The Sun.
London, England, 1812-02-03 00:00:00

NAVAL NEWS,

13EIOUTH, FEB. I.—Arrived the:American brig
John, belonging to and from Boston, BLACIpaRB
master, with. a cargo consisting of sugar, indigo,
andlogwood, boundto Tonningen, ptit in here beL
ing in a leaky state. On the 21st-inst. in Lat. 43.
Long. 23, the John fell in with-a French squadron,
consisting of two frigates and a national brig, by
which. She was detained some time, but suffered to
proceed, after being plundered of several articles and
part of her cargo ; they bad the day before taken
"andbtfitit atiAmeriCan vessel..

The American schooner Spy, that' was detained
and sent 'in here on Thursday last by the Belle Poule
and Dryad frigates, fell in with, on her passage to
this port, a French frigate steering to the westward
under a press of sail, then about thirty miles from
Brest.

Arrived this day the Resolute gun brig, having
under convoy a fleet from Oporto consisting of the
following vessels, viz. Flora, TICKLE, for this port
and Exeter; Ann and Eliza, STEEVEN, for Lon-
don; Drake, SKINNER, for Dartmouth; Flora,
SANDERS, • Monique, SIIAW, and the Harmony,
HUMPHREYS, for London ; and the Thetis, PERCH,
for. Southampton ; all with cargoes consisting of
wine, fruit, and cork ; sailed on Sunday the 17th
instant. The fleet consisted of eighteen sail, and
the-remainder separated on the passage.

Arrived his Mkiest'y's- ship Lightning, of 20 guns,
Captain DOYLE, from Portspaouth, and is to take
out Mr. VAUGHAN, to Cadiz, and from- thence she
will prdceed to the West Indies. -:
Arrived the Hermes frigate,, Captain BROWN, and
the Nimrod hired armed cutter, both from Corunna,
the latter,safied on Sunday the 24th instant, and
left there the- Unicorn frigate,- and Goldfinch brig of
War. . •

Arrived the Tremendous ,man of war from the
squadron off Brest ; the Ant,-MAnnicx, from Ports-
mouth ; Union, TRENAMAN, from Wales; the brig
Triton, RICH ARD SON; from St. John's, with a 'cargo
'of timber and staves bound.to London ; the gaillot
Anna and Rebecca, SPELL, master, from Seville,
. .
with a cargo of fruit, bound to London; and the In-
telligent gun-brig from a eruize.•

Put in bete this day by contrary minds and stormy
weather, the Fortitude, LANEFIELD; Mary, BAGGS ;
and Hunter; HODGE, from Gibraltar, bound to.the
eastward, and are under quarantine; the two former
sailed on the i(ith instant, with a fleet of six sail,
bound to England, under convoy of the -Circe fri-
gate, parted company a few days since ; the Hunter
sailed on the 19th inst. and came a running ship.
Arrived the Bristol man of war from Portsmouth,
and is appointed take convoy to the Downs ; she
will sail on Saturday next.
Atrived the George, BENNETT, for London, and
the Charlotte, CREWS, for this port, both from
Oporto, with cargoes of wine.
The Princess Charlotte frigate has detained and
sent in here this day the-American schooner 111,7 an,
M4CONNELL, Master, from Baltimore, with a cargo
of colonial produce, bound to Bourdeaux, last from
Corunna, whither'she was sent by the frigate, which
detained her in lat. 44. 44.
Sailed the Diadem man of war for Leith.
Arrived the Albion, Avis, from London, with a
cargo of rum for the Viaualling Office.
His Majesty's ship Magnificent is ordered to Chat-
ham, where it is supposed she will be paid off.
Arrived the Faihound sloop of war froM a cruize,
having sustained damage during the late gales.

PORTSMOUTH, FEB. I;—Arrived the Princess Ca-
roline from the Downs ; Diadem from Plymouth ;
,and Antelope from a cruize. His Majesty's ship
C- from the Mediterranean, and is put ,under
quarantine.
FEB. 2.—Arrived the Port Mahon from a cruize.

