"Well, we supposed that would necessarily be your view of our case, but we never had much fear of being hanged while you are President." From his manner in repeating this scene he seemed to appreciate the compliment highly. There is no evidence that he ever contemplated executing any of the insurgents for their treason. There is no evidence that he desired any of them to leave the country, with the exception of Mr. Davis. His great, and apparently his only, object was to have a restored Union. A short time before the capitulation of General Lee, General Grant had told him that the war must necessarily soon come to an end, and wanted to know whether he should try to capture Jeff Davis or let him escape from the country if he would. Mr. Lincoln said,-- "About that, I told him the story of an Irishman who had taken the pledge of Father Mathew. He became terribly thirsty, applied to a bar-tender for a lemonade, and while it was being prepared whispered to him, 'And couldn't ye put a little brandy in it all unbeknown to meself?' I told Grant if he could let Jeff Davis escape all unbeknown to himself, to let him go. I didn't want him." Near the close of the war his old friend, Thomas Gillespie, asked him what was to be done with the rebels. He answered, after referring to the vehement demand prevalent in certain quarters for exemplary punishment, by quoting the words of David to his nephews, who were asking for vengeance on Shimei because "he cursed the Lord's anointed:" "What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel?" But the President could be very stern and determined when he considered it necessary, although, when compelled by his sense of duty to withhold a pardon, he usually gave reasons which could not be set aside and accompanied them by a lesson of value. An officer once complained to him, with great indignation, that General Sherman was a tyrant and a bully and unfit to command troops. Lincoln listened attentively until he had exhausted his wrath, and then inquired quietly if he had any personal grievance against General Sherman. The officer replied that General Sherman had accused him of some misconduct and threatened to shoot him if it occurred again. "If I were in your place," remarked the President, in a confidential whisper, "I wouldn't repeat that offence, because Sherman is a man of his word." One day Mr. Nicolay brought the President a telegram from Philadelphia, stating that a man had been arrested in that city for an attempt to obtain fifteen hundred dollars on Lincoln's draft. "I have given no authority for such a draft; and if I had," he added, humorously, "it is surprising that any man could get the money." After a moment's reflection, Mr. Nicolay thought he knew the accused party.