ult. It is
said they have dropped the "Constitution and the Union" in the United
States, and raised the cry of the "NATION" and the "FLAG." This alarms
me. If they get up a new sensation, they will raise new armies.

Gold is selling at a premium of $4.25 in Confederate notes.

We bought a barrel of flour to-day (that is, my wife paid for one not
yet delivered), from a dealer who was not an extortioner, for the
moderate sum of $28.00. This, with what we have on hand, ought to
suffice until the growing wheat matures.

For _tea_ we had meal coffee, and corn cakes without butter. But we had
a _half-pint_ of molasses (for seven) which cost 75 cts. The gaunt
specter is approaching nearer every day!

Every morning there is a large crowd of Irish and Germans besieging Gen.
Winder's office for passports to go North. Is it famine they dread, or
a desire to keep out of the war? Will they not be conscripted in the
North? They say they can get consular protection there.

MARCH 6TH.--I have meditated on this day, as the anniversary of my
birth, and the shortening lapse of time between me and eternity. I am
now fifty-three years of age. Hitherto I have dismissed from my mind, if
not with actual indifference, yet with far more unconcern than at
present, the recurring birthdays which plunged me farther in the vale of
years. But now I cannot conceal from myself, if so disposed, that I am
getting to be an old man. My hair is gray--but nevertheless my form is
still erect, and my step is brisk enough. My fancies, tastes, and
enjoyments have not changed perceptibly; and I can and often do write
without glasses. I desire to live after this war is over, if it be the
will of God--if not, I hope to exist in a better world.

We have no news of interest to-day. A letter says the non-combatants,
even the women and children, heedless of danger, were voluntary
spectators of the bombardment of Vicksburg the other day. The shells
often exploded near them, and behind them, but the fascination was so
great that they remained on the ground; even one had an arm carried away
by a ball! Can such a people be subjugated?

Houses (furnished) are beginning to be offered more plentifully than
ever before; their occupants and owners finding their ordinary incomes
insufficient for subsistence. I suppose they mean to find in the country
an escape from famine prices prevailing in the city.

There is a rumor this evening of the fall of Vicksburg; but that rumo