DEAL, FEB. I.—Sailed the Pincher gun-brig for
Heligoland.
Arrived the Cracker gun-brig from off the French
Coast, having received considerable damage in her
hull and.rigging in an action of three hours with a
French gun-brig, so close in shore that she was as-
sisted by the flying artillery; 111'19 took place on the
night. of the 3oth ultimo, when the Cracker suc-
ceeded in driving the Frenchman on shore, and but
for the tide ebbing Would hove totally destroyed her..
Feb. 2.—Sailed this morning the following East
Indiamen to the Westyv,ard :—Earl St. Vincent,
Astell, Larkins, Asia, Princeßegent Chapman, and
Venus, for the South Seas, and several other vessels.

The Peacock sloop of war and Rapid schooner have
made signal tor all vessels that wait for convoy to
get under" weigh; they wilt s.►il immediately the
flood makes. -

Sailed his Majesty's ships Princess Caroline, Echo,
Forward, aud ApeNs. .

tRL4L OF THE CATHOLIC DELtG,ITES.

FROM DUBLIN PAPERS -.6.IIECEIVED•YES'i'ERDAY BY
EXPRESS. "

COURT OF KIiNIGIS BENCH; DUBLIN, JAN.
THE ]CIN.G•U. THOMAS KIRWAN..
The Jury appointed to by the cha,liencre made by
Mr. Burrowes, having returned " We find against
the challenge, -the Court - adjourned to -ten -o'clock•
to-morrow in order to commence the proceedings
On the' trial.

FIRST DAY OF THE TRIAL, TUESDAY, JAN. Q.B.
The Court met at. ten o'clock in the morning,
arid a Jury being impannelled, the indiament was
read and the' pleadings opened. -
-The ATTORN EY-GEN ELAL then rose to .2dlire'SS the
Jury. He contended, that the Jury, in the'case of
Dr. Sheridan, had not -determined on the question
of law, but took its interpretatiOn'froin the Court,
as they were bound .to:do. Their verdia of acquit-
tal was grounded upon an insufficiency of evidence.
He next commented on the pains which had been
taken to throw discredit, on the evidence of Mr.
Huddlestone, though there was no reason to sup-
pose that. the Catholic Gentlemen would have
wished to dispute the tads of 'the meeting and de.
legation. He 'then proceeded in nearly the follow-
terms :---

