The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-18 00:00:00

SCANDAL IN marl QUARTERS.

The whisper of a grave scandal has become so loud in
circles where reliable information is generally to be found,
that it is no longerpossible to leave it unnoticed. It relates
to a very high personage, whose position ought to place him
high above the breath of suspicion, but whose private life is
sullied by excesses which threaten to bring disgrace upon
the order to which he belongs, and even to sully the
ermine of royalty itself. Had the causes of complaint
or of reprobation been confined to private history
alone, the probability is that the veil might not
have been raised ; but it is asserted that a flagrant
abuse of patronage has long prevailed in the depart.
ment over which the person in question holds imperial
sway, and that the storm of dissatisfaction is attaining
a strength and impetuosity which will probably lead
the House of Commons, in the interests of the public,
to direct such an inquiry as the circumstances of
the case may demand. The subject is one of extreme
delicacy ; but, in a reforming age like the present, if
suspicion justly attaches, it would seem but right that
those who are responsible for the honour of the adminis-
tration, whether it be military, naval, or civil, should
interfere, ere it be too late, to prevent a great scandal,
if not a national reproach. It is rumoured that
certain facts in connection with the matter have been laid
before the chief adviser of the Crown, and that the first
move towards inquiry may possibly be in the shape of a
motion in the House of Commons for a return of the
appointments, pay, salaries, pensions, and allowances held
by the individual in question.—London Correspondent of
Belfast News•Le:ter.

The Birmingham Gazette says it is rumoured that
the petition against Mr. John Hardy, one of the Conserva-
tive members for South Warwickshire, will be withdrawn.

The report of the Select Committee on the House
of Commons arrangements has been published. The
Commissioners have decided that an enlarged House of Com-
mons is required, and that no enlargement of the present
house is desirable. They propose to take down the
present dining-rooms, and to construct a new house on the
present site of the dining-rooms and common courts. The
present house would then be used as a lobby. Accommo-
dation of all kinds would be increased, the new house would
hold 5G9 members and 330 strangers, whereas the
present house accommodates 428 members and 263
strangers. The form recommended for the new House is
hat of a square with the corners cut off. The proposed
fl.)or is to be solid, and the ceiling to be of glass in the
ntro with sloping sides of wood. In the construction
of the plans great at mutton has been paid to acoustical con-

A bill to amend the Representation of the People
No, 18r,7, ha i boon propared and brought in by Mr. Henry
I. Sheridan mil Mr. Gourley. It proposes to ropeal the
•aragrnph numb: red 1 of the third section of the principal
or, a!so that 1111:114 rod four of the sixth section, and the
.whole of the seveLth suction. It enacts that "From and
:`ter the pa.,Ain of this Act, the owner of any dwelling-
Louse, or utter tct.ement, sitiLded in a p.nhh wholly or
:o.rt'y it, a Lot (nigh iu EnglaLd or Wales mly be rated to the

a'e instead of the occupier. The (iv/netof such house or
{.u,rikut may lay the said poor rate, or cuter into any corn-
:)esition for the payment thereof, on behalf and instead of
the occupier, to the same extent and in the same manner
•is if the principal Act had never passed. The ratfng of the
owner instead of the occupier, and the payment of the
said poor rate by the owner, shall not affect the right of the
occupier as the inhabitant of a dwelling-house within a bo-
rough to vote for a memlxT or members to servo in Parlia-
ment, pursuant to the second paragraph of the third section
of the principal Act."