“‘Vell, Aaron, my tear, have yer ’ad any sport?’
“‘Pretty vell, I’ve bagged four Allottees, and two Provisionals!’”
But a notice of the Railway Mania would be very incomplete without a mention of George Hudson, the Railway King. He was born at Howsham, a village near York, in March, 1800; was apprenticed to a draper in York; and, subsequently, became principal in the business; thus, early in life, becoming well off, besides having £30,000 left him by a distant relative. In 1837, he was Lord Mayor of York; and, the same year, was made Chairman of the York and North Midland Railway, which was opened in 1839. In 1841, he was elected Chairman of the Great North of England Company; and, afterwards, held the same position in the Midland Railway Company. He speculated largely in railways, and, in the Parliamentary return, already alluded to, his subscriptions appear as £319,835.
He came to London, and inhabited the house at Albert Gate, Knightsbridge (now the French Embassy), where he entertained the Prince Consort, and the aristocracy generally.
He was elected M.P. for Sunderland in Aug., 1845, and again served as Lord Mayor of York in 1846. The Railway smash came; and, year by year, things went worse with him, until, early in the year 1849, he had to resign the Chairmanship of the Eastern Central (now Great Eastern), Midland, York, Newcastle and Berwick, and the York and North Midland Railway Companies. He went abroad, where he lived for some time, and tried, unavailingly, to retrieve his fortune. In July, 1865, he was committed to York Castle for Contempt of the Court of Exchequer, in not paying a large debt, and was there incarcerated till the following October.
He fell so low, that, in 1868, some friends took pity on him, and raised a subscription for him, thus obtaining £4,800, with which an annuity was purchased. He died in London, 14 Dec., 1871.
We have been so accustomed to have nigger minstrels with us that I suppose very few of us know when they began. Of course, I do not mean the solitary minstrel like Rice of “Jump Jim Crow” fame, who was the first, coming over here in 1836; but the first troupe. I find it in the Illustrated News of 24 Jan., 1846, whence also comes this illustration:
“A party of American minstrels, under the above designation, commenced on Wednesday night (21 Jan.), at the Hanover Square Rooms, a series of concerts, for the avowed
purpose of affording an accurate notion of Negro character and melody. These artists are remarkably clever, and admirably ‘made up.’ They are painted jet black, with ruddy lips, and large mouths; and, being capital actors, the deception created is so great, that wagers have been offered that they are really ‘darkies.’ They dress in dandy costume, à la Jullien—that is, white waistcoated and wristbanded, turned up in the most approved D’Orsay fashion. Of course, it is impossible to come to any right conclusion as to the authenticity of the African airs, especially as they have arranged the compositions of the great European masters in such a grotesque manner. The executants are five in number; one plays the tambourine, Mr. Germon, who is the leader; another the bone castanet; the third, the accordion; and the two others, the banjo, or African guitar. The castanet player does not sing; but his four colleagues have good voices, and, in glees, harmonize charmingly. In a quartet, the parody on the Phantom Chorus, from Bellini’s ‘Sonnambula’; and in a glee, ‘You’ll See Them on the Ohio,’ nothing can be more effective than the skilful blending of the parts. It is, perhaps, the buffo exhibition which will create the greatest sensation, and in this quality they are inimitable. The tambourine performer affects a ludicrous air of pompous sentiment, while the castanet sable hero indulges in all kinds of buffoonery and antics. He is a wonderful player—no Spaniard can rival him in rapidity, delicacy and precision. A scene called a ‘Railway Overture,’ causes an explosion of laughter; they seem to be endowed with perpetual motion; and the scream of the whistle, at the same time as the noise of the engine, beggars all description. The entertainment is quite a novelty, and will, no doubt, be attractive. They have been provided with letters of recommendation from President Polk, and some leading persons in America, who must be better able to appreciate the accuracy of their African delineations than Europeans.”