At the time when the Union soldiers were hunting for Jeff Davis, some one asked the President: “Mr. Lincoln, suppose they were to find Davis, and, in order to capture him, it was necessary to shoot him. Would you want them to do so?” Mr. Lincoln said: “When I was a boy, a man lecturing on temperance stayed at our house over night. It was a cold, stormy night, and the man was quite chilled when he reached home after the meeting. He said if they would give him a hot lemonade he thought it would prevent his taking cold. Some one suggested that some spirits added would be beneficial. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘you might put in some unbeknown to me!’” |