tht Zttraplig.

The Convocation of the Clergy was prorogued in February last to the 18th of August. On Thursday, accordingly, nineteen members of the Lower House met in the Jerusalem Chamber, between ten and eleven o'clock, the customary time of commencing sittings. But the Arch- bishop came not ; neither did Dr. Peacock, the Prolocutor. Instead thereof, the Reverend Canon Wordsworth entered the Chamber and made an unofficial explanation. Dr. Peacock was staying at his house ; he -could not attend the meeting because the Archbishop was not there to con- stitute a House of Convocation. Dr. Peacock had on the 17th sent a -request to Mr. Dyke, the Registrar, that he would name the hour of meet- ing. A verbal message stated that Mr. Dyke was not in town ; but, from a private letter addressed by Mr. Dyke to the Abbey porter, they learned that the Archbishop would not be there until three o'clock. Con- sidering this a want of courtesy, the reverend gentlemen went in a body, on the invitation of Dr. Wordsworth, to call on the Prolocutor. At three o'clock these gentlemen again met in the Jerusalem Chamber; and soon after, the Archbishop of Canterbury appeared with his function- aries. Dr. Peacock, in the name of the members of the Lower House there assembled, respectfully represented to his Grace, that no intimation had been given to him, as Prolocutor, nor to the members of Convocation generally, that the proceedings would not commence at the usual hour; and he prayed that such orders *might be given as may prevent a similar occurrence in future.

The Archbishop said, he thought that at the time of the last adjourn- ment, it was so fully understood the present meeting would be only for the purpose of prorogation, that there could not possibly have been any misunderstanding on the subject. He was not aware that there had been any expectation that business would be transacted; and he thought that 'was sufficiently evidenced by the fact that no members of the Upper House were now present. He must, however, express his regret that any misunderstanding had occurred, which might have subjected some of the clergy present to inconvenience.

The usual writ was read by Mr. Dyke, and Convocation stood prorogued until the 10th November. No hour was mentioned.

Count Walewski, the French Minister, gave a grand banquet to the Diplomatic Corps on Monday, the fête of the Emperor Napoleon. Nearly all the Cabinet Ministers attended ; the exceptions were Lord John Rus- sell and Mr. Sidney Herbert. The Duke of Wellington and the Marquis of Breadalbane were present. Lord Aberdeen proposed the health of the Emperor of the French ; Count Walewski proposed the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. One toast comprising all the Sovereigns repre- sented at the banquet was proposed ; and finally Count Walewski gave "The continuance of peace."

The merchants and others at Lloyd's met Lieutenant Maury on Wed- nesday, to hear from him an explanation of his plan for taking observa- tions on the winds and currents at sea. He gave an interesting account of the circumstances that turned his attention to the subject, and led him to induce American captains and masters—his corps of volunteers, 1000 strong—to send him their logs. The practical poet of the meeting was an offer of charts and instruction-books which Lieutenant Maury con- veyed from the Ooveonfent at Washington to the shipmasters of Great Britain, on the sole condition that they would undertake to make obser- vations and communicate them. This offer was loudly cheered. Reso- lutions approving of the plan, and praying the British Government to co- operate, were passed. Thanks were voted to Lieutenant Maury, with three times three.

A second meeting of the City of London Municipal Reform Association was held on Monday. The society now numbers upwards of a thousand members.

The new City market at Copenhagen Fields has at length been com- menced: 500 men arc at work constructing sewers and raising the boun- dary-wall.

