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Authors: Johnny O'Brien
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believe I’ve got myself captured…”
“What do you mean, he’s a traitor?” Jack tried to bring Fleming back to Backhouse.
“Aye, well… Backhouse was high up in the CPS… you know with all the Science Lords.”
“CPS?”
The Captain looked at Jack oddly. “You really have missed out on your education, haven’t you, my lad? CPS stands for ‘Cambridge Philosophical Society’ – they are a very powerful group of men. They advise the British government.” He put a hand up to his mouth and whispered conspiratorially, “Some say they pretty much are the British government…”
“Oh?”
“Charles Babbage is the President of the CPS – has been forthirty years.” The captain saw the confused look on Jack’s face, “Now don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Babbage? Inventor of the Difference Engine, the internal combustion engine, harnessing electrical energy, new weapons for the army and navy and of course, manned flight…”
“What? You’ve got planes as well?” Angus blurted out, then held a guilty hand to his mouth, which failed to disguise his astonishment.
The captain frowned, “You two… I mean, have you never been in the real world?”
“It’s complicated…” Angus said.
Jack frowned and tried to move the captain on, “The CPS – are they the source of all these inventions – the weapons, steam engines, cars, electricity…? When, er, when did it start, I mean, when did they start inventing all these things?”
The captain’s brow furrowed. “It started when I was a nipper. Now my father always used to say that in the old days Babbage was considered a bit of a joke – an eccentric. Ordinary folk didn’t like him much, but then, in the 1830s all that changed. He, and his fellow scientists in the CPS, started to produce inventions, designs, machines… the most incredible scientific advances… they changed the world. It all started at the Trinity Conference…”
“What was that?” blurted Angus.
“Oh, it was a very significant event. March 31st 1836, in the Wren Library at Trinity College in Cambridge. It was the first CPS conference, when Babbage first announced some of the most amazing inventions that the CPS had created. All the top brass were there – it took the world by storm.”
“Do you remember it?” said Jack.
“Yes – well I’m too young to remember it – but my father talks about it to this day and about the rumours that started circulating soon after. Some people thought the inventions were magic… or witchcraft even. All I can say is had Babbage and the other members of the CPS been anything other than British – it would have been the end of the British Empire and probably the end of us, because the scientific and military advances were profound.”
“So where does Josiah Backhouse fit in?”
“An interesting story. Backhouse was in the CPS, close to Babbage, some say he was his right-hand man. I believe he was actually at the Trinity Conference. But then something happened. He was a Christian – nothing wrong with that of course – but he was fanatical.” The captain tapped his temple with a finger. “Not all there, they say. Anyway, when he heard about this Taiping Rebellion, here in China, and that they were fellow Christians fighting a civil war against the corrupt Imperial dynasty, he decided he would make it his mission to help them. Didn’t know he was here in Shanghai, mind you.”
“They accepted him, then?” Jack interrupted. “The Taiping rebels, I mean?”
“There are a few supporters of the Taiping in Europe and England… missionaries, Christians. And Backhouse had something to offer the Taiping.”
“What was that?” Angus said.
“He was close to Babbage, so he knew all about these incredible CPS inventions and how they were starting to makeuse of them as machines… and weapons. He started passing some of the secrets of these discoveries to the Taiping. At first the CPS and the British government had no
“What do you mean, he’s a traitor?” Jack tried to bring Fleming back to Backhouse.
“Aye, well… Backhouse was high up in the CPS… you know with all the Science Lords.”
“CPS?”
The Captain looked at Jack oddly. “You really have missed out on your education, haven’t you, my lad? CPS stands for ‘Cambridge Philosophical Society’ – they are a very powerful group of men. They advise the British government.” He put a hand up to his mouth and whispered conspiratorially, “Some say they pretty much are the British government…”
“Oh?”
“Charles Babbage is the President of the CPS – has been forthirty years.” The captain saw the confused look on Jack’s face, “Now don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Babbage? Inventor of the Difference Engine, the internal combustion engine, harnessing electrical energy, new weapons for the army and navy and of course, manned flight…”
“What? You’ve got planes as well?” Angus blurted out, then held a guilty hand to his mouth, which failed to disguise his astonishment.
The captain frowned, “You two… I mean, have you never been in the real world?”
“It’s complicated…” Angus said.
Jack frowned and tried to move the captain on, “The CPS – are they the source of all these inventions – the weapons, steam engines, cars, electricity…? When, er, when did it start, I mean, when did they start inventing all these things?”
The captain’s brow furrowed. “It started when I was a nipper. Now my father always used to say that in the old days Babbage was considered a bit of a joke – an eccentric. Ordinary folk didn’t like him much, but then, in the 1830s all that changed. He, and his fellow scientists in the CPS, started to produce inventions, designs, machines… the most incredible scientific advances… they changed the world. It all started at the Trinity Conference…”
“What was that?” blurted Angus.
“Oh, it was a very significant event. March 31st 1836, in the Wren Library at Trinity College in Cambridge. It was the first CPS conference, when Babbage first announced some of the most amazing inventions that the CPS had created. All the top brass were there – it took the world by storm.”
“Do you remember it?” said Jack.
“Yes – well I’m too young to remember it – but my father talks about it to this day and about the rumours that started circulating soon after. Some people thought the inventions were magic… or witchcraft even. All I can say is had Babbage and the other members of the CPS been anything other than British – it would have been the end of the British Empire and probably the end of us, because the scientific and military advances were profound.”
“So where does Josiah Backhouse fit in?”
“An interesting story. Backhouse was in the CPS, close to Babbage, some say he was his right-hand man. I believe he was actually at the Trinity Conference. But then something happened. He was a Christian – nothing wrong with that of course – but he was fanatical.” The captain tapped his temple with a finger. “Not all there, they say. Anyway, when he heard about this Taiping Rebellion, here in China, and that they were fellow Christians fighting a civil war against the corrupt Imperial dynasty, he decided he would make it his mission to help them. Didn’t know he was here in Shanghai, mind you.”
“They accepted him, then?” Jack interrupted. “The Taiping rebels, I mean?”
“There are a few supporters of the Taiping in Europe and England… missionaries, Christians. And Backhouse had something to offer the Taiping.”
“What was that?” Angus said.
“He was close to Babbage, so he knew all about these incredible CPS inventions and how they were starting to makeuse of them as machines… and weapons. He started passing some of the secrets of these discoveries to the Taiping. At first the CPS and the British government had no
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