FAMOUS BETTING-MEN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIX, Issue 6871, 8 March 1883, Page 3

FAMOUS BETTING-MEN.

" THB FBOFBB3IONAI GAMBSTBB" * (English Paftr.) On the evening of Sept. 8, 1810, a little party had assembled in St James street to play whist. They were all praotiaed players, and as the points were high, there was plenty of excitement over the game. She hours flew by, and it was nearly fire o'clock in the morning when one of. the party rose, and said that he had some important business to attend to, which necessitated his leaving, muoh to his regret. Twelve hoars later that gentleman was lying dead at the Bed Lion, Putney. The "important business" which compelled him to quit the whist party had been a duel on Wimbledon common, and he had fallen mortally wounded at the first fire. By his death his eldest son, then six years of age, became heir to the fine property of Sully Abbey, in Northamptonshire. That boy was George Payne, whose career as a betting man we purpose sketohing in the present artiolo. The lad speedily grew up into a wild, madcap youtk, who, after being expelled from Oxford, entered upon « liondon life" with a rent-roll of £17,000 a year, and £BOO,OOO in ready money. He was a born gambler, like his father before him, and the ruling passion very soon showed itself in unmistakable form. One of his guardians was his unole, Mr John Payne, a great patron of the Tnrf, who won the Darby with Axor in 1817, and from this gentleman young George, no doubt, imbibed that extraordinary love of horse-raoing which lasted unabated till his death. Before he was yet of age, George Payne was known among Turfites as a reckless plunger, who seemed bent upon emulating the exploits and courting the fate of Lord Barrymore and Henry Mellish. In 1824, when he was just SO, he received his first" facer," and it was a warm one. Ho had backed Brutandorf and a oolt of his own named Cadiz for the St Lege* of that year, besidea laying heavily against Mr Gasooigne's Jerry j consequently, when the latter eame in an easy winner, young Payne realised the pleasing fact that he had lost so bad for a lad only just out of his teens. He was already very popular in society, and especially among the sporting men, so that there were many who were sincerely sorry for his losses, and tendered him their hearty condolences. But the viotim laughed in their faces, and astonished the oldest sportsmen there by the coolness and nonohalsnce with which he accepted the reverse. It is a pleasure to lose it, by Jove!" ho exclaimed. John Gully, who admired pluok in every form, was so taken with the i young man's game way of taking hie punishment, that he walked up to George and said, •« Never mind, Mr Payne, you can afford to wait { you will get it all baok on Memnon next year." The hint was taken, and young Payne having backed Memnon heavily for the St Leger of 1825, had the pleasure of landing the substantial stake of £25,000. From that time till within a very short time of hi* death, George Payne was an irrepressible and infatuated gambler on the turf. He would bet on every race, and would sometimes baok two doaen horse* in a big handicap, and then miss the winner. With hie own horses he was notoriously unlucky, though ha was eometimes fortunate in backing those of hu friende,.*Bd when he and Mr Charlef GrevUle were in company tome great coup, were made which for a moment daisied the- W&H™ I*' 1 *' „' Fame's first confederate, however, was mTbouSS. of N«rf *»*■£ Northampton. Th» oolourt of the latter