There was a most painful scene in the Westminster County Court on Thursday. Messrs. lhrupp, coach-builders, of Oxford Street, sued the Honourable George Capel Norton for 49/. 10s., the balance of a bill for re- pairing a brougham belonging to the Honourable Mrs. Norton. That lady was called as a witness,—against her will, as she informed the Court. Mrs. Norton made a statement to show that Mr. Norton had agreed to make her an allowance of 5001. a year after they separated in 1836; but that it had not been paid since March 1852: hence these debts to tradespeople. The Judge endeavoured to confine the witness to the dry legal view of the case; but, under the cross-examination of Mr. Needham, her husband's counsel, the lady's feelings were i speedily aroused. Mr. Needham wished to show that Mrs. Norton was n the receipt of a large income from her friends and her writings. This introduced the name of Lord Melbourne. Did Mrs. Norton mean to say, asked Mr. Needham that she had not received an income of 6001. a year through the fate Lord Melbourne ? Mrs. Norton, who had been sitting on the bench, stood up promptly, and replied —" I could receive no income from the late Lord Melbourne's property, which is all entailed. My husband brought an action against Lord Mel- bourne. Lord Melbourne left nothing but a letter to his brother, in which he solemnly asseverated, as a dying man, that I had been falsely accused. I stand here as a blasted woman, not in the eyes of my• own class, but in the eyes of a class whom I do not less respect; and Lord Melbourne, as a dying man, begged his family, on ocoluit of the great disgrace, the great misery, the loss of home, the parting from my children, and the wreck of all my happiness, which I had unjustly suffered, that they would show me all kind- ness : and his family have done so—and I believe my husband is the only one who ever accused him of a base action. [Applause; and a voice, " 8hame l"] Let Mr. Norton pay the 500/. due from him under his own agreement, rather than cause the raking up of all these matters." Mr. Needham elicited that Mrs. Norton had received 6001. a year from Lady Palmerston : but, said the lady, that was "given me in charity" • "no-body is bound to pay me anything" • "I have no rights—only wrongs." The details of her life were extracted from her to show that she had been extravagant ; that she brought up a poor labourer's child; and that she fre- quently gave dinners. She averred that at school she paid not for the edu- cation but for the residence of her sons ; and that she had taken the labour- er's child because she was then miseraWe, and compassionate, and broken- hearted. Mrs. Norton, whose replies were little speeches, stated, that since her mother's legacy (15,000/.) came to her, Mr. Norton, in violation ofitis agreement, desired to reduce her allowance to 8001. Mr. Norton repeatedly interrupted the proceedings in attempting to contradict some statement of his wife. Towards the close, a solicitor proved that an agreement, not bind- ing in law, but morally, had been entered into by Mr. and Mrs. Norton, in which Mr. Norton agreed to pay his wife 500/. a year. There was no stipu- lation in that agreement to the effect that Mrs. Norton should not receive any. allowance from Lord Melbourne. The Jud,ge decreed a nonsuit, because during the years over which the debt extended Mrs. Norton had regularly received her allowance. He declined to give Mr. Norton an opportunity of answering. the statements made there that day ; but he admitted that they were mended. The whole scene was painful in the extreme. Mr. Norton, attempting to force an explanation, was hissed by the audience ; and finally hissed out of court.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Tuesday, Mr. Lacey was tried for wound- ing Elliott and Hillyer. This was the case which occurred at Fulharn, and was recently mentioned. When arrested, the accused seemed much con- cerned for the young men, and said he only intended to frighten them. The Jury seem to have taken this view of Mr. Lacey's intent; for, after he had received a high character for humanity and good conduct, they acquitted him.

The old man Candlin, who has been in prison for thirty-six years, applied to Mr. Justice Williams on Saturday to be discharged. Candhn was origin- ally committed to Montgomery Gaol in 1817; he was removed to the Fleet, and thence to the Queen's Prison. On a former occasion he was told that he would be liberated if he filed a schedule in the Insolvent Debtors' Court ; but he refused. On Saturday last he again refused, as he considered that he was unjustly detained in prison : he conceives that it was illegal to move him from Montgomery Gaol to London, when a change was effected in Welsh jurisdiction. The Judge told him he could not assist him unless he filed the schedule. The obstinate old man went back to prison.

