THE NATIONAL REGISTER. ABANDONNIEN [' OF THE SLATE PROACUIION. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, DUBLIN, Nov. 26. TUE KING, AT THE PROSECUTION OF F. HUDDLLSTON, V. THOMAS KIRWAN AND OTHLKS. Attorney-Generul.--My Lords, with respect to the question in the case of the N.dig against Kirwan and others, I have to state to the Court, that although a verdict of acquittal has been found in the case of Dr. Sheridan, yet that the law of the land has been unanimously dt cided by the Court that the Catholic Committee, or Convention, is an unlawful assembly. This, then, being the settled law of the land, I cannot suffer myself,for one moment, to believe, that the project of the Committee will nut now be aband i will not, therefot%., press on the trials, during the rvmainder of this Term ; and in the expectation that it cannot be the object of the Catholics to violate the law of the land, it is my moss anxious ltope and wish, that it may never be come necessary fn . me to call on another trial. Mr. Kirwan.—My Lords, I am ready to plead, and ready for trial! Mr. Johnston.—Mr. Kirwan knows the . facts tin(' k notds the law, and will not now sin ink from an immediate tiial. The Court ordered copies of the Indictment against the tra versers to be delivered to them at the sitting 4 of the Court to morrow—whe tin y will be called onto plead. No r E.—On this great question Sir Arthur Pigott, and tome of the first lawyers in England and this country, with the peo ple of Ireland. differ with his Majesty's Attormey-General and the Court of King's Bench ; and are unanimously of opinion, that the Catholic Committee, as it is at present constituted, is a Legal Alisenthly! We congratulate the Public, that the Attornex-General has recanted his error, respecting the loyalty of his Catholic coun trymen. 757 stingers, , and a poney, set out from this place tor the Fortrose side. hey had only proceeded about third ferry Ove or six hundred yards), when they were observed from both shores suddenly to go down. hi this dreadful situation a number of the untortu.ltde sufferers were for a considerable time seen from the ramparts clinging to the wreck, which drifted in the direc tion of the garrison. Within twenty minutes or so after the accident, the policy had made hia way as far as the breakers, with a. man grasping the crupper in his left band, and exiting the right and his feet in swimming. Both were now at times completely buried in broken water, and the poney having at last found hot tom with his tore-feet, seemed incapaole ot farther exertion, while the man, by the violence of the surge, was forced from his hold, and being quite exhausted and elh.gem bered with great coat, boots, &c. would have inevitably pe rished, had nut Mr. Ferguson, Paymaster of the 78th rel;iment, rushed in to his assistance, and rescued him from his perilous snuation. lie is a Mr. Henderson, from Caithness. By this time the wreck bad drifted within 40 yards or so of the west point of the fort, with seven or eight people on the keel, oars, dec. ; some of them called out most piteously to those attempt ing to assist them front the.shore ; but at last ge . eing into a vio lent eddy, six or seven of them were successively washed from their hold, and sunk to rise no more. A man an a woman still kept by the mast, which was boating alongside the wreck ; and, in this alhetieg situation, the man setting up most heart rending shrieks, they drifted down the Frith, till nearly past the garrison, when William Skilling, a private in the 78th, swam out with the end of a rope to make fast to the wr ..ck, but which was unfortunately too short. Encouraged, however, by his Commanding Officer, 'Lieutenant-Colenel M'latod, who was on the beach using every exertion which humanity could suggest, Skillmg proceeded to the wreck, where he endeavoured to push the mast with those attached to it before him to the shore, but which noble attempt was frustrated by the mast's be ing fast to the wreck by a rope, which he could not disengage. In the mean time, however, a ship's boat from the pier, which, to the imminent 'danger of the crew, bed heen got round the point, soon came up, and succeeded in bringing the man and the Nvoman ashore. The Illall ' S name is John Angus, a sailor, and a native of . ilurso. The woman was taken up lifeless. 