were black, and those of Pavne white i eventually these were amalgamated in the famous "Magpie> Jacket," and it will be remembered that Mi- Payne always wore a black and white neckerchief, whiok hit friends called the M Payne tartan " As an owner of race-hereee, however, George Payne met with little success. Be oerer possessed a really first* class animal, and the Only one of the greet classisal race* that was placed to hit credit wae the One Thousand, which dementia* woo for him in 1847,. fie thought he had a Derby winner in The Trapper, sit the hone, unfortunately, hit his leg just before the race, when quoted at 8 to 1 1 atid he wae equally •anguine about Glendowcr, who ran second for the Two Thousand, but the colt was nowhere ia the great Bpsom race. Hie filly Welfare, whom he thought little of, once gave biro, as he used to say, the most awful turn ha ever had ia hie life, and hie balr nearly went grey with the shock, when Just for a moment this despised ontiider of hi* looked a* if «he were going to beat Crucifix for the Oak*. Payne bad not a single penny on her, but stood to win tbouiands on Lord George Bentinek'i flying marc, and one can eaaily imagine hit feelings when he saw the "good thing" on the verge of being uptet by an animal of his own! Twice Mr Payne failed only by a hair's-breadth in pulling off almost the biggest coups on record. The first wae Lord Lyon's year, when he backed Bavernake, who lost the Derby only by the shortest of head*, to wjd him, it wae «aid, something like £140,000. The second was ia Orjmorne'e year, when Pell Mell got up to el!• Derby winner, but failed to pan* him by a head, and robbed Payne of the £IOO,OOO which for a second teemed absolutely in hit grasp. Bat it wae not only on the Turf that George Payne gambled recklessly—the cardtable had equal fascination* for him, and for upwards of fifty years he spent more nights at play, I suppose, than any man that erer cut a pack of cards. Indeed, I suspect that more of his splendid fortune, or, I should say, fortunes—for he got through two if not three—was squandered over the "DeviTe books" than on the racecourse. It was an incident in his card-playing experience that led to hit came and his habits becoming mors widely known than they would otherwise hare been. There are probably readers of this journal who remember the famous card scandal which resulted in that sensational cans: ctlhbre, " Lord De Bos r. Cumming,'* which was tried before Lord Desman on Feb. 9 and 10,1837, and created such excitement, that the Timet devoted no lest than twenty* eight columns to a verbatim report of the two days' proceedings. The action was one for libel. The defendant, Mr John Cunning, together with Lord H. Bentinck, Mr Brooke Greville, and Mr Payne, bad in ft joint letter, accused Lord De Bos of systematic cheating at cards. His lordship had been closely watched on several occasions, and had been detected in the act of wwVfaw the curds, and performing, also the sleight-of-hand trick known as tauter la coupe— that if, changing the turn-card, or so cutting tit* cards as always to turn up an ace or a king when he dealt himieif. Hints had been given Lord de Bos that his "little game" had been discovered; but he declined to take notice of them. Then a paragraph appeared in the Satirist, followed by the joint letter of the gentlemen named above, and there was nothing left to Lord de Bos but to submit to be branded as a swindler and a cheat, or vindicate hie character, if possible, in a court of law. He chose the latter alternative. Among the witnesses against him, the most important was George Payne, who was put into the box last. Sir William Follett, cross-examining him on behalf of Lord De Bos, put the following home questions. " You have been a good deal connected with gambling transactions, have you not ?" —"Yes, I have." "Spent a great deal of money on the racecourse, and also been contested with racing proceedings, and with cards ?"—" Yes, a great deaL" "In the early part of your career, Mr Payne, you were very unfortunate, I think ?" —" Very much no." "Andlost a considerable fortune?"—"l lost a considerable sum of money, certainly." "You lost, I believe, the whole of your patrimony ?"—" My lord, am I bound to answer that question ? And yet Ido not see why I should not. Yes, sir. I lost a considerable part of it." "Yon have been more fortunate since, though?"—"Ho, my old luck has continued pretty much throughout." Ia spite of that answer, the AttorneyGeneral, Sir John, afterwards Lord Campbell, in the bitter and slashing speech with which he replied on the whole case for the plaintiff, spoke of Payne as " the professional gamester, who has reached the second stage of the gambler's career—having begun as a dupe, he now wins the money of dupes." Sir John further charged " this Payne, the professional gamester," with having got up a conspiracy to defame the character of Lord de Bos. So angry was George Payne at the imputations thus wantonly made upon him that he waited for Sir John several afternoons in the neighbourhood of Westminster Hall, with a stout horse-whip in his hand, with the firm intention ef giving the Attorney-General a sound thrashing. Bat Sir John was warned, and took care to keep out of Payne's way until Colonel Anson effected a reconciliation. I may add that the jury, after fifteen minutes* deliberation, found a verdict for the defendant, and Lord De Hon left England the next day a oonvicted swindler and cheat. There are no end of card-playing stories of which Georgo Psyne is the hero, but I have only space for the following: Ecarte was, when Payne was in his prime, the most fashionable private game of the day, and it is a tradition of Limmer's that he and Lord Albert Benison, afterwards, the first Lord Londeaborough, sat up all night at that famous hotel, which was pulled down three or four years ago, and that when they separated in the morning. Lord Albert, having lost about £30,000, proceeded to the adjoin* ing church of tit George's, Hanover square, to be married! On another occasion Mr Payne once set out with the same antagonist in a post chaise to pay a visit to a country house in the New Foreit. They began ecarte as soon as they started, played all day, and when night feJl a lamp in the roof of the chaise waa lighted, after which they proceeded to deal and propoaa without intermission. Payne waa in the midst of a capital run of luck, with £IOO staked on each game, when they both became aware that the chaise had stopped, and that the bewildered postboy, who had lost his way, wes tapping lustily with tho but bead of his whip at the window of the carriage to attract their attention. " What do you want ?" said Mr Payne, testily. "Please, sir, I've lost my way." " Well, hang you, come back and tell us wheu you'vo found it," was the rejoinder, and once more the players became absorbed in their game. X could tell niaey more stories of George Payne, but 1 have reached the end of my ; tether, and those I have given will serve to illustrate the phase of his character with I which alone I am concerned in this paper. This is not the place to dwell upon his popularity as a master of foxhounds, nor upon nit reputation as an arbiter in cases of honour. It is enough to say of him that, inveterate gambler though he was, there has not been a more sterling ana honourable English gentleman in this century than George Payne, and when he died on August 10,1878, ho was sincerely mourned by all classes of looiety, from the Queeu herself .to the humblest Northamptonshire tradesman.