Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1881-01-05
Fulfilled Dreams.

fulfilled, at least to his own satisfaction
"Here," he wrote on May 80, 1868, sis
curious case at first band. Being at tn,
Office here" in London, Il dreamed that
saw lady in red shawl with her bacl
toward me, whom supposed to be E
On turning round / found that 1 diJn'
know her; and she SAID, i am Miss Nap
ier.' All the time I was dressing mex
morning thought, What a preposterou,
thing to have so very distinct dream
about nothing! And why Miss Napier
for l never heard of any Miss Napier.
That same Friday night read. After the
reading came into my retiring room Mary
Boyle and her brother, and the lady II the
red shawl, whom tney present as Miss
Napier These are all the circumstances
exactly told" This was probably a case
of unconscious cerebration. Dickens had
no doubt really seen the lady, and been
told that she was Miss Napier, when his
attention was occupied with other matters.
There would be nothing unusual in his
dreaming about q person whom he bad
thus seen without noticing. or course It
was an odd coincidence that the lady of
whom he had thus dreamed should be in
troduced TO him soon after-possibly the
very day after. But such coincidcnces
are not infrequent. To suppose that
Dickens had been specially warned In a
dream about 50 unimportant q matter as
his introduction to Miss Napier would be
absurd; for, unfulfilled. the dream was, as
DickeIs himself described it, very dis
tinct dream about nothing. Far different
in this respect was the strange dream
which President Lincoln had the night be-
fore he was shot. If the story was truly
told by MIR. Stanton to Dickens, the case
is one of the most curious on record. Dick
ems told it thus in letter to John Forster:
ION the afternoon of the day on which
the president was shot, there ives cabinet
council, at which he presided. Mr.. stan
ton, being at the time commander in-chief
of the Northern troops that were concen-
trated about here, arrived rather late. In
deed. they were waiting for him, and on
his entering the room the president broke
OF In something he WAS saying, and re-
marked: Let US proceed to business, gen.
tlemen-' MIR. Stanton then noticed with
surprise that the president sat with an air
of dignity in his chair, instead of lolling
about in the most ungainly attitudes, as
his invarisble custom was; and that in
stead of telling irrelevant and question
able stories, he was grave and calm, and
quite a different man. Mr.. Stanton, on
leaving the council with the attorney
general, said to him: That Is the most
cabinet meeting have at
Tended for many long uay. What an
change in Mr.. Lincolni'
The encouragement replied, we all saw
L before you Came in While we were |
waiting for you, he SAID, with his chin !
iown on his breast, Gentlemen, some |
hing very extraordinary Is gong to hap
pen, and that very soon.' To which the /
general had observed, Something
good, SIR, hope e when the president an
'wered very gravely, Il don't know
ion't know. But 1t will happen, and |
shortly, too. As they were all impressed by |
nis manner, the attorney general took him
up again Have you received any infor-
nation, sir, not yet disclosed to us.'
now =. the ssnsI dream three ,ss----n n,ce
On the night preceding the battle .; Bull
Run. Ooce on tue night preceding such
another, (naming batIle also not favor
able to the North.) HIS chin sank on his
breast again, and he sat retiectIng. Might
one ask the nature of this dream, sirf' said
the attorney general. We'll, replied the
president without lifting his head or
his attitude, i am CT great
broad rolling river-and am In a boat
and drIft!-and dr.it but this is not
Business suddenly raising his face and
looking round the table as Mr. Stanton en-
tered-'let us proceed to business, gentle
men, MIR. Stanton and the altorney-gen-
eral said, as they walked on together, 1t
would be curious to notice whether any
thing ensued on this, and they
agreed to notice He was shot that
night Here the dream Itself was
not remarkable, it was such one as might
readily be dreamed by q man from the
Western States who has been on broad
rolling rivera Nor was its recurrence re-
markable. The noteworthy point was the
occurrence OF this dream several times, and
Jas may be presumed from the effect
which the dream produced on its third re-
these three times only, on the
aight preceding great misfortune for the
cause of the North. However, there is
nothing in the story which cannot be attrl-
Duted to merely casual coincidence, though
he coincidence was sufficiently curious. As
,hree years had elapsed from the time oI
Lincoln's death when Stanton told Dickens
he story, 1t is possible that the account
nav have been incorrect in some details.