1 have conversed with Mr. Henderson and with Angus ; the account they give is, that on leaving the pier, Angus wished to apply the rudder to the boat, but which was prevented by the ferryman. About third ferry, the wind being very strong against them, one of the rowers on the lee-shim becanle ex hausted ; when a man getting wet by some water breaking in at tire bow, came backward to the stern, which circumstance adding to the int Nihon of the rowers, a good deal of sea rushed in on th-.. s t ern. The major pat t of them then wished to return, and began putting the boat r.tund to leeward, which WAS opposed by Angus, who begged of them either to put back by the stern, or a b out to windward, and at the same time rushed forward to seize an o.tr, but was prevented by his m wife la) g fairly hold of him, at which moment a w ave made over the boat, her side being to the storm. They reelained some nu rtures in this alarming state, and then resolved on cleat - leg themselves of the poney. • On this Mr. Henderson threw up the bridle, laid hold of the crupper, and set out tor the shore. lie bad nut proceeded many yards, whew the animal attempted to return to the wreck ; on this lie struck it on the side ot the head with his diseogaged hand, and succeeded in putting hint to the direction of the garrison ; he then kicked bask, :mei saw the people on the wreck as described. This accouut is corrobo rated by Angus, who adds, that a few inninites after Mr. H. left them, a heavy sca turned the boat's keel uppermost, but cannot tell how he gut fluid of the mast. A MERMAID. A young man, named John M'lsaac, orenrphine, in Kintyre, in Scotland, made oath, on exa►uinat►on, at ..:anipbeitown, before the Slit' . al-Substitue of Kintyre, that he saw on the after noon of the 13th of October,vii a black rock un the sea-coast. an animal, of the 'particulars of which, be gives a long and curious de7ail, answering, in general, to the description com monly given of the supposed amphibious animal, called a mtr. n►:ud. He states, that the upper h alf of it was white, and of the shape of a human body ; the other half, towards the tail, of a br►nrdled or reddish grey colour, apparently covered with 'scales; but the extremity of the tail itself was of a greenish red shining colour.; that the head was covered with long hair ; at times it would put back the hair on both sides of its head, it would also spread its tail like a fan; and while so extended, the tail con tinued in .treintilous motion, and when drawn together again, it remained motitaile+s, and appeared to the deponent to be about twelve or fourteen inches broad ; that the hair was long and light br,)vi%i ; that the anl►nal was bet weld tour and five feet long: that it had a head, ha►r, items, and bo.ly, :town to the ilkt a human being; that the ;isms were shoe I. in propur- MOTION FOR ATTACIINIENT.. Yesterday thcy Attorney-General moved for a Conditional Or der to show cause why an attachment should not issue against Philip W. Harvey, proprietor of The Freeman's Journal. He said, that it was unnecessary for him to state any thing more, that the same cause and the same reason existed for granting the Rule, as induced the Court to grant a similar Order against the Proprietor of The Dublin Evening Post.—kule granted. To this we look forward without fear, but with some anxiety —anxiety,not for ourseves, but for the assailed liberties of , our country —for the liberty of the subject cannot survive that of the press. The " Orators" have been acquitted—the " Scrib lers and Printers" arc under prosecution—ltipmations ex-officio and Attachments follow in quick succession—but the Press—the IndependePt Press of Ireland stands upright—it stands upon high Constitutional ground—supported by the Law, it stanis fearlessly, it stands identified with the People, and from their great cause, The Dublin Evening Post can never slit ink. —sisk [FROM THE VREEMAN 9 S JOURNAL.] PROSECLIFION POSTPONED—We have to announce another great victory obtained by the Public—in which we include Pro testants, Dissenters, and Catholics, over the Castle. The At torney-General has postponed. the trials of the Catholics until next Term. He has, in fact, postponed these interesting trials, in which he has sustained so signal a defeat, until the Greek kalends.. Whether this returning sense of discretion has te-en produced by the verdict in the case of Doctor Sheridan, or by the despair which Mr. Pole must feel in procuring a Jury, or by the change which, we presume, they must have heard was about totite lace in the Administratiun of Ireland , o r whether it p roceeds from an union of all these motives, we shall not pretend to de cide. We only state the fact. The trials are postponed until February. The matter was yesterday intimated by the Attur ney-Geaeral to the eloquent and patriotic advocate of the Ca tholics, Mr. Burrowes, in the Chief Justice'.i Chamber. This is another triumph. The system of prosecution is on the wane. The Comet and its tail are disappearing. Freeman's Journal Office, Five o'Clock. We stop the press to state, that the State Prosecutions have been virtually abandoned by the Government. After the re peated statements we have given of our opinions, we hope it is unnecessary fur us to express our juy on this great victory of Freigdong and the Press. SC'OTLAA'D. FORT Groner., Nov. ;9.—Bt•tween one and twop.m. of the 15th, during a strong gale from S. W. accompanied with rain, the MALI ferry-boat, with the lour boatmen, nine or ten pas- T..... ;"~::,,