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!’”