August 8.—At Huntsville, Ala., Gen. Rousseau issued the following special order:
“Almost every day murders are committed by lawless bands of robbers and murderers firing into the railroad trains.
“To prevent this, or to let the guilty suffer with the innocent, it is ordered that the preachers and leading men of the churches, (not exceeding twelve in number,) in and about Huntsville, who have been active secessionists, be arrested and kept in custody, and that one of them be detailed each day and placed on board the train on the road running by way of Athens, and taken to Elk River and back, and that a like detail be made and taken to Stevenson and back. Each detail shall be in charge of a trusty soldier, who shall be armed, and not allow him to communicate with any person.
“When not on duty these gentlemen shall be comfortably quartered in Huntsville, but not allowed to communicate with any one without leave from these headquarters. The soldiers detailed for guard of this character will report to these headquarters for further instructions upon the day preceding their tour of duty at three o’clock P.M.”—Special Order No. 54.
— “Certain Non-conscripts” of Richmond, Va., through their counsel, John H. Gilmer, respectfully presented to the confederate States Congress a remonstrance against the conscription law of the rebel government.
— At a banquet given by the Mayor of Sheffield, England, to the corporation of that town, several distinguished guests were present, and among them were Lord Palmerston and Mr. Roebuck, M.P. for the borough.
Lord Palmerston, in his after-dinner speech, took occasion to refer to the American war. He said: The Government had thought it their duty to advise their Sovereign to preserve a strict and rigid neutrality in that most unhappy conflict now raging in North-America. It was painful to witness the loss of life, the wasting of treasure, and other sad concomitants of the unfortunate contest; but, greatly as they might lament to see their brethren on the other side of the Atlantic suffering such wretchedness, greatly as they might themselves feel the evils consequent upon it, he was convinced that the course which the British government had pursued was the only course which became that country, and that it had received, and would continue to receive, the approval and sanction of the British people.
Mr. Roebuck afterward addressed the assembly, and, after referring to the distress in Lancashire, he touched upon the civil war in America, and said he had at first looked at the disruption of the Union with grief, but his present feeling was one of rejoicing. An irresponsible people, possessed of irresponsible and almost omnipotent power, was a people that could not be trusted; and he regarded the attempt of the North in endeavoring to restore the Union by force as an immoral proceeding totally incapable of success. Slavery was a mere pretence. In the North the feeling against the black man was stronger than in the South, and if North and South were reunited to-morrow, slavery would be more firmly fixed than ever. He looked to Lancashire, and would entreat Lord Palmerston to weigh well the consequences of what he called “perfect neutrality.” There had not yet been perfect neutrality. Great Britain was at that moment supporting the North with every means of offence and injury to the South. He, therefore, begged the noble lord deeply to consider whether the time had not come for him to be the first in Europe to ask the Great Powers to recognize the Southern Confederacy. Six months would not pass over before that was done. The Northerners would never be our friends. Of the Southerners we could make friends. They were not the scum and refuse of Europe, but Englishmen. A hand held out from Europe would stop the effusion of blood, and would make the homes of our workingmen happy again. He had not made these remarks lightly or in haste, and he submitted them to his fellow-countrymen, believing that, if acted upon, they would redound to their prosperity and their honor.
— Orders were issued from the War Department at Washington, to prevent the evasion of military duty, and for the suppression of disloyal practices; also authorizing the arrest of persons discouraging enlistments.—(Doc. 175.)
—At Baltimore, Md., several persons were arrested while endeavoring to escape from that city, in order to evade the draft ordered by the Secretary of War. —Portland, Calloway County, Mo., was captured by a party of rebel guerrillas under the command of Capt Cobb. After robbing the stores and residences, the guerrillas left the place. —General Blunt and staff left Leavenworth, Kansas, to take the field in command of the Indian expedition.—Leavenworth Conservative.
