CHAP. IV.] Death of Mr. G. Payne. 147 



recovered, and he died on September 2nd, in bis honse in 

 Queen Street, May Fair, in his seventy-fifth year. In 

 the book entitled '^ Famous Racing-Men," this event is 

 thus spoken of : ^^ Mr. Payne's death was sincerely felt 

 and deplored by thousands, from the Queen herself to the 

 humblest Northamptonshire tradesman ; and the reason 

 is not far to seek. Gr. Payne was a sterling English 

 gentleman — sincere and unaffected in bearing — upright 

 in his dealings — the soul of honour, and as one of his 

 oldest friends said of him years ago, ' beloved by men, 

 and idolized by women, children and dogs.^'^ In the 

 volume " Racing" of the ^^ Badminton Library " — one of 

 the most delightful series of works on sporting subjects 

 ever published — this eidolon, before which everybody 

 seems to have bowed down, is thus referred to : ^' It 

 mattered not to whom he was talking — the gravest 

 statesman, the most matter-of-fact money-grubber, the 

 shyest girl ^ out ^ for the first time in her life — 'One and 

 all, old and young, left him with the unalterable convic- 

 tion that G. P. was the most delightful companion, he or 

 she had ever come across ; and this charm of manner 

 never left him to the day of his death.'' 



That the ex- Squire of Sulby must have been a man of 

 more than ordinary mark is proved by the fact that on the 

 occurrence of his death, though merely a '' Prince of the 

 Turf '' and of the ^' Gaming Table,'^ the obituary notices in 

 all the leading journals were little less complimentary than 

 if he had been a great statesman, a successful general, 

 or an eminent divine. In his own county and neigh- 

 bourhood, many a year will elapse ere in hall or under 

 more humble roof, George Payne will cease to be a name 

 regretted. A song composed by a Northamptonshire 



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