e. his book), to see how the odds stand, and working away by
that system which is well understood under the term management. In front
of him is the sporting Earl of Sefton, and that highly-esteemed son of
Nimrod, Colonel Hilton Joliffe,--men of the strictest probity, and hence
often appointed referees on matters in dispute.
[Illustration: page329]
Lawyer L----, and little Wise-man, are settling their differences with
_bluff_ Bland, who carries all his bets in his memory till he reaches
home, because a book upon the spot would be useless. In the right-hand
corner, just in front of old General B----n, is John Gully, once
the pugilist, but now a man of considerable property, which has been
principally acquired by his knowledge of calculation, and strict
attention to honourable conduct: there are few men on the turf more
respected, and very few among those who keep _betting_ books whose
conduct will command the same approbation. The old beau in the corner
is Sir Lumley S----n, who, without the means to bet much, still loves
to linger near the scene of former extravagance." "A good disciple of
Lavater," said Transit, "might tell the good or ill fortunes of those
around him, by a slight observance of their countenances. See
that merry-looking, ruby-faced fellow just leaving the door of the
subscription-room: can any body doubt that he has _come off all
right_?--or who would dispute that yon pallid-cheeked gentleman, with
a long face and quivering lip, betrays, by the agitation of his nerves,
the extent of his sufferings? The peer with a solemn visage tears out
his last check, turns upon his heel, whistles a tune, and sets against
the gross amount of his losses another mortgage of ~330~~the family
acres, or a _post obit_ upon some expectancy: the regular sporting man,
the out and outer, turns to his book--
'For there he finds, _no matter who has won_,{1}
Whichever animal, or mare, or colt;
Nay, though each horse that started for't should bolt,
Or all at once fall lame, or die, or stray,
He yet must pocket hundreds by the day.
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