SING  a  song  of  Sumter,

A  Fort  in  Charleston  bay  ;
Eight-and-sixty  brave  men

Watch  there  night  and  day.
Those  brave  men  to  succor,

Still  no  aid  is  sent;
Isn't  James  Buchanan

A  pretty  President !

James  is  in  his  Cabinet

Doubting  and  debating ;
Anderson's  in  Sumter,

Very  tired  of  waiting.
Pickens  is  i'n  Charleston,

Blustering  of  blows ;
Thank  goodness  March  the  Fourth  is  near,

To  nip  Secession's  nose. —  Vanity  fair.
TUB  following  is  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  stories.
These  he  tells  often  in  private  conversation,  rarely
in  his  speeches :

"  I  once  knew  a  good,  sound  churchman,  whom
we'll  call  Brown,  who  was  on  a  committee  to  erect
a  bridge  over  a  very  dangerous  and  rapid  river.
Architect  after  architect  failed,  and  at  last  Brown
said  he  had  a  friend  named  Jones  who  had  built
several  bridges  and  could  build  this.  'Let's  have
him  in,'  said  the  committee.  In  came  Jones.  '  Can
you  build  this  bridge,  sir  ? '  '  Yes,'  replied  Jones ;
'  I  could  build  a  bridge  to  the  infernal  regions,  if
necessary.'  The  sober  committee  were  horrified ;
but  when  Jones  retired,  Brown  thought  it  but  fair
to  defend  his  friend.  '  I  know  Jones  so  well,'  said
he,  '  and  he  is  so  honest  a  man,  and  so  good  an
architect,  that,  if  he  states  soberly  and  positively
that  he  can  build  a  bridge  to  Hades — why,  I  be
lieve  it.  But  I  have  my  doubts  about  the  abut
ment  on  the  infernal  side.'  '  So,'  Lincoln  added,
'when  politicians  said  they  could  harmonize  the
Northern  and  Southern  wings  of  the  democracy,
why,  I  believed  them.  But  I  had  my  doubts  about
the  abutment  on  the  Southern  side.'" — Commercial
Advertiser.