" I now come to establish the fads, on which
the prosecution -depends, that is, whether-thee-was,
on the 3 1 st of July last, a parochial meeting, at St.
Mary's Chapel, of the Roman; Catholics of that
parish, to appoint delegates to represent the.Catho-
lies of that distria, and Whether Mr. Kirwan took
an active part in the eleaion of those delegates..
To prove those fads, you will have two witnesses
produced, in order to' ascertain what the proceed-
ings in that Assembly Wert ; persons who, how-.
e•er liable they might be to a mistake in their evi-
die»ce, it is impossible they tould have any lute-
real, design in perverting
,it.___lteewitneases will
swea.,aliat such an assembly existed on that day,
and that sach 'delegates were elected, and that Mr.
Kirwan was one of taose delegates so elected. The
Coincidence between that election and the preceding
resolutions consists in five perSoni being the exact
number direded by those resolutions of July last,
to, be elected, and the expressed object of their eke-
tion. Can any imputation attach upon those wit-
nesses because they were sent on that occasion by
the . Police Magistrates, in the discharge of their
duty ? Co-Laid those Police Magtattates- have any
object in sending those persons to that Assembly,.
to come back with a falsehood, in order to ground
a prosecution against innocent men ? It is iiarpos-
sible ! Unless this Assembly was in consequence of
the resolution of the 9th of July, it is impossible
the coincidence could exist between the number of
five, elected at this meeting, and the resolutions en-
tered 'into upon that occasion. I ask you, Gentle-,
men, whether the inference natnrally,
_arises, that
those five persons were delegated to this national
convention, in consequence of the resolutions of
the 9th of July ; and this inference is confirmed
conclusively by the suppression of all evidence on
the part of the trasersers. Dr. Sheridan lias been '
acquitted, and he is a c.ompetent witness. He could
prove that no such fads.-existed 'as are alleged by
those witnesses, if such was the case : and there-
fore, if there has been a total suppression of evi-
dence on the part of the traverser, Dr. Sheridan,
on the former trial, can there be a doubt but the
Jury_upon Oat_ case, after hesitating=hearing the
evidence—the able discussions on both sides, and
although qualifying their verdict by stating there
was an insufficiency of evidence as to the fact of de-
legation, yet found their verdk on weak and erro-
neous judgment ? That verdia cannet be given in
evidence on the present occasion, but I should not ;
Care if it was ; for it would still remain, Gentlemen
of the Jury, for you to decide. whether that verdict
be right or wrong. If that verdia was right, you
will be of the same opinion ; but if wrong, and
absurd on the' face of it was so erroneous that
the Gentlemen who brought in that verdiat were
ashamed to deliver it without an apology—l know
you too well to suppose you could be 'influenced by
any political or personal consideration, eirlier by
hope or fear, to exercise your judgment in a way not
pursuant to the dilates of your consciences. And,
Gentlemen, I- do declare; - ifelehaal-abeetaaripon that
Jury on that trial, I would have had as crutch' doubt
upon the evidence given upon thatoccasion,:as I have,
at present on this trial, or that I have a doubt the
sun. is now Alining-. It will appear to be still more
ludicrous that such a verdict could be found, wlieir
I come to state to you the manner in which such
a verdid was had. It might be owing to that
display of talent and ingenuity exerted by my
Learned Friend (Mr. Burrowes) who never fails to
exhibit an uncommon degree of enthusiasm on
all questions which affect the rights and claims-
the Roman Catholics of Ireland ; I do not re-
coiled that he ever told the Jury the charges
which "were against the traverser, or that they
were untrue; although he 'laboured in a speech of
three hours, which I do not say was either prolix or
tedious, in justifying the fact, without denying the
truth of it. He urged to the Jury his comments
upon the Convention Aet ; he justified the meeting
of that assembly upon a statutable construaion,
without even impressing upon their minds a doubt
of its existence. Has it ever happened in any com-
mon case on a question of property, or a case of
assault, that Counsel was employed to vindicate
their client, not by contending that no such assault
took place, but that the party was justified in vio-
lating the law ? My Learned Friend has told me
that I was in Boeotian darkness, as to the Catholics
of Ireland, if I did not. know' that Catholic Corn-a
mittees have existed for these fifty }ears, and heft]
their sittings in the city of Dublin. But, Gentle-
men, allow me to say, that if Catholic Conventions
can assemble in the city of Dublin, in defiance;of
the Proclamations of the Government, in contempt
of the Constituted Authorities of the land, insulting
the law, and the Constitution, I am glad to be in
such Boeotian darkness—for I would not wish to
live in that country where such a monster of anarchy
existed; I love My country, but not to be under the
government of a Catholic Parliament'. If the Ca-
thOlics have claims, let theM 'be made to the Parlia-
ment of the Empire, there alone must they be (lei-
cussed. And therefore my. Learned Friend, who
entered, on the last occasion, into so laboured- an
argument, to prOve that the claims of the Catholics
ought' to be conceded to, relied upon a subjee en-

. • . . .
,
iirely lo e'sicie the 'objeEl isi the trial ; and hti argu..:.'
merit NITS 'calculated to mislead the Jury, from the
real subject of their consideratiO,... Wneti:er il e '
Parliament ought to concede the claim's of the Ca-
tholics
or not, cannot affeti the question, whether
Mr. Kirwan has, or has not, violated the law of the ..
land. The one would be a non sequitur of theoilier;-
and therefore, Gentlemen of the Jury, if my Learn.,
ed Friend should get up to argue the- propriety of
Catholic: claims,lou v.ll tutu asicle-frout. that-in,
quiry ; for the question is, whether Mr. Kirwan is
guilty of those fads, which, if he committed, A
,amount to a Niulatituvof the law of the land : for.trie;
law upon that subjett you must attend to the opi-
nion of the Court, and from no other source are you
.
warranted iii taking it.,
_
Gentlemen`, I do not feel it necessary to trespass
fohger on your time ; tor, reallY, after all.that has' '•
been.said ,dn this case, it appears to nne:to be so clear,
as -to the interpretation of the law on the subject,
atidithe fads Will.be so subAantiated by evidence,
that I' conceit e I ain warranted in saying that you
cannot be justi6ed irkleaVit.g your box, to decide on
your,yerdid. ; • ''