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Serjeant Ballantine has gone to Bombay to defend the Guicowar, with a fee of 5,000 guineas, and refreshers which, the solicitors say, may amount to 5,000 guineas more. It is reported, probably incorrectly, that the brief was first offered to Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., but that he could not go under £30,000. This is a new branch of practice for the English Bar, and may prove a very profitable one. The value of the civil cases tried in Indian Courts is often enormous, the litigants scarcely care what they pay, and they are impressed almost to absurdity by a reputation for success. Their telidency is to heap all business on a few men, and as they become acquainted with English reputations, we may hear of princely fees offered for services less lengthy and less troublesome than the defence of the Tichborne Claimant. It is a drawback that the heaviest business in Calcutta is done during the hottest weather, but a man can stand a good deal of parboiling at 100 guineas an hour ; and a great Zemindar accused, say, of forgery, or an opium speculator fighting for his month's gains, would pay a great deal more than that.
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