Page:A General Biography of Bengal Celebrities Vol 1.djvu/48

HIS CAREER AS A BARRISTER-AT-LAW. of the High Court, and with the help of his father's friends, and by dint of patience, perseverance, and industry he made a rapid progress in his* profession in a comparatively short time. Among the Judges of the High Court, the late lamented Mr. Justice Norman and Mr. Justice Arthur Macpherson used to treat him with every sort of consideration and helped him materially, and so did Mr. J. Pitt Kennedy and several other dis- tinguished English advocates of the Court. Before his enrolment he had to appear, in 1868 we believe, before Mr. W. F. Macdonell, v.c, then Sessions Judge of Nuddea (Krishnaghur), in a criminal case in which he ably defended a poor rustic woman on a charge of perjury brought against her by a Civilian, Mr. (vide our "History of Criminal Cases" published in 1888, p. 39). Mr. Bonnerjee happened to be at Krish- naghur to enjoy a holiday at the family dwelling house of Mr. Manomohun Ghose. The ■ case, which was to have been entrusted to Mr. Ghose, could not be taken up by him because of his friendship with the prosecutor, and so Mr. Bonnerji was engaged- to defend the poor helpless woman. She was acquitted of the charge brought against her, and Mr. Macdonell com- plimented Mr. Bonnerjee, in the highest terms of praise, for. the ability with which he defended her. The case created a considerable sensation at the time, and the success achieved in that cause celebre enhanced his reputation not a little. But it should be stated here that Mr, Bonnerjee made his debut in his noble profession more as a civil than a criminal lawyer, and maintains his ground in keen competition with some of the ablest English Bar- risters of the High Court. It is giving no little credit to him as a professional man to say that, up to date, no other native of India has achieved such a marvellous success in the bar as he has done. It is impossible for us, however, within the short compass of this brief sketch, to delineate, step by step, the gradual