Daily Story
Punishment After Death
[Anthony J. Bleeker presenting letters of recommendation is asked by AL to read them aloud:] Before Mr. Bleeker had got half through with the documents, the President cried out, “Oh, stop! you are like the man who killed the dog.” Not feeling particularly flattered by the comparison, Mr. Bleeker inquired, “in what respect!” Mr. Lincoln replied, “He had a vicious animal which he determined to dispatch, and accordingly knocked out his brains with a club.” He continued striking the dog until a friend stayed his hand, exclaiming, “You needn’t strike him any more, the dog is dead; you killed him at the first blow.” “Oh, yes,” said he, “I know that; but I believe in punishment after death.” So, I see, you do.
Ward Hill Lamon, Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, p. 110-11.