Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: mistake, but I fancy that his purchase of a portion of the Duke's Londesborough estate had something to do with it. Mr. Hudson's popularity was great during the early period of his career. Banquets were held in his honour, which were attended by individuals of high character and station. The chairman on one such occasion referred to him as the chief supporter of railways, although no one could describe him as a " sleeper." He was welcomed in every quarter, and Sunderland sent him to the House of Commons. If he had confined his railway undertakings within reasonable limits, his proceedings would have been legitimate, but he did not do so. He started vast speculations, which more than absorbed the annual savings of the people, the only fund which enables public works to be carried out. He, moreover, distributed a number of shares among influential people, which was not business and was unfair to the public. I was present at a large party at Chatsworth to which he and Mrs. Hudson were invited. I cannot say whether any of the fashionable guests who were there assembled partook of his bounty. Mrs. Hudson was a homely old lady, to whom were attributed many funny sayings. One of them was that, " People in Turkey should do as the Turkeys did." Another was that when ordering agdteau of a French confectioner she said to him, in answer to his question, " De quel grandeur le voulez-vous ? "—" Aussigrand que mon derriere." 184046] THE QUEEN AT CHATSWORTH 47 At last a crash came, which ruined Mr. Hudson and a great number of people. His last days were spent at Calais, where he every day awaited the arrival of the steamer in the hope of meeting some of his former acquaintances, to whom he might confide his misfortunes and his hope that he would soon retrieve his fallen fortunes by some ...