THE HARMLESS AND BEST BEVERAGE.
A committee waited on Abraham Lincoln to notify him of his nomination for President of the United States. He remarked that as an appropriate conclusion to an interview so important and interesting, he supposed good manners would require that he should treat the committee with something to drink; and opening a door that led into a room in the rear, he called out, "Mary! Mary!" A girl replied to the call, to whom Mr. Lincoln spoke a few words in an undertone, and, closing the door, returned again to converse with his guests. In a few minutes the maiden entered, bearing a large waiter containing several glass tumblers and a large pitcher in the midst, and placed it upon the center-table. Mr. Lincoln arose, and gravely addressing the company, said: "Gentlemen, we must pledge our mutual healths in the most healthy beverage which God has given to man. It is the only beverage that I have ever used or allowed my family, and I cannot conscientiously depart from it on the present occasion. It is pure Adam's ale from the spring." —From "Six Months at the White House with Abraham Lincoln," by F. B. Carpenter.