more liberal than the Whig Party, while the Whig Party is more conservative than the Conservative Party."

Of course, in politics one can never just stay on the surface. Disraeli’s positions may be progressive, but the reason he is progressive is naturally that social progress helps consolidate his status in British politics.

People like Arthur, Disraeli, and Dickens all belong to that type of darlings now being enthusiastically extolled by public opinion in British society.

To put it in official parlance, they all belong to "Representatives who have emerged from among the people."

To phrase it in terms the public finds easier to grasp, they are all "one of us."

With the unfolding of the Industrial Revolution, individuals who rise from poverty through self-education and attain wealth and prominent social status are constantly emerging in society.

And as more and more such people appear, their existence has also inspired the lower and middle classes, convincing them that poverty is often the result of personal laziness, and that as long as one works hard enough, anyone can, through tireless struggle, change their own fate.

Thus, with this mindset, the general public naturally tends to see these comrades who have defied fate through their own efforts as role models and leaders.

So, for people like Arthur and Disraeli, continuing to deepen parliamentary reform inherently aligns with their interests; and Arthur’s long-standing refusal to accept a Nobility title is, to some degree, because he is unwilling to lose the "commoner" label attached to him.

As for Disraeli, as a Lower House Member, his need for popular support is clearly more urgent at present.

Compared with those Members of distinguished birth, Disraeli’s advantage lies in his status as a novelist and his middle-class family background.

If voting rights can be further expanded and open voting abolished, the grip of the Nobility, who rely on traditional power, over their constituencies will grow weaker and weaker. Correspondingly, new-style Members like Disraeli, who command newspapers and publishing channels, will become ever more numerous.

Thus Disraeli knows perfectly well that, at this critical juncture, helping the Charter Party and the Radical Party means helping himself—let alone the fact that his constituency is located in worker-concentrated Tower Hamlets.

So, even though he is a Member of the Conservative Party, he still has to step forward to speak for them, reinforcing his identity label as a Representative of public opinion.

Judging from the current results, this move of Disraeli’s has worked quite well.

At least in the short term, there is absolutely no chance for the Whig Party to overwhelm Disraeli in Tower Hamlets.

Of course, the reason Disraeli dares to openly strike a discordant note within the Conservative Party, apart from his character that refuses to remain subordinate, is more importantly that his dire financial situation has already greatly improved, and he no longer needs to heavily rely on funding from the Central Party Group.

Ever since he announced his engagement to the forty-six-year-old wealthy merchant’s widow, Mrs. Mary Anne Lewis, this Mrs. Lewis, who regards Disraeli as her everything, immediately stepped in to clear his debts totaling as much as 13,000 British Pounds.

So lavish was this gesture, so swift the action, that even Arthur and other friends, on seeing it, could not help exclaiming that young Benjamin had struck it rich this time.

It must be remembered that what Mrs. Lewis put up was 13,000 British Pounds in cash, not assets such as stocks, options, or real estate.

More importantly, judging from the current state of affairs, paying out 13,000 Pounds does not seem to have caused any real strain for Mrs. Lewis. She and her little fiancé still live in that large mansion on Piccadilly Square, and Disraeli’s habit of spending money lavishly has not only failed to improve, it has even shown a tendency to grow more extravagant.

In the past, each time Disraeli went to Jermyn Street it was merely to pick out some clothes; nowadays, he not only picks clothes, he will even casually buy jewelry, and has begun dipping into the field of artworks that he had previously not dared approach.

By marrying Mrs. Lewis, Disraeli has greatly eased his financial strain.

Maintaining his traditional friendship with Arthur has helped him stabilize his social profile, and through England’s Internal Affairs System many troublesome matters in his election campaigns can be smoothed away.

Although at present Disraeli still does not dare challenge party heavyweights like Peel and Wellington, and continues to follow the basic party guidelines on many major issues, it is no longer possible to expect him to embrace all decisions of the Central Party Group as unreservedly as he did in the past.