The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-17 00:00:00

" General Order—No. 252.

"War Department Adjutant-General's Office,
Washington, July 31, 1863.
" The following order of the President is published
for the information and government of all con-
cerned :

"Executive Mansion, Washington,
July 30, 1863.
"It is the duty of every government to give
protection to its citizens, of whatever class, colour,
or condition, and especially to those who are duly
organised as soldiers in the public service. The law
of nations and the usages and customs of war, as
carried on by civilised Powers, permit no distinc-
tion as to colour in the treatment of prisoners of
war as public enemies. To sell or enslave any cap-
tured person on account of his colour, and for no
offence against the laws of war, is a relapse into bar-
barism and a crime against the civilisation of the
age. The Government of the United States will
give the same protection to all its soldiers, and if the
enemy shall sell or enslave any one because of his
colour, the offence shalt be punished by retaliation
upon the enemy's prisoners in our possessions.
" It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of
the United States killed in violation of the laws of
war, a rebel soldier shall be executed ; and for every
one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a
rebel soldier shalt be placed at hard labour in the
public works, and continued at such labour until the
others shall be released and receive the treatment
due to a prisoner of war.

" ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"By order of the Secretary of War.

4, E. D. TOWNSEND, Assist.-Adjutant General."
Northern journals publish the following concern-
ing the development of a Union feeling in North
Carolina :

FORTRESS illomm, Aug. 2, 1863.
The steamer Escort arrived this morning, with
Newbern dates to August Ist.
The Raleigh (N.{.l) Standard denounces Jeff
Davis as a repudiator, in whom no confidence can
be placed, and whose effarts to establish a Southern
Confederacy will be a failure.
The Richmond Enquirer calls upon Jeff Davis
"to suppress the .Ralezgh Standard, and wipe out
the Supreme Court of North Carolina."
The Standard says :—Governor Vance will stand
by the Supreme Court, and the Standard also, it
necessary ; and if Jeff Davis attempts to use phy-
sical force to suppress the Standard, Davis will
meet with physical force, and a revolution in this
State will be the result. John Mitchell, editor of
the _Richmond Enquirer, is an agent of Great Bri-
tain, which has long sought to divide the Northern
and the Southern people.
The Standard says North Carolina hes furnished
95,000 soldiers for the causeless war, 40,000 of
whom are killed and wounded ; that North Carolina
should send a delegation to Washington at once
and see what terms can be obtained, and not wait
for Jeff. Davis.

The recent cavalry raid from Ncrfolk to Jackson,
North Carolina, found the enemy intrenched
strongly at Jackson, which con_mands the ap-
proaches to Nelson. Major Anderson, on the 26th
ult., captured the enemy's pickets and took posses-
sion of an important bridge, thereby defeating the
enemy in their intentions.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4.
The draft in four out of seven wards in this city
has been completed. It embcaces 2,600 whites and
818 coloured men. Amongst the drafted are three
clergymen and many members of the City Council,
and several telegraph operators, also reporters,
printers, lawyers, and representatives from all
classes of business. A party of drafted men at-
tempted yesterday to escape from the city, but were
apprehended as deserters.

Judge-Advocate Holt has given the opinion that
paymaster's clerks are not found in the list of
exempted classes. They sustain, it is true, a cer-
tain relation to the military service, as do pay-
masters and others who receive a ration daily as
part of their allowance, but they are not so far in
the service as to be liable for the field duty for which
the national forces are drafted, and they should not,
therefore, by reason of their positions be permitted
to escape that liability should the chances of the
draft impose it upon them.