A great sensation has been caused at Lloyds' by the
ar- rival at Southampton of a Confederate cruiser, the Nashville, Capt. Peagrim, with the crew of an American merchant ship, the Harvey Birch, Capt. Nelson, bound from Havre to New York, in irons. The Nashville had captured the Harvey Birch in the Channel, taken her crew on board, and set fire to the ship, which was burned to the water's edge. The Nashville, whose crew is said to consist chiefly of English and Irish, has gone into dock for repair, and liberated the crew and captain of the Harvey Birch on English ground. It has been supposed that the neutrality of England has in some way been violated, or will be violated, if the Nashville is permitted to refit here. This, however, seems to be an error. A Federal war steamer, the James Adger, put in at the same port for repairs a fortnight ago, and underwent the needful overhaul. The cases are exactly parallel except in the circum- stance that the Nashville had taken a prize, while the James Adger had not. The Queen's proclamation prohibited the introduction of any prize into English ports; and cargo, even without the vessel itself, would count as " prize." But as the Nashville took nothing from the Harvey Birch except the crew, she did not break these orders. If it be true that the crew of the Nashville are really English and Irish, they have broken the Foreign Enlistment law, and are liable, if identified as British citizens, to be convicted of a misde- meanour. But this identification will be difficult. Perhaps the most important result of the whole affair is, that the ap- pearance of a Confederate war vessel on our coasts has. greatly raised the rate of insurance for American ships.
