ad an interview. I said:

"'Mr. President, unless these men are made an example of, the army
itself is in danger. Mercy to the few is cruelty to the many.'

"He replied: 'Mr. General, there are already too many weeping widows in
the United States. For God's sake, don't ask me to add to the number,
for I won't do it.'"

GOD NEEDED THAT CHURCH.

In the early stages of the war, after several battles had been fought,
Union troops seized a church in Alexandria, Va., and used it as a
hospital.

A prominent lady of the congregation went to Washington to see Mr.
Lincoln and try to get an order for its release.

"Have you applied to the surgeon in charge at Alexandria?" inquired Mr.
Lincoln.

"Yes, sir, but I can do nothing with him," was the reply.

"Well, madam," said Mr. Lincoln, "that is an end of it, then. We put him
there to attend to just such business, and it is reasonable to suppose
that he knows better what should be done under the circumstances than I
do."

The lady's face showed her keen disappointment. In order to learn her
sentiment, Mr. Lincoln asked:

"How much would you be willing to subscribe toward building a hospital
there?"

She said that the war had depreciated Southern property so much that she
could afford to give but little.

"This war is not over yet," said Mr. Lincoln, "and there will likely
be another fight very soon. That church may be very useful in which to
house our wounded soldiers. It is my candid opinion that God needs that
church for our wounded fellows; so, madam, I can do nothing for you."

THE MAN DOWN SOUTH.

An amusing instance of the President's preoccupation of mind occurred
at one of his levees, when he was shaking hands with a host of visitors
passing him in a continuous stream.

An intimate acquaintance received the usual conventional hand-shake and
salutation, but perceiving that he was not recognized, kept his ground
instead of moving on, and spoke again, when the President, roused to
a dim consciousness that something unusual had happened, perceived
who stood before him, and, seizing his friend's hand, shook it again
heartily, saying:

"How do you do? How do you do? Excuse me for not noticing you. I was
thinking of a man down South."

"The man down South" was General W. T. Sherman, then on his march to the
sea.

COULDN'T LET GO THE HOG.

When Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania described the terrible butchery at
the battle of Fredericksburg