london 1923

Our order has already reached some heights, and I decided to remember how everything started, what mistakes we made and why we did what we did. As a man who has been holding the fate of dozens of countries and millions of people in his hands, I have the right to add up a few thing or keep silent about some events, however I will write everything as I remember so that those who come after me will learn about massive failures and great successes from a witness and not from those irrelevant legends that always appear due to the sacralization of power.

Until 1878, my life can be described in one word – Boredom. I was two years old when I inherited the title and property from my father the 14th duke of Exeter, and this is the only event worth of describing, before Lord Carnarvon entered my townhouse in St. James Place on 17 January 1978.

The honorable Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, was the Secretary of State for war and Colonies. Carnarvon was visibly worried, which looked funny. We exchanged greetings and knowing my character he went straight to business.

-Don’t you want to go to Africa, solve some issues. - Carnarvon blurted out, and seeing that I wasn’t going to answer, he continued – Sir Bartle was unable to ensure full control over all the territories. It needs to be directed to the right direction or to force the Zulu king to attack our troops or I don’t know… If you agree, that will be your concern. I only know one thing; empire needs that territory under full control. It's essential to the empire, and it can alleviate your famous boredom.

To be honest, from the beginning I thought that Carnarvon had gone crazy, but then I realized that he had thought almost everything trough perfectly. The addressee was chosen perfectly. Firstly, Sir Bartle Frere was absolutely loyal to my family, from his training to the governorship of Bombay, my family helped him and promoted him all the time. Even I, following tradition, recommended him to Carnarvon. And secondly, the commander of the troop, Lord Chelmsford, who served in the Crimean war under my father's command and on my father's recommendation he became a major, considered himself a debtor, and since he failed to repay the debt to the 14th Duke, he owed the 15th Duke, and he considered himself obliged to repay this debt. But Carnarvon did not consider one thing, he asked the laziest man in London to “go” to Africa. I didn’t need money because I was terribly rich because I was the Duke of Exeter, and I didn’t need fame because I was the Duke of Exeter. I was about to politely throw him out, but Carnarvon, realizing my intentions, continued.

- You probably haven’t experienced those sensations when, by manipulating a few, collide tens of thousands and redraw the world map. Know this is really exciting, try Andrew, I think you will like it. - After a moment of silence Carnarvon added - Well, abolishing little Zululand is not quite a redrawing of the world map, but for practice it must come down.

Once again, Carnarvon almost got a point. Not many people, can speak so frankly about their actions for the "good of the empire" as something that can bring personal satisfaction from the process itself, regardless of whether the benefit to the empire is achieved or not. That in itself gave me respect for Carnarvon. His facial expression spoke even louder than words, the minister's usually aloof face began to convey emotion, his eyes sparkled, and his cheeks filled with an unnatural color, reminiscent of a blush. I thought that if distant memories of global manipulation could have such an effect on an old man, then he could beat me and try, maybe my boredom could be dispelled. And yes, Carnarvon was right Zululand is too small field for me, I need something global or at least more, but out loud I answered:

- Milord, I think that your whole idea with an African confederation in the manner of a Canadian one is not entirely correct. This can lead to long-term conflicts. First with the Zulus, and then with the Boers, and your government is not ready for this. As for the Zulu and Zululand, since Shepstone annexed the Transvaal everything has already been decided, no later than a year later, our troops will begin active hostilities on the territory of Zululand.

If you want friendly advice - I would resign, all failures will still be blamed on you, but maybe you will retain influence, or maybe you can beat you to prove that if you had not been forced to resign, you would have coped with the situation , led you had a plan and a special vision. And I will support you, not directly, of course.

If you want friendly advice I would resign, all failures will still be blamed on you, but maybe beat you will retain influence, and might be possible to prove that if you had not been forced to resign you could have coped with the situation, because you had a plan and a special vision. And I will support you, not directly of course.

Carnarvon didn’t think much about what I said, he's probably guessed all this for a while and unexpectedly cheerfully asked:

-What do you think for which official reason should I resign?

-Well, because of the disagreement with Disraeli on the Eastern Question - I replied.

If you thought that as soon as I decided to engage in global manipulation and redrawing of the world map, I immediately deposed the minister of Her Majesty's Government, yes, I pushed for the idea of resignation, and at the same time recruited the first ally.

