The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

400 I'IFE OF GEOEGE STEPHENSON. [chap. xxxn.
was opened to the public in June, 1844. On that occasion Newcastle
eulogized Mr. Hudson in its choicest local eloquence; and
he was pronounced to be the greatest benefactor the district had
ever known.
The adulation which now followed Mr. Hudson would have
intoxicated a stronger and more self-denying man. He was pronounced
to be the man of the age, and was hailed as The
Railway King. The grand test by which the shareholders
judged him was the dividends that he paid, although subsequent
events proved that these dividends were in many cases delusive,
intended only " to make things pleasant." The policy, however,
had its effect. The shares in all the lines of which he was
chairman, went to a premium ;
and then arose the temptation to
create new shares in branch and extension lines, often worthless,
which were issued also at a premium. Thus he shortly found
himself chairman of nearly 600 miles of railways, extending
from Rugby to Newcastle, and at the head of numerous new
projects, by means of which paper wealth could be created, as it
were, at pleasure. He held in his own hands almost the entire
administrative power of the companies over which he presided
he was chairman, board, manager, and all. His devoted ad-
mirers for the time, inspired sometimes by gratitude for past
favours, but oftener by the expectation of favours to come, sup-
ported him in all his measures. At the meetings of the compa-
nies, if any suspicious shareholder ventured to put a question
about the accounts, he was summarily put down by the chair, and
hissed by the proprietors. Mr. Hudson was voted praises, testi-
monials, and surplus shares, alike liberally; aud scarcely a word
against him could find a hearing. He was equally popular out-
side the circle of railway proprietors. His entertainments at
Albert Gate were crowded ; and he went his round of visits
among the peerage like any prince.
Of course Mr. Hudson was a great authority on railway ques-
tions in Parliament, to which the burgesses of Sunderland had
sent him. His experience of railways, still little understood,
though the subject of so much legislation, gave value and weight
to his opinions ; and in many respects he was a useful member.
During the first years of his membership, he was chiefly occu-
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