On Wednesday, Edouard Raynaud was tried for misdemeanour, in having "unlawfully solicited the Prince de Joinville to concur with him in a con- spiracy to assassinate Louis Napoleon, the Emperor of the French." The particulars of the ease were recently recorded : Raynaud wrote to the Prince asserting that he intended to assassinate Louis Napoleon, and asking for 20/. to assist him in carrying out the project. The Prince sent the letters to Sir Richard Mayne. Prince de Joinville appeared as a witness. (He was evi- dently very deaf.) He said Raynaud was an entire stranger to him. Mr. Woollett, the prisoner's counsel—" Has not your Royal Highness received applications for money from a great many French exiles ? " The Prince de Joinville—"Am I obliged to answer this question?" Baron Platt said that the question must be answered; but the witness need not mention any names. The Prince then said that he had been applied to for money by several exiles from France. The case against the prisoner, so far as the sending of the letters was concerned, was fully made out. The defence was, that the intent of Raynaud was not to assassinate the Emperor, but to extract money from the Prince. Mr. Woollett pointed out, that no "infernal machine," nor even a pistol or a knife, was found in the prisoner's possession. The wretched creature at the bar had used a silly artifice to get money—that was all.

Mr. Baron Platt directed the Jury to consider whether the intention of the prisoner was that laid in the indictment, or the one suggested by his counsel. The Jury consulted for half an hour, and then acquitted the prisoner: they believed his only object was to extort money.

John Daley, formerly a iPoliceman, was convicted of assaulting Inspector Reason—" wounding with tent to do grievous bodily harm." Mr. Reason had been obliged to report Daley, as his accounts were suspicious; Daley borrowed a staff, and Atruck the Inspector a fearful blow on the temple, en- dangering the sight of an eye. The Jury and Mr. Reason recommended the culprit to mercy, which saved him from transportation : he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

On Thursday., Mr. Bodkin applied to the Court to postpone the trial of an indictment against Major Beresford and ten other persons. On Wednesday evening, the Grand Jury had found a true bill for misdemeanour against the Major and the others for an offence connected with the Derby election in 1852: the defendants professed ignorance of what the charge consisted, and Mr. Bodkin applied that they might be allowed to put in bail to appear at the next Sessions. Air. Baron Platt assented. The names of the defendants are William Beresford, George Henry Richardson Cox, William Thomas Cox, John Huish, Alfred Akermann, John Clark, Chris- topher Hibbert, John Calow, John Savage, Thomas Morgan, and Thomas Lund. There are a great many counts in the indictment, but the principal charge against the defendants is that of combining together for the purpose of bribing certain electors of the town of Derby, in order to procure the election of-a Member of Parliament by unconstitutional means.

Thomas Garnett, committed under a Coroner's warrant, charged with manslaughter, as not having supplied his wife with the necessaries of life, has been acquitted on trial : medical evidence showed that the woman died of disease of the lungs, enough to kill twenty persons.

At the Middlesex Sessions, on Wednesday, six dock-labourers were con- victed of divers savage assaults committed during the recent "strike." The sentences of imprisonment varied from nine months to one month.

A lamentable accident occurred at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, on Monday afternoon. While seventeen workmen were engaged on the scaf- folding at the North end of the middle transept, constructing additional " trusses " for the erection of the iron ribs, the scaffolding, a great height from the ground, suddenly gave way, precipitating the men to the Boor of the building. Ten of them were taken from the debris dead, and two more died soon after they had been received at Guy's Hospital. The other five were taken to the hospital, three in a pitiable condition from fractures and wounds. Two horses attached to a cart were crushed to death ; the driver escaped.

