The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-02 00:00:00

THE FRENCH BAR AND THE

AMNESTY.

(From the Pres Bo.)
A painful and surprising incident has just oc-
cured at Lyons. The following letter, which has
been communicated to us, sets forth the facts, and
these facts are of a nature to make a sad impres-

sion. The Conseil de Discipline of the Lyons bar
seems to have mistaken both principles and circum-
stances in claiming to make dependent on the re-
sults of a prsvions inquiry the admission of a

former colleague, M. Juif, who was exiled for po-

.itical reasons, and who has returned to France in

virtue of the amnesty. Such a requirement would

be only intelligible if M. Juif had voluntarily
abandoned his country and his profession in search
of adventures abroad. He has yielded, on the con-
trary, to the hardest necessity ; he has returned as
soon as return was possible ; and moreover every-
body admits that, by a sort of generous fiction, the
amnesty does not merely put an end to a certain
state of things, but annihilates it, so to speak, in
its causes and in its circumstances. Advocates
should lose sight of this less than anybody.

" To the Batonnier and Members of the Consoil

(le Discipline of the Lyons Bar.
"Gentlemen,--After more than ten years of exile,
and in consequence of a general and unconditional
political amnesty, I have returned to Lyons to re-
sume there the practice of my profession as advocate.
In consequence, I have asked that my name should
be inscribed on the roll of advocates, not as a
favour but as a right, the most sacred all, that of
making use of a property legitimately acquired, of
following a profession which I have learned by
many years labour and great expense.
" You have not openly denied my right •, only
you have forced me to understand that the Conseil
de Discipline of Lyons is not composed of juris-
consults who officially examine my title to the
exercise of my profession, but of partisans who set
up a claim to sit in judgment on my political prin-
ciples and antecedents. This is a power which you
have not, and which I refuse you.
" At the same time I placed myself faithfully at
your service, for all such explanations as you might
deem desirable. During your deliberation yester-
day, which lasted an hour and a half, I waited all
the time in an apartment of the court ready tobbey
your summons. You knew that I was there ; you
were all informed of the fact ; and you saw me
there on your way to the council chamber.
" You did not think proper to summon me before
you. You preferred to compromise the dignity of
our profession, by endeavouring to obtain front
the Registrar of the Council of War a copy of the
proceedings in the political trial which I underwent;
you hoped, perhaps, to find in them some pretext
under which to mask the real motive of your ostra-
cism ; and you have not even learnt the lesson in
propriety which a public functionary, the Registrar
of the Council of War, gave you, in refusing the
eommunication you asked for.
" Foiled on that side, you have taken the deter-
mination of submitting my conduct daring my lout
exile to the investigation of a commission—a
clever
way, I admit, of keeping me at a distance Without
taking the responsibility of a refusal.
" Whole years would be insufficient to prOCUTIP
you the information which you pretend is neces-
sary ; you know neither the laws nor the custoulo
of the countries I have lived in; you know still
less their intelligence and freedom. The Americans
would smile with astonishment if you were to ask
them what the proserit who left France, deprived
of all resources and only his labour to live by, had
done among them. They would reply, what I
have told you myself, that he had energetically
struggled against the difficulties of his situation;
that he bad even known want ; but that, thanks to
God, he had never been redueed to those extremities
which make men commit base actions.
" They would have added, that they had suffi-
ciently shown the consideration which they accor-
ded to the unaided foreigner, by admitting him to
discharge among them functions which involve
greater responsibility than those of our profession
in France.
" I had offered to communicate to you my diploma
as advocate of the state of New York ; you have not
thought fit to take notice of it. Your desire was
not to exclude me without having tp declare your-
selves. You knew that exile does not enrich a man,
and that I could not wait long for your decision.
You have succeeded; bo satisfied ; I withdraw. I
wish, however, that oar position towards each other
should be clearly marked; that is the object of this
letter.
" I thank the very small number of my colleagues
who have valiantly defended right and justice by
defending me in the council, and I have just told
endthat I withdraw for the present
mission to the bar of Lyons, so that
u
further need to deliberate upon
you,miohya:hgleaae,Nin,e gentlemen,
neo.mo:: a
"F. JuiF, Advocate, Doctor of Law."

REFORM OF THE CITY CORPORATION.

The new Government Bill for the better regula-
tion of the Corporation of the City of London has
been printed. It provides for the division of the
cityinto 20 wards, nine of the existing wards to
remain unaltered, and the remainder to be formed
b. y the union and division of old wards. The nine
intact wards ara Aldersgate, Aldgate, Broad-strait,
Castle Baynard, Coleman-street, Cripplegate With-
out, Farringdon Within, Portsoken, and Tower.
The qualification for voting for Lord Mayor, alder-
men, common councilmen, and ward officers is to be
the occupation within the city, solely or jointly, of
any house, shop, office, or chambers for business,
rated on a net annual value of £lO. Full provision
is made for the registration of the civic electors, and
the Recorder and Common Sergeant will hold courts
for the revision of the lists. On the 21st of Decem-
ber (St. Thomas's Day) next ensuing, aid every
subsequent year, 120 common councilmen will be
elected in the 20 wards of the city, as now, for
one year only. On the same day ono alderman
will be elected in each ward, at the same time and
place, and and in the same manner, as the common
councilmen. The office of aldermen may be held
for life, or the tenure of 'uaindiu se bene gesserint.
The duties and powers of the new aldermen and
common councilmen will commence on the let of
January, 1861, on which day all the old aldermen
and common councilmen, if not re-elected, will be
officially extinguished, and cease to exercise their
amhority. The Lord Mayor, however, will con'
thine in office until the usual date, and those alder-
men who may be cashiered by the municipal con-
stituency in the preceding December will continue
justices of the peace and have seats (it is not said
votes) in the Court of Aldermen. Ia 1861 the Lord
Mayor will be elected by the new constituency,
from among the aldermen of the city. Aldermen
and common councilmen must be on the list of
voters for some ward in the city, and must be
seised of real or personal estate to the amount 01,
£l,OOO, and be rated on an annual value of £3O
at the least. Clerks in holy orders and dissent'
ing preachers are especially disqualified. I,ll°
accounts of the corporation must be sent to the
Secretary of State yearly, and an abstract thereof
be laid before the High Court of Parliament. The
power of sale and leasing is restrained. Comm°
ball elections are transferred to the Court of Coin'
urn Council. Exclusive rights of trading in the
City are abolished, as also street tolls; the right 0i
porterage is saved. The restriction on grants of
markets within seven miles of the City is repeal!'
The Lord Mayor and aldermen will have nothing
to do hereafter with Southwark, and the 9,3
Coroner will cease to act in that borough. IP
office of High Bailiff in Southwark is abolished'
Provision is made, in case of need, for the appoc,l3l;
ment of a stipendiary magistracy in the l_t_
Freemen of Londoit may take apprentices for three
instead of seven years.