-Yes great, the question is not related to Africa, but it is extremely important and Disraeli and I have insuperable disagreements on this point. Thank you, Andrew, – Carnarvon, already visibly emboldened an confident, said goodbye and withdrew.

In order for manipulation to become my lifeline from boredom, I needed spectators, people or at least a person with whom I can share successes and talk about plans. I only had one such person, Albert Sackville. Bertie and I met at Eton, and since then he has supported me in all my beginnings. Of course, I went straight to Bertie’s.

-Well Bertie get ready we start a new life – I said instead of greeting and literally relayed the conversation with Carnarvon.

-I don’t know Andrew, I don’t know – Bertie said frowning, and continued -you have started and quit too many times. Why do you think what will work this time? Why would you do that? What’s the point?

-As in what! Power!

-You’re not interested in. power, and you already have enough of it. – Bertie said deliberately half-heartedly.

-Then money!

-You’re probably kidding, right?

-You’re a bad friend, Bertie. - I said irritated, realizing he was right. I would quit this venture a week later, going back to my favorite boredom, I needed something else, something that would make me go on and on, no matter what.

Our scowling silence continued for several minutes and suddenly Bertie’s sister Lizzie bursts in the room.

-I’m sorry, but I inadvertently overheard your conversation and I have a solution. You need a big, no an enormous idea.

-Oh Lizzie! – Bertie sighed heavily, hitting his forehead. – You got wilder in your village.

- Yes, I'm wild, and I like it, unlike the gentle London boys, but secondly, I apologized -Without paying any attention to me, Lizzie continued – You need the right idea to get carried away and captivate others. Without ideas, you get an empty oligarchy, and this is one of the worst forms of state.

-Well then, we need aristocracy we already have.

-No dear brother – this is not an aristocracy according to Plato, that form of government allows only the worthiest to come to power, but now we have timocracy and it is in my opinion even worse than the oligarchy. At the moment, slowly but surely, we are moving towards democracy, which is the worst form of government.

-You are right, Lizzie, now there is a real timocracy – I timidly intervened in the conversation – today the hypocrites rule, and power is the means of appeasing their ambition.

-Hello, your grace, I’m angry with you and I'm not talking to you - Lizzie said wrinkling her nose and turning to Bertie continued - so here's a huge idea we need to save the world from impending democracy. simple, uneducated people are not able to choose their rulers you need to establish the right order of things – after a second of silence suddenly Lizzie cried out - I know the name of your organization: the Right Order - and let them decipher it however they want.

-Wonderful Lizzie – I tried to flatter Lizzie’s anger – this is really what we need, a great name and a great main idea.

-Sir, although I’m mad at you and not talking to you, I will tell you anyway: You are one of those people who can lead the best of people, you are one of those people that the best of the best will follow, and you are sitting and are happy about the fact that you made an old man to resign from a job and it helps with your boredom. I knew that people get stupid with age, but I didn’t think that by the age of twenty-two you can ruin everything. You talk about boredom like decrepit old woman, but in fact you are young, smart, rich and you can do everything. Your grace, you must leave your island of Skyros and begin to act, and more, grow up and instead of Achilles become Alexander and conquer the world to change it and take your Patroclus or Hephaestion with you, let my brother decide for himself.

Proudly straightened, Lady Elizabeth left the room, leaving us stunned.

Of course, I knew the reason for Lizzie’s anger. I hadn’t seen her in two years, but I knew the little girl was in love with me and didn’t want to encourage her. Today in front of me stood not a child, but an intelligent, strong-willed, delightful young lady. To be honest, I was never attracted to female, but this little woman was gorgeous, she seemed to fascinate me. Not by her physical attractiveness, although she was really beautiful, but her determination, her intelligence, an just her brilliant eyes – in our time, most people no longer have eyes shining, and her pale blue eyes sparkles like two suns.

After a few minutes, partially coping with the rushing feelings, I was able to barely speak.

-She’s amazing!

-I always knew my Archilles that when we grew up you would prefer her to me, I just thought we had some more time. I genuinely love you both and there will be no one in the world happier than me when you will be together. I know for a fact, without her, you will never be who you are meant to be.

