THE RING, THE TURF, AND PARLIAMENT 



Fox might leave a twenty-four-hour seance at 

 the quinze-table in order to address the House of 

 Commons, or keep the faro bank at Brooks's and 

 back horses on Newmarket Heath, that gambhng 

 rake was still the object of its political veneration. » 

 It has always been true to its inconsistency. In 

 i860, after the great fight between Tom Sayers 

 and Heenan, the Liberal Home Secretary one 

 evening was explaining to his querulous supporters 

 the illegality of prize-fighting and the duty of 

 justices of the peace, when the Prime Minister, 

 leaving the side of his apologetic colleague, passed 

 into the lobby. He was at once held by a Member. 

 " My lord, I want a sovereign for a testimonial 

 to Tom Sayers." " A sovereign for Tom Sayers," 

 exclaimed Jaunty Pam, " I'll give you five with 

 pleasure. He's a splendid fellow." " I am sorry, 

 my lord, but the subscription is limited to a 

 sovereign." " Well," said Palmerston, " here it is, 

 but I wish you would let me make it five to show 

 my appreciation of his pluck." What a scene ! 

 How piquant the contrast ! The Puritan on the 

 bench ; the sportsman in the lobby. In Selwyn's 

 words with reference to the performances of Fox, 

 la plus parfaitement comique que Von puisse imaginer. 

 During the closing years of his life Gully acquired 

 extensive colliery property in the north of England, 

 which he successfully controlled with the same 

 mastery of detail and calculating judgment as he 

 had shown in the affairs of the Turf. Latterly 

 he lived in the vicinity of Durham, and in that 

 city he died in March 1863, at the ripe age of eighty. 

 He had always desired to be buried at Ackworth, 



» See Political Portraits, by Whibley, 191 7. 

 lOI 



