The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1878-11-07
CalhOuR's Dream.

The folswiRg appeared lirsJ in the
: PniiadelphH QIdke7' City, IN the win
, ter ~ 1894 written bY it, Washing
: ton correspondent:
., Mr. EDrTOE-Tha other morning. at
I the breakfast table. our friend. Hon
= John {. Calh'un, SEEMED very much
= troubled and Dut of spirits. You know
he Is altogether venerable man with
hard, stern, Scotch Irish face, soft
tneu IN lis expression GROUND the
mouth by a sort Of sad smile, " hi.h
J WIN the ear II all who converse with
him His har Is snowy white He is
( tall, thin AMI angular. He Reminds
: yOu very mudl Of Old Hickory. That
ne Is honest. m one doubts; he has
sacrificed to hs fatalism his brightest
hopes of political adyancement-has
offered up Onthe shrine of that neces-
| sity which he wOrships, all that can eN-
} cite ambltlOn-even the Presidency Of
, the United Sates.
But tO myStOry. The other morn
/ ing at the breakfast table, where |. an
unObserved spectator, happened 10 be
present, Calhoun was observed To gaze
> at his righ hand, and brush it With
his left ina hurried manner He did
: this 50 Oft-n that il excited attention.
At length one of the persons COM
posing the breakfast party (TOOmbs. a
J member If Congress from Georgia.
. took upOnhimself 10 ask the occasion
Of Mr.. CahOun's disquietude
Does ydT hand pain yOC?' he
asked.
To this Hr Calhoun replied III q
, rather tiurred manner:
'Pshaw! L is nothing. Only dream
whica | had last night, and that makes
me see perpetually a black spot-like
an ink blOtch-upOn the back Of nv
right hand an optical delusiOn. sup
pose.
or course these words excited the
curiosity of the company, but no one
ventured to beg the details of this sin
gular dream, until TOOmbS asked quiet
ly:
What was your dream like? | am
not very Supertitious about dreams,
sometimes theJ have great deal Of
truth in them"
! "But this was sIch a peculiarly alb
surd dream" said Mr.. Calhoun. again
. brushing the back of his right hand:
"hOweyer, if it does not too much in
trude upon the time of our friends, |
F! will relate it TO you"
! Of course the company were prOfuSe
I in their expressions of anxiety To know
all about the dream. In his singII-
/ laTly sweet voice Mr.. Calhoun related
/ it:
AT a late hour last night, as l was
sitting in my room engaged III writing,
was astOnished by the entrance of a
/ visitor. who. witlOat word, took a
| seat opposite Inc at the table. This
surprised me. as | had given particular
I orders to q seTYant thar | should on no
I occasion be disturbed. The manner in
/ which the intrUler entered, SO perfect
/ ly Self-pOSSeSSeG, taking his seat OppO-
! site ME without word, rs though my
room and all within il belonged To
him, excited in Inc as much surprise as
| indignation. As [ raised my head TO
look into his features over the top Of
my shaded lamp, discovered that he
was wrapped in thin cloak, which
etfectually concealed his face and fea-
lures from my view. As / raised my
head he spoke:
'"What are You doing. Senator from
South CarOlina?"
IL did not think of his impertinence
at first, but answered voluntarily:
al am writing plan for the diSsn-
luton of the American Union.
! on know, gentlemen, / am expect
ed TO produce plan of dissolution in I
/ the event of certain contingencies.
"TO this the intruder replied i'll the
coolest manner possible:
Senator from South Carolina, will |
you allow me to look at your hand
your right hand? =
"He arose, the cloak fell, and | be
held his face. Gentlemen. the sight of !
that face struck me like a thunder
clap. II was the face of a dead man,
whom extraordinary events had called !
back TO life. The features were those
of General George Washington; yes,
gentlemen, the intruder was none other /
than George Washington. He was
dressed in Revolutionary costume,
such as you see preserved in the Patent
Office"
Here Mr. Calhoun paused. apparently
much agitated. His agitation, | need
not tell you. was shared by the COM
pany. Mr.. ToOmbS at length broke
fhe EN- STSrra a. sing pause:
"Wel., well, What ,rae the issue of
this scene?" Mr.. Calhoun rt-,unnsd:
THE intruder, as ! have said rose
and asked to look at INV right hand.
AS though had not the power to re-
fuse, extended it. The truth is, felt
a strange thrill at his touch; he grasped
ii, and held it near the light, atfOTding
Inc full time to examine every feature
of his face. 1t was the face of George
Washington, gentlemen. | shuddered
as | beheld the horrible dead-alive look
of that visage. After holding my
hand for moment, he looked at me
steadily, and said III quiet way:
"'And with this hand, Senator from
South Carolina you would sign your
name to a paper declaring the Union
disSOlYed?"
al answered in the affirmative.
Yes, said |, If certain contingency
arises, L will sign my name to the
declaration of disuniOn.' But at that
moment black blOtch appeared upon
the back of my hand-an inky blOtch, |
that | seem to see now. What is
thaty cried, alarmed, l know not
why, at the blOtch upon my hand.
That said he, dropping my hand,
that IS the mark by which Benedict
Arnold is known in the next wOrldr
He said no more, gentlemen, but
drew from beneath his cloak an object /
which he placed upon the table
placed it upon the very paper on
which was writing. The object was
a skeleton,
There said he, there are the bones /
of Isaac Hayne. who WAS hung at
Charleston by the British. He gave I
his life in order to establish the union. /
When you sign the declaration of dissO- |
luton. why. you may as well have the 1
bones of Isaac Hayne before you. He |
was a South CarOlinian, and 50 are |
YOU. But there WAS no blOtch upon I
his right hand
With these words the intruder left I
the room. / started from the contact /
with the dead bones. and-awOke |
OveTworn with labor, l had fallen 1
asleep and been dreaming. Was it not (
singular dream!7