Bertie and I have always understood each other well, and now Bertie understood everything.

-You must tell her and then I’ll tell her myself

-I’ll say everything tonight – Bertie said and smiled at me with a smile that surprisingly squeezed in pride, sadness, and joy.

We remained silent for a few more minutes and continued to discuss global manipulations.

-You know Lizzie is absolutely right we can really get to democracy, thanks to Disraeli the property qualification is almost abolished, soon it will disappear altogether, and then democracy is not far away and that’s when everything will collapse.

-But we won’t allow that, would we?

-I don’t know if we can counter that. Let’s think things through and continue tomorrow.

-Should I tell Lizzie?

-Of course, there’s no way without her. After all, she is the godmother of our organization.

When we got together again the next day, Lizzie was no longer angry, but still noted – Hello Andrew, I'm still angry with you, but I'm already talking and we took care of the affairs of the Order.

-So, in my opinion, there are to issues on agenda – Bertie began, as if we had already elected him secretary of the meeting – the first to finally form the mission of the order and second to agree on its structure.

Bertie and I, although we led a carefree, idle life, but always hated empty talk, so this beginning of the meeting was the only right way.

-I thought we had already agreed- Lizzie said puzzled and fervently continued – to resist the impending power of the majority to resist the equality of smart and stupid, victims and criminals, villains and decent people. We must ensure that the most deserving will have the power.

-Yes, it’s all true but we can’t! We will not be able to resist the onslaught of democracy or resist the collapse of an empire that is as inevitable in the next hundred years as the sunrise tomorrow morning. – after saying those words, I, myself was frightened, and after looking at the reaction of Bertie and Lizzie I was even more frightened. I decided to say everything as it is – the collapse of the empire will inevitably entail the loss of our personal capital and influence. We can’t prevent the collapse, but we can try to manage the processes and mitigate the consequences.

-I see you have decided to leave the island of Skyros – Lizzie said directing at me the dazzling brilliance of her eyes. For the sake of this look, it was worth living and acting. In the hope of getting that look again, you could do just about anything.

-And so we won’t be able to resist the processes, but we hope to manage them – Bertie said as he got up from his chair and went on to say cheerfully measuring his steps – I have a lot of questions in my head that needs answers. Here are a few of them: In general, is it possible in principle to control the process of the collapse of the empire? Why can’t the advent of democracy be avoided? What are we willing to do to achieve the goal? Are we ready to lose lives, if so, how many, ten, one hundred, one million or one hundred million people? What is the mystical component of our organization? Mysticism is a must to attract lower and middle-level recruits. And, perhaps, the main question is, what is the ultimate goal? It needs to be, it’s just a must. A goal upon reaching which we can say that the order has achieved its goal and now we can take a break or set a new main goal and work on.

-Let’s try to answer your questions together – I began to speak trying to stretch the words as much as possible, giving the brain time to come up with answers to absolutely legitimate questions, there was only one of them I was thinking about and I had an answer, of course I started with it – As for the inevitability of democracy, it is impossible to remove the absolute majority of the population from power for a long time. Always at all times such attempts ended in cruel bloodshed, and in our time the uprising of the people will necessarily cause an irreversible catastrophe. This means that we should not oppose democracy, but on the contrary promote it, but limiting the choice to direct the will of the majority in the right direction. And yes, we must be ready to kill. We cant allow the death of civilization, and we will sacrifice hundreds of millions so that the rest survive and not only survive, but live with dignity, because survival cannot be the main task. – this monologue was unexpectedly emotional and decently exhausted me, I needed a break and on the part of mysticism I had nothing to say, and I shifted the task to the shoulders of Bertie – As for mysticism- this is more in your part my dear friend – suddenly realizing that Lizzie has not said a word I added – but as for the main goal we need your help My lady

