MR HUGH GULLY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2802, 27 November 1907, Page 39

MR HUGH GULLY.

"WELLINGTON, November 25. Mr Hugh Gully, the well-known barrister died to-day. The deceased was a member of the firm of Bell, Gully, Bell, arid Myers, and was at one time Crown Solicitor a> Wellington. Mr Gully's death, will be deplored by a very large circle of friends in Wellington and many other jwrta of New Zealand. Ho was the son of the celebrated New Zealar.it water-colour^ artist. He had a brilliant career at Nelson College, and afterwards in his study and practice of the law. Some idea of tho man can be gained from tho following "appreciation" by one who knew, him. It is from to-night's Post: — " The legal profession has lost not only one of its most brilliant member^, but a kindly, chivalrous, honourable, and accomplished gentleman. At the bar no less than, in other ways of life, the qualities that mcke for success are not always those which make a man worthy of love and honour.-! The lawyer is necessarily brought into closo contact with tho seamy side of life, and the wickedness of human nature, and in court his frequent endeavours to make tho> worse appear the better reason, and the constant temptation to suppress or distort inconvenient truths, must often impose a severe 6train even upon the strongest} character. Of Mr Gully it may be safely said not only that he rose superior to these temptations, and to the other warping influences of his profession, but that he dice co with an effort. Genius .ha« been defined as an jnfinite car;icity for taking pains, but it i« at least equally true that in its highest flights genius has the appearance of proceeding without conscious effor^, and with all the mevitableness of natural law. This natural and inevitable quality, was characteristic of all Mr Gully 'e work. Without prodigious industry such eminence ac he had attained at the bar could neven bave been reached, but nobody ever did co with less apparent effort. Everything) seemed to come easy to him, and doubtlcs? this was a large part of the secret of hi* success. In his hands the weakest part of a case often made the strongest appea',, especially if there w»e a jury to deal with.j A client's gravest defect became an amiable failing, which almost assumed the air 06 a merit, and the weaknesses of the other side were exposed with a thoroughness which, by remaining equally suave, never reached the dangerous reaction that ruthless polemics are apt to bring in. their train. Combined with this winning suavity and a rare knowledge of the worlcl i and of human nature, which made him e?> [ powerful with a jury, Mr Gully had aUo I the learning, the subtlety, and the argumentative power, which Appeal to tho judi- 1 cial mind, and whether in Banco or a Nisi Prius an unfailing sense of proportion seemed always to t«ll him just what t line to take, and how far to follow t".- 1 A high standard of honour, a ready wit, a keen sense of humour, a good temper, which, the most desperate of forlorn hopes could' neVer ruffle, and a culture worthy of tha' /ion of one of New Zealand's most die-, tinguished artists, thc*e were among tho other qualities which made the man whom, tho Bar of New Zealand is mourning today, one of the most popular of gentlemen, aa well as one of the ablest of advocate?.. Tho fear that the amalgamation of the two branches of the legal profession may affect practitioners with too much of the passion of the partisan* receives no encouragement from this splendid type of the New Zealandmade lawyer."

William Glover, who sailed as first engineer on the first screw steamer, the Sarah. Hand*, across the Atlanrio from Liverpool in 1546, died recently at Chester, aged 84 years. In convicting and ordering a young man to come up for sentence when called upon for an act of indecency in a crowded railway train, Mr M'Carthy, S.M., at Invercargill, eaid that on three occasions recently when travelling, he observed that j no conveniences wero provided on the train. If the railway people wanted to save pa-^engeis from indignity more conveniences ought to be provided. Consequent on inquiries made concerning thp recent dray accident at Orepuki, during which Alice Coleby was killed, tho police havo (says the Southland News) decided to prosecute Alexander Ferrier, driver of the traction engine, on a charge of manslaughter. The case is set down for hear in £ at Orepuki ou December 4