, etc.--such being the object of their demonstrations.

Gen. Wise has fallen back, being ordered by Gen. Elzey not to attempt
the capture of Fort Magruder--a feat he could have accomplished.

APRIL 22D.--The President is reported to be very ill to-day--dangerously
ill--with inflammation of the throat, etc. While this is a source of
grief to nearly all, it is the subject of secret joy to others. I am
sure I have seen some officers of rank to-day, not _fighting_ officers,
who sincerely hope the President will not recover. He has his faults,
but upon the whole is no doubt well qualified for the position he
occupies. I trust he will recover.

The destruction of the Queen of the West, and of another of our
steamers, is confirmed. Is not Pemberton and Blanchard responsible?

The loss of two guns and forty men the other day, on the Nansemond, is
laid at the door of Major-Gen. French, a Northern man! Can it be Gen.
Cooper (Northern) who procures the appointment of so many Northern
generals in our army?

I cut the following from the _Dispatch_ of yesterday:

_Produce, etc._--Bacon has further declined, and we now quote $1.25 to
$1.30 for hog-round; butter, $2.25 to $3 per pound; beans in demand at
$20 per bushel. Corn is lower--we quote at $6 to $6.50 per bushel; corn
meal, $7 to $9 per bushel--the latter figure for a limited quantity;
candles, $3.50 to $3.75 per pound; fruit--dried apples, $10 to $12;
dried peaches, $15 to $18 per bushel; flour--superfine, $31 to $32;
extra, $34; family, $36; hay is in very small supply--sales at $15 per
cwt.; lard, $1.65 to $1.70 per pound; potatoes--Irish, $3 to $10; sweet,
$10 to $11 per bushel; rice, 25 to 33 cents per pound; wheat, $6.50 to
$7 per bushel.

_Groceries._--Sugars have a declining tendency: we quote brown at $1.15
to $1.25; molasses, $9 to $10 per gallon; coffee, $4 to $4.50; salt, 45
cents per pound; whisky, $28 to $35; apple brandy, $24 to $25; French
brandy, $65 per gallon.

APRIL 23D.--The President's health is improving. His eye is better; and
he would have been in his office to-day (the first time for three weeks)
if the weather (raining) had been fine.

The expenses of the war amount now to $60,000,000 per month, or
$720,000,000 per annum. This enormous expenditure is owing to the absurd
prices charged for supplies by the farmers, to save whose slaves and
farms the war is waged, in great part. They are charging the government
$20 per hundred weight, or $400 pe