TALES AND TRAITS OF STORTING LIFE. 



JOHN GULLY. 



In all tlie crowd of " cliaracters " tliat Lave ever made 

 lip the ring' on a race-course there were few more famous, 

 and no one whose career has been so much of a romance, 

 as that of John Gully. He was, indeed, essentially one 

 of the men of his time, and the tyro or stranger-visitor 

 would crave for a look at him long* before his hero-worship 

 centred on the Jockey Club lord or the leviathan leg-. 

 And yet 3L'. Gull}' was by no means a remarkable man 

 in his appearance ; or, rather, in no way noticeable for the 

 mere emphasis of his tone, or the quaint cut of his coat. 

 With a manner singularly quiet, and almost subdued, he 

 associated the air and presence of a gentleman, while his 

 iine frame and commanding figure gave an innate dignity 

 to his deportment that none who knew him would care to 

 question. In fact, as your gaze rested on him, it was 

 almost impossible to identify the man with the earlier 

 stages of his history— the butcher's boy — the prizefighter 

 — the public-house landlord — or the outside betting man. 

 It was easier far to recognise him as a country squire of 

 good estate, the owner of a long- string of race-horses, or 

 the honourable member of a Reformed Parliament. In a 

 new country like America or Australia we can readily 

 imagine that the fighting butcher might in due time 

 develop into the stately senator ; but here, in Old Eng- 

 land, Mr. Gully's success is so far unparalleled. And he 

 owed this not merely to his r>reat wealth, but far more to 

 his keen judgment, his good sense, and a certain straight- 

 forward respectability about everything he did. "The 

 gentlemen," from the veiy first, took kindly to Gully, for 

 they felt they could do so without any of the danger or 



