“As he himself testified at the time of his trial,” went on Steger, “and as the evidence clearly showed, he was never more than an agent for the gentleman whose offense was subsequently adjudicated by this court; and as an agent he still maintains, and two-fifths of the State Supreme Court agree with him, that he was strictly within his rights and privileges in not having deposited the sixty thousand dollars’ worth of city loan certificates at the time, and in the manner which the people, acting through the district attorney, complained that he should have.  My client is a man of rare financial ability.  By the various letters which have been submitted to your honor in his behalf, you will see that he commands the respect and the sympathy of a large majority of the most forceful and eminent men in his particular world.  He is a man of distinguished social standing and of notable achievements.  Only the most unheralded and the unkindest thrust of fortune has brought him here before you today—­a fire and its consequent panic which involved a financial property of the most thorough and stable character.  In spite of the verdict of the jury and the decision of three-fifths of the State Supreme Court, I maintain that my client is not an embezzler, that he has not committed larceny, that he should never have been convicted, and that he should not now be punished for something of which he is not guilty.

“I trust that your honor will not misunderstand me or my motives when I point out in this situation that what I have said is true.  I do not wish to cast any reflection on the integrity of the court, nor of any court, nor of any of the processes of law.  But I do condemn and deplore the untoward chain of events which has built up a seeming situation, not easily understood by the lay mind, and which has brought my distinguished client within the purview of the law.  I think it is but fair that this should be finally and publicly stated here and now.  I ask that your honor be lenient, and that if you cannot conscientiously dismiss this charge you will at least see that the facts, as I have indicated them, are given due weight in the measure of the punishment inflicted.”

Steger stepped back and Judge Payderson nodded, as much as to say he had heard all the distinguished lawyer had to say, and would give it such consideration as it deserved—­no more.  Then he turned to Cowperwood, and, summoning all his judicial dignity to his aid, he began: 

“Frank Algernon Cowperwood, you have been convicted by a jury of your own selection of the offense of larceny.  The motion for a new trial, made in your behalf by your learned counsel, has been carefully considered and overruled, the majority of the court being entirely satisfied with the propriety of the conviction, both upon the law and the evidence.  Your offense was one of more than usual gravity, the more so that the large amount of money which you obtained belonged to the city.  And it was aggravated by