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RICH V. POOR.

(_A NOTE KINDLY CONTRIBUTED BY OUR OWN GRAPHIC REPORTER._)

Nothing could have been more impressive than the closing scene of
a trial that was one of the features of the present Sessions. The
Counsel for the Prisoner made no pretence of hiding his emotion, and
freely used his pocket-handkerchief. Many ladies who had until now
been occupied in using opera-glasses, at this point relinquished
those assistants to the eyesight, to fall back upon the restorative
properties of bottles filled with smelling-salts. Even his Lordship
on the Bench was seemingly touched to the very quick by the Prisoner's
dignified appeal for mercy. Before passing sentence, the Judge glanced
for a moment at the number of titled and other highly respectable
witnesses who had testified to the integrity of the accused. Then he
addressed the Prisoner:--

"You have pleaded guilty to an indictment which charges you with
having misappropriated trust moneys. You have reduced a fortune of
£28,000 to £7,000. This means a wretched pittance to beneficiaries
who, before your fraud, were enjoying a fairly decent income. I am
aware that you are a distinguished Magistrate,--that you have belonged
to many Clubs,--that there is not a slur upon the cooking that used to
distinguish your dinner-parties. I know the severity of the sentence I
am about to pass, and I wish my conscience would permit me to give you
a lighter punishment. But I cannot."

The accused was then sentenced to five years' penal servitude.