-As soon as we begin to act, we will immediately find ourselves at war, and as von Clausewitz said: “the conduct of war implies two very different activities: Tactics- the organization of individual battles and the conductions of them. Strategy is concerned with defining an overall purpose and priorities. It clarifies how the individual battles fit together and why they are being fought. Strategy’s key role is to define a winning proposition, a rallying call from which all decisions and activities will cascade. - so we must determine both strategic objectives and tactical goals – Here she is Lady Elizabeth Sackville, think only “Vom Krieg” Clausewitz, well how not to admire her, and she continued – So if The ultimate aim of our war is a better life for every person, not for humanity, not for all people, but for every individual person. To achieve this objective we must solve the central problems or you can put it another way we have three missions: We must resist with all our might the onset of the tyranny of both the majority and the chosen ones. It is necessary not to allow hypocrites to power, and if they got to it, then remove them from power by all available means. This task is unsolvable without control over the mentality of the masses, which means that we have a tactical task of the second category. The second main task is to get rid of mental slavery and slave morality. Slaves do not accept free will and destroy dissenters, democracy is one of the clearest proofs of this. And this task is not feasible without an additional condition, it is necessary to weaken the church as much as possible. If it is strong, it enslaves the will of the people, makes them renounce themselves as it did with Galileo Galilei or burns for the truth like Giordano Bruno, burns for strength like the Maid of Orleans, burns for knowledge and enlightenment like Nicholas Culpeper. It demands to renounce all freedom, all pride, all self-surrender of oneself into slavery, self-esteem, self-mutilation. And finally, the third mission, the most difficult and important is to raise the intellectual level of each person, not literacy, but intelligence, and here universal literacy is simply necessary.

-So, we are starting a war against the state, against the church and against human ignorance. – Bertie said as if it was a trip to the club, only he could talk about such an ominous perspective with such a delightful casual routine. Suddenly, Bertie furrowed his eyebrows, straightened up in his chair and taking such an unusual position with and even more unusual seriousness in his voice said - This task is for the gods, not for people, but still count me in!

-Do not our missions contradict each other? Are mind control and free will consistent?

-Of course, yes! – Lizzie replied without hesitation – we will control or rather correct the mentality of the masses, and free will is the prerogative of the individual. As soon as the individual defeats the crowd, and longer allows himself to enslaved, the first mission will be accomplished and at the same time, the second mission will be fulfilled, because the man is already free, the slave cannot be free. Universal liberation from slavery, engrafted for centuries in every possible ways, is impossible without a total increase in intelligence, which means that the third mission also will be fulfilled!

-And the war will be over?

-War will lose its meaning.

Lizzie replied with such confidence as if it was already won. I liked the mood of friends and I didn’t say anything about our enemies, about the communities of the powerful, secret and not so much. They will act from the shadows, they are smart and organized, they also have power and money, probably more than we do. Today we will not talk about it, on the last day of peace there is no need to thicken the colors even more.

-Everything is sorted out so that we have decided on the first item of our meeting – said silently elected leader of the meeting and continued – and before moving on to the second item on the agenda, we better take a little break. Especially since, as you said, dear Andrew, you need to talk to Lizzie.

Everything that happened in the next two hours has nothing to do with the order, suffice to say that Lizzie and I were married in 1882 and are still happily married. And personal moments that do not concern the order will continue to be missed in these notes.

After resting a few hours from the problems of the future of mankind and having settled no less important personal issues, we began o discuss the structure of the order.

-It can’t go on like this anymore – I began with a frowning face and paused for a huge pause, Lizzie and Bertie staring with bated breath perplexed. Finally feeling sorry for my friends, I continued – we need to recruit supporters these are the qualities that the first candidate should have: He should beat a respected diplomat and politician, it is better if he is a member of the government and close to the queen, since we are in war then he must have military experience

-Yes! Yes! Yes! Love! Love! Love! – Lizzie exclaimed and rushed to hug me

– Oh no, I hate you – Bertie muttered almost simultaneously with Lizzie

I have always admired the Sackville family, The were not ashamed of their feelings. The Earl of Middlesex and Lady Elizabeth adored the 8th Duke of Dorset and did not hide it, and the Duke loved his children with all his heart and never hesitated to show his feelings. Only a girl who grew up in this family could become someone who could talk about politics with men, who did not hesitate to criticize the church, who admired me.

I understood Bertie’s protest, he wanted to create something significant himself, but the great Charles Sackville 8th Duke of Dorset was needed by us, no he was needed in our ranks. Bertie also understood that together with his father, our order would reach the next level of development.

