Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1874-03-12
coin.
An Anectlote Told By Charles Dickens
Il Remarkable Dream Upon the
Ere of the ASSASSINATION.

LII tno new 1OTk d6utU IcfISW VI
the third volume of Forster's Life o.
Dickens we find the following anec
dote OF Lincoln:
It will, says Mr.. Forster, be no viola
ton of the rule of avoiding private de.
tail if the very interesting close of this
letter Zone written by Dickens from
Washington) is given. Its anecdote
of President Lincoln was repeatedly
told by Dickens after his return, and
am under no necessity to withhold
from it the authority of Mr.. Sumner
name: Il am going tomorrow to see
the President. who has sent to me
twice. l dined with Charles Sumner
last Sunday, against my rule; and, as
had stipulated for no party, Mr.. Sec
retary Stanton was the only other guest
beside his own secretary. Stanton is
a man with very remarkable memory,
| and extraordinarily familiar with my
books. He and Sumner having been
the first two public men at the dying
Presidents bedside, and having re-
mained with him until he breathed his
last, We fell into very interesting con-
versatiOn after dinner, when, each of
them giving his own narrative separ-
ately, the usual discrepancies about
details of time were observable.
Then Mr.. Stanton told me curious
little story, which will form the re-
mainder of this short letter. On the
afternoon of the day on which the Pre-
sident was shot there was a Cabinet
council, at which he presided. Mr..
Stanton, being at the time commander
in-chief of the Northern troops that
were concentrated about here, arrived
rather late. Indeed, they were wait
ing for him, and, on entering the room,
the President broke off in something he
was saying, and remarked: Let US
proceed to business, gentlemen Mr..
Stanton then noticed, with great sur
prise, that the President sat with an
air of dignity in his chair, instead of
lolling about in the most ungainly at
titudes, as his invariable custom was,
and that instead of telling irrelevant or
questionable stories he was grave and
calm, and quite different man. Mr..
Stanton, on leaving the council with
the Attorney General, said to him =
THAT is the most satisfactory Cabinet
long day. What an
EXTRAORDINARY CHANGE
in Mr.. Lincoln' The Attorney Cen
eral replied: I'VE all saw that before
you came in. While we were waiting
for you be said, with his chin down on
his breast: Gentlemen, something
very extraordinary is going to happen,
and that very soon.' To which the
Attorney General had observed: Some
thing good, sir, hope,' when the Pre-
sident answered very gravely: L don't
know, / don't know; but it will hap
pen, and shortly, too AS they were
all impressed by his manner, the At
torney General took him up again.
Have you received any information,
sir, not yet disclosed to us?' No. an
swered the President, 'but | have had
dream, and 1 have now had the same
dream three times. Once on the night
preceding the battle of Bull Run, once
on the night preceding such another
(naming battle also not favorable to
the North.) His chin sank on his
breast again, and he sat refiecting.-
Might one ask the nature of this dream,
sir p said the Attorney General. 'Well,'
replied the President, without lifting
his head or changing his attitude, i
am on great, broad, rolling river, and
I am in boat, and drift and I drift
but this is not business suddenly rails
ing his face, and looking round the
table as Mr.. Stanton entered. Let US
proceed to business, gentlemen Mr..
Stanton and the Attorney General said,
as they walked on together, it would
be curious to notice whether anything
ensued on this, and they agreed to no.
fioa Hp yyoG shot that nipht
Henry Ward Seecher on Farming.
In an address before a rural club, q