SEPTEMBER 12TH.--Clear, and quite cold.

Gen. Hood has agreed to a short armistice with Sherman, ten days,
proposed by the latter. Our people don't know what to think of this, and
the government is acquiescent.

But there is a mournful gloom upon the brows of many, since Gen. Grant
holds the Weldon Road, and is daily receiving reinforcements, while we
get but few under the Conscription system and the present organization
of the bureau.

There is a rumor of an intention to abandon Petersburg, and that 20,000
old men and boys, etc. must be put in the trenches on our side
immediately to save Richmond and the cause.

Over 100,000 landed proprietors, and most of the slaveowners, are now
out of the ranks, and soon, I fear, we shall have an army that will not
fight, having nothing to fight for. And this is the result of the
pernicious policy of partiality and exclusiveness, disintegrating
society in such a crisis, and recognizing distinction of ranks,--the
_higher_ class staying home and making money, the _lower_ class thrust
into the trenches. And then the infamous schedule, to make the fortunes
of the farmers of certain counties.

I bought 30 yards of brown cotton to-day, at $2.50 per yard, from a man
who had just returned from North Carolina. The price here is $5. I sold
my dear old silver reel some time ago (angling) for $75, the sum paid
for this cotton.

Already the _Dispatch_ is publishing paragraphs in praise of the "Bureau
of Conscription," never dreaming that it strikes both Gen. Bragg and the
President. These articles are written probably by Lieut.-Col. Lay or
Col. August. And the _Examiner_ is opening all its batteries again on
the President and Gen. Bragg. The conscription men seem to have the
odds; but the President, with a single eye, can discern his enemies, and
when fully aroused is apt to pounce upon them like a relentless lion.
The times are critical, however, and the Secretary of War is very
reserved, even when under positive orders to act.

SEPTEMBER 13TH.--A bright, cool morning.

Dispatches from Lieut.-Gen. R. Taylor indicate that Federal troops are
passing up the Mississippi River, and that the attack on Mobile has been
delayed or abandoned.

Gen. Lee writes urgently for _more men_, and asks the Secretary to
direct an inquiry into alleged charges that the bureaus are getting
able-bodied details that should be in the army. And he complains that
rich young men are elected magistrates, etc., j