We invited Dorset and told us in detail about our order, I enjoyed watching the expression on the face of a happy father as he listened intently to his children and realized that he had raised incredible people.

Lizzie and Bertie finished their story and silently waited for the reaction of the old politician.

-I always knew that you, Lizzie, was destined to be not just wife and mother, but the person who would change the world. – The Duke of Dorset continued, addressing all three this time. – I want to believe that the empire will perish, no I want to take part in the destruction of the empire. This empire has finally corrupted us, deprived us of the ability to adequately perceive the world around us. Yes, our wealth and power come from the empire, but if we are unable to adapt to new conditions, if we cannot increase our wealth without the tools of the empire, we should not have wealth and in general those, who won't be able to adapt let them leave with empire. I have always tried to stay away from secret societies, but for your sake I will believe in anything, go anywhere, and do everything to make your ideas a success. So, what role did you assign me?

-Grand Master, of course! I said unexpectedly even to myself, and the Sackville were speechless. When did the structure of the order, somehow it goes without saying that I will lead the order. Probably, along with boredom, I got rid of selfishness and made decisions primarily based on the interest of the order. After letting all of us to take a breather, I continued – I don’t see a more worthy candidate for this post than you Sir. It is you and only you who will be able to ensure the sustainable development of the order at the stage of inception, without you there is no way!

-Okay, as I said, I’ll do whatever it takes, if you want it, I’ll be Grand Master. It will take me a few days to think things through and offer the academy my vision of the immediate tasks and next steps.

It was at this point, I believe, that our order was born. We elected the first Gran Master and as time has shown he was truly great.

On January 24, Dorset gathered us for the first official meeting of the Order’s Executive Council. As expected, the Grand Master opened the meeting:

-Thank you for gathering the Knights of the Order – the Grand Master began officially, he asked us immediately to distribute among ourselves the duties – the Grand Chancellor, the Grand Commander, and the President of the Academy. Of course, Lizzie became president, after twenty years of boredom I wanted to act and became a great commander, and Bertie of course a great chancellor. After the distribution of posts, the Duke of Dorset continued – at this stage we all have combine duties and therefore the two of you, along with the posts of Chancellor and Commander, should beat the academicians, and if respected academicians wish, I will participate in the meetings of the Academy. As for the current questions of how you consider Sir the Great Commander, who can take the post of Carnarvon whom we can promote, and then use. In my opinion, we need a person who, in the future, can become not just a donor, but a full member of the order.

-Of course, I was thinking about it. I think Michael Hicks Beach is an excellent candidate, firstly, he is a promising politician and after the Return of the Tories to power he can take a leading position in the government.

-Return to power? – Astonished Dorset interrupted me.

-Of course, the Tories will lose the next election and Gladstone is likely to become the next prime minister.

-But how? – Dorset continued to wonder

-War sir, Zulu War and Disraeli’s Disease. The Conservatives are bound to lose the election, and we’re not strong enough to influence that yet. As for Hicks Beach, secondly, it can be a good acquisition for the order.

-Okay, you’re right – Dorset said thoughtfully, continuing to ponder my words about election – You need to talk to Disraeli, I will provide this opportunity tonight at the club, and you should talk about Carnarvon’s resignation and kindly advise the successor.

I tried to avoid Disraeli, this ambitious schemer was unpleasant to me, but his ideas about English race and the glorification of the empire were deeply disgusting though explainable. A commoner like Disraeli must somehow squeeze into high society. Flattery, as is known, is the best way to the powerful, but most propagandists of such ideas do not understand that one should never appeal to the basest feelings of people, that some seeds give not the most attractive, results, and ideas of racial superiority are one of the most dangerous seeds. Only stupid and ignorant people can believe that the British achieved everything because of their racial superiority – an accident that helped us defeat the Spaniards, perseverance and openness to new ideas helped to make and industrial revolution. Oh yes, Cromwell and the execution of the monarch also helped with the industrial revolution. With such superiority, world domination wasn't too hard. Such ideas, on the contrary, close society and, therefore, inevitable fading away and loss of influence, but I really needed to talk to him and promote Hicks Beach.

As promised, Dorset provided the opportunity, now it was up to me.

