 Once qualified as a barrister , Benjamin chose to join the Northern Circuit , as it included Liverpool , where his connections in New Orleans and knowledge of mercantile affairs would do him the most good . In an early case , he defended two former Confederate agents against a suit by the United States to gain assets said to belong to that nation . Although he lost that case ( United States v Wagner ) on appeal , he was successful against his former enemies in United States v McRae ( 1869 ) . He had need of rapid success , as most of his remaining assets were lost in the collapse of the firm of Overend , Gurney and Company . He was reduced to penning columns on international affairs for The Daily Telegraph . 
