This story cannot be repeated in Lincoln’s own language, although he
told it often enough to intimate friends; but, as it was never taken
down by a stenographer in the martyred President’s exact words, the
reader must accept a simple narration of the strange occurrence.
It was not long after the first nomination of Lincoln for the
Presidency, when he saw, or imagined he saw, the startling apparition.
One day, feeling weary, he threw himself upon a lounge in one of the
rooms of his house at Springfield to rest. Opposite the lounge upon
which he was lying was a large, long mirror, and he could easily see the
reflection of his form, full length.
Suddenly he saw, or imagined he saw, two Lincolns in the mirror, each
lying full length upon the lounge, but they differed strangely in
appearance. One was the natural Lincoln, full of life, vigor, energy and
strength; the other was a dead Lincoln, the face white as marble, the
limbs nerveless and lifeless, the body inert and still.
Lincoln was so impressed with this vision, which he considered merely
an optical illusion, that he arose, put on his hat, and went out for
a walk. Returning to the house, he determined to test the matter
again--and the result was the same as before. He distinctly saw the two
Lincolns--one living and the other dead.
He said nothing to his wife about this, she being, at that time, in
a nervous condition, and apprehensive that some accident would surely
befall her husband. She was particularly fearful that he might be the
victim of an assassin. Lincoln always made light of her fears, but yet
he was never easy in his mind afterwards.
To more thoroughly test the so-called “optical illusion,” and prove,
beyond the shadow of a doubt, whether it was a mere fanciful creation of
the brain or a reflection upon the broad face of the mirror which might
be seen at any time, Lincoln made frequent experiments. Each and
every time the result was the same. He could not get away from the two
Lincolns--one living and the other dead.
Lincoln never saw this forbidding reflection while in the White House.
Time after time he placed a couch in front of a mirror at a distance
from the glass where he could view his entire length while lying down,
but the looking-glass in the Executive Mansion was faithful to its
trust, and only the living Lincoln was observable.
The late Ward Lamon, once a law partner of Lincoln, and Marshal of the
District of Columbia during his first administration, tells, in his
“Recollections of Abraham Lincoln,” of the dreams the President had--all
foretelling death.
Lamon was Lincoln’s most intimate friend, being, practically, his
bodyguard, and slept in the White House. In reference to Lincoln’s
“death dreams,” he says:
“How, it may be asked, could he make life tolerable, burdened as he was
with that portentous horror, which, though visionary, and of trifling
import in our eyes, was by his interpretation a premonition of impending
doom? I answer in a word: His sense of duty to his country; his belief
that ‘the inevitable’ is right; and his innate and irrepressible humor.
“But the most startling incident in the life of Mr. Lincoln was a dream
he had only a few days before his assassination. To him it was a thing
of deadly import, and certainly no vision was ever fashioned more
exactly like a dread reality. Coupled with other dreams, with the
mirror-scene and with other incidents, there was something about it so
amazingly real, so true to the actual tragedy which occurred soon after,
that more than mortal strength and wisdom would have been required to
let it pass without a shudder or a pang.
“After worrying over it for some days, Mr. Lincoln seemed no longer able
to keep the secret. I give it as nearly in his own words as I can, from
notes which I made immediately after its recital. There were only two or
three persons present.
“The President was in a melancholy, meditative mood, and had been silent
for some time. Mrs. Lincoln, who was present, rallied him on his solemn
visage and want of spirit. This seemed to arouse him, and, without
seeming to notice her sally, he said, in slow and measured tones:
“‘It seems strange how much there is in the Bible about dreams. There
are, I think, some sixteen chapters in the Old Testament and four or
five in the New, in which dreams are mentioned; and there are many other
passages scattered throughout the book which refer to visions. In
the old days, God and His angels came to men in their sleep and made
themselves known in dreams.’
“Mrs. Lincoln here remarked, ‘Why, you look dreadfully solemn; do you
believe in dreams?’
“‘I can’t say that I do,’ returned Mr. Lincoln; ‘but I had one the other
night which has haunted me ever since. After it occurred the first
time, I opened the Bible, and, strange as it may appear, it was at the
twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, which relates the wonderful dream
Jacob had. I turned to other passages, and seemed to encounter a dream
or a vision wherever I looked. I kept on turning the leaves of the
old book, and everywhere my eyes fell upon passages recording matters
strangely in keeping with my own thoughts--supernatural visitations,
dreams, visions, etc.’
“He now looked so serious and disturbed that Mrs. Lincoln exclaimed ‘You
frighten me! What is the matter?’
“‘I am afraid,’ said Mr. Lincoln, observing the effect his words had
upon his wife, ‘that I have done wrong to mention the subject at all;
but somehow the thing has got possession of me, and, like Banquo’s
ghost, it will not down.’
“This only inflamed Mrs. Lincoln’s curiosity the more, and while bravely
disclaiming any belief in dreams, she strongly urged him to tell the
dream which seemed to have such a hold upon him, being seconded in this
by another listener. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but at length commenced very
deliberately, his brow overcast with a shade of melancholy.
“‘About ten days ago,’ said he, ‘I retired very late. I had been up
waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been
long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to
dream. There seemed to be a deathlike stillness about me. Then I heard
subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping.
“‘