1840-46]

THE RAILWAY KING

45

Dickens' visit. He wondered whether he had toadied the Duke very much. My impression is that, though professing to be friends, these two great novelists did not care much for one another. I once met Dickens at a large dinner at Mr. Motley's,' but did not get introduced to him. Thackeray I often met, both in society and at the Cosmopolitan Club, and it was always with great pleasure, for, besides being an admirable writer, he was a brilliant conversationalist. were asked which of these two novelists preferred I should consider it a difficult question to answer, their merits being so distinct. But if pressed I should perhaps say that Dickens is the most humorous, but that Thackeray gives us a truer representation of life.

If I

The Duke gradually invited not only Paxton but his family to his dinners and parties in town and country, which was not approved of by some of the vulgar fashionables, and was rather resented by the doctor's wife, as she did not like to sit at the same table with a man who had been an under-gardener, and his wife, who was the niece of a housekeeper. It was only by degrees that the Duke's intimacy with Paxton grew. The Duke, writing from Wynyard at an earlier date, said, "Paxton has declined to come here till next week. I thought he would not like to be my vis-à-vis at dinner."

Paxton introduced to the Duke the railway king, Mr. George Hudson, which I think was a

1 The American Minister and historian.

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 a gâteau of a French confectioner she said to him, in answer to his question, "De quel grandeur le voulez-vous ?"—" Aussi grand que mon derrière."

1840-46] 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 new speculations.

In 1843 I was present at a memorable gathering. The Queen and Prince Albert did my uncle the honour of paying him a visit at Chatsworth, and he was good enough to include me among his guests. The house was so full that I slept in my brother's dressing-room. The party included Lord Palmerston, Lord Melbourne and various other distinguished members of his late administration. The Duke of Wellington was also present at it. Lord Melbourne was so much broken in health that he was nearly in a state of second childhood. I believe he had not met Her Majesty since he ceased to be her Minister. Her manner to him was very kind; still, he bitterly felt the change in the situation, and it was sad to see him with tears frequently in his eyes. It was a splendid entertainment, and everything very well done. One evening there were fireworks, when I placed myself in the embrasure of one of the drawingroom windows in order to get a good sight of them. I was soon joined by an individual who seemed to enjoy the spectacle more than I did, and gave way to exclamations of delight. This was

no less a personage than the Duke of Wellington, who talked to me on a variety of subjects. I wish I could remember what he said. This was the only time I ever had the honour of conversing with the great warrior.

After my father's return to England in 1843 he took up his abode in the first floor of his house, Number 16, Bruton Street, leaving the ground floor to be inhabited by my brother. Each lived as if in a separate house and had a distinct establishment, and they often invited each other to dinner, an arrangement which was frequently, and may still be, carried out in Paris. This house, in which I was born, was formerly occupied by John, Duke of Argyll, and therefore, if Jeannie Deans had been a real person it was there she would have gone when she appealed to him on behalf of her sister. When we lived there a large escutcheon of the Argyll arms was attached to the wall of the staircase, but has since been removed.

My father died in 1846, to the inexpressible sorrow of his family. He was greatly beloved by us all, and was the most indulgent parent-possibly too indulgent. Himself a younger son, although I cannot say that his own case was a hard one, he sympathised with me for being one of that unfortunate class. It may have been this feeling, combined with much affection, that made him leave me well provided for. He did not follow the example of Lord Buchan, who boasted that his brother, Lord Chancellor Erskine, owed his

1840-46] DEATH OF IST EARL GRANVILLE

49

success in life to him; and being asked in what way he had contributed to it, said, "By steadily refusing to increase his allowance when strongly urged to do so." I much question whether if I had been left to earn my bread by my own exertions as a lawyer I should have succeeded.