-How’s your boredom your mercy – Disraeli said casually, going beyond the pale. But he was queen’s favorite and was almost at the zenith of fame (the zenith would come a little later, in July 1878 after returning from the Berlin conference).

-I don’t know sir if I have time for boredom, because I have to decide whether your ministers should resign or not. – Having said that, I immediately turned my back on Disraeli and walked away.

Of course, I wasn’t sure that Disraeli would want to know more but knowing this hypocrite I was hoping to continue this conversation, and of course, I was not mistaken. A few minutes later, Disraeli found me and half-jokingly, but with obvious anxiety in his voice, asked:

-And what did you decide?

- About what, sir? - I asked deliberately irritated, and without giving a moment on answer I continued – I have no intention of thinking about your illegible questions sir.

-Please don't worry. Sir – Disraeli replied in simple. For a moment I, thought had gone too far. My interlocutor tried to show that he did not intend to continue the conversation, but I decided that he was playing and was right. After taking few steps, he turned to me and said – Your family sir is one of those pillars on which the greatness of our glorious empire rests, and of course you would not do anything that would damage the stability of Her Majesty’s government, but as its head I must know everything that is happening in my office.

-Of course, you should know the prime minister and until you deigned to be rude to me, I hope involuntarily, I intended to tell you about everything. Derby intends to resign, but don’t worry I advised him to withdraw it, after a while. You can’t find a replacement for the two ministers now. – I gave Disraeli time to come to his senses and think things through, also to let him show that he is still capable of understanding the situation.

-How? Derby is leaving? However, who is the second? Will Stanley also leave with his brother? No, the second Carnarvon, and they will leave because of the oriental policy.

-Carnarvon will say that he is leaving because of Eastern question, but in fact I advised him to leave because of his mistakes he is a burden to your cabinet and the main reason for the upcoming election loss.

-But how? Why secretly? Why didn’t you consult with me? And what kind of loss are we talking about?

-Do you understand that the war with the Zulus will inevitably begin?

-Of course, it doesn’t, I’ve banned it!

- Your short-sightedness annoys me. You allowed, even welcomed, the annexation of the Transvaal. You allowed the elected government of the colony to be dissolved. You have stimulated the growth of the terrible idea of an African confederation. And now you say that you banned the war? No, you have not banned, you have prepared all the conditions for the start of the war.

He can beat and achieved power, became prime minister for the second time and three times was chancellor of the treasury; he even became a count, but still remained the same little man. A poor commoner simply could not but bow down before the duke in the 15th generation, and Disraeli broke down. All his arrogance seemed to have evaporated, now in front of me stood a pleading poor man.

-What a shame. All lies on the surface, as I did not understand.

- Your overzealousness in a game called imperialism has blinded you and made you unable to see the obvious. You missed even such an ally as Derby.

-You said he would come back, didn’t you? Disraeli asked imploringly.

- No need to interrupt me sir, it’s not polite. – I said with all the severity I was capable of and after making sure that Disraeli had completely submitted continued – It does not matter if derby return this time, he is still no longer your ally. Now you need to think about how you do not lose face, how not to disgrace the country, that you love and for which you have done so much.

-Oh my god – muttered a slightly audible already exhausted old man, but I had to continue my game and looked at the prime minister with such a sizzling look that, probably, all his ancestors froze in horror waiting for Disraeli to burn on the spot.

--I’ll settle everything, but you have to obey absolutely and unconditionally. You accept Carnarvon’s resignation and take over his duties for a month, in a month Michael Hicks Beach will become secretary of state for war and colonies, he is an opponent of the idea of an African confederation and will do everything to prevent war, but he has no time. Sir Bartle may not receive all the orders on time. In the end, we will abolish Zululand and you will suffer the least. As for the secretary for foreign affairs, after the final resignation of Derby, Salisbury will replace him, I trust him, and he will be able to adequately replace you after the Tories return the majority.

Sometimes you have to suppress the will of people and I’m not proud of it, but every time I Laugh when I remember the face of Disraeli, who realized that he was my pet and he liked it.

Of course, I did not set out to subordinate the head of her majesty’s government, but at that moment I considered it the best of the options, as subsequent events shown, there is a possibility that this was an erroneous decision.