The central transept at the Sydenhant Palace is to be 208 feet high, 120 wide, and 384 feet long : the transept at Hyde Park was 102 feet high, and ' 72 wide. To raise and Ex the iron ribs forming the roof of this Test transept, was of couree a difficult teak. It was proposed to effect it by constructing 4. truSSefj " of timber and iron resting on the galleries of the transept, at 102 feet from the floor. The first attempt failed, a violent gale having blown

down the unfinished scaffolding. A new one was forthwith commenced. For a time all went well, though not without" panics" on the part of the work- men. But the plan answered to sueh an extent that on Monday two of the great ribs were already fixed. On Monday, the seventeen unfortunate work- men were engaged in finishing the third of three trusses that were entirely unloaded except with their own materials : these three trusses fell, hurling their occupants down more than a hundred feet. The falling materials snap- ped some of the iron-work in the lower part of the building, but did no

serious damage in weakening the general structure. While the unloaded tresses fell, those laden with materials for building the roof remained firm : this feet at once led to a surmise that either a portion of the material was defective, or that the workmen had neglected to secure some essential parts of the struoture.

The inquest on the bodies lying at Sydenham was commenced on Wednes- day. Only three witnesses were then examined, and two of these merely identified the dead. George Williams, a carpenter in the service of Messrs. Fox and Henderson, stated that the scaffolding were erected under his enders. Three of the trusses fell together, the men being on the top of them. He had been employed in the construction of the building in Hyde Park, and thus had a knowledge of the nature of the work in progress. Some of the trusses had been taken from Hyde Park. None of the columns on which they stood had given way. The trusses that remained appeared perfectly secure. He could not form any opinion why the three trusses had fallen. In his opinion, there had been no want of judgment displayed, and the ma- terial was of the best description. The mode of operation, in his opinion, was a judicious one ; and he saw no danger in regard to the construction of the scaffolding. He had never had any apprehension with respect to these trusses, nor had any of the men ever expressed apprehension respecting them

or fear of working on them. The accident was an unforeseen event, that could not be accounted for. The trusses had once before given way, and their strength bad to be increased. At the conclusion of the evidence, Sir Charles Fox volunteered to go over the building with any person and give every explanation. Mr. Ballantine, who attended for the Company, stated, that, whatever was the result of the inquiry, the trusses would be given up, and a scaffolding raised from the ground to complete the building.

The inquest concluded yesterday, with a verdict of "Accidental death."

At a separate inquest held on the bodies of two men who died in Guy's Hospital, further evidence was given to show that the greatest precautions had been taken, and that the proximate cause of the accident could not be as- certained. Mr. Cochrane, an engineer employed at the Crystal Palace, Sir Charles Fox, and Mr. Ward, an architect formerly employed at the Palace,

gave evidence, Sir Charles Fox said, the plan which had failed had been adopted because it was considered a better and a safer mode than raising a scaffolding 180 feet high from the ground. The Jury visited the Palace. On their return' two of their own body gave evidence. Mr. Doyle, a scale- maker, declared that the iron used for the trusses was of the beat quality, and well init together. Mr. Drewit, a builder, said the timber was of excel- lent quality, quite new ; and everything was well executed. The Jury re- tailed a verdict of "Accidental death.'

The hedieis of eight of the sufferers were interred on Thursday afternoon,

in Sydenhara churchyard—a lovely spot. The long funeral procession was formed in the central nave of the Palace, in which all work ceased for the day. The foreman of the works preceded the coffins; each coffin was fol- lowed by the relatives of the deceased ; and in the rear were all the Work- men, a thousand in number, headed by Sir Charles Fox, Mr. Henderson, and Mr. Cochrane. Before it reached the church theavocession had been greatly swelled by additions. It is stated that "Messrs. Fox and Henderson invariably make a provision for the widows of workmen who lose their lives in their service, by a weekly allowance of from 10s. to 12s., continued over periods of not less than twelve months ; and, what is perhaps really more important and beneficial to them,

the firm invariably take charge of the. orphan ehildren,,Land introduce them to habits of industry in their own service.'

On Sunday night, the Niobe a Woolwich. steamer, came into collision, near London Bridge, with the Regent, a trader which was being towed up the river. The steamer had a large hole knocked in her bottom; she was im- mediately run ashore, and the crew got out in safety before she sank—for- tunately, the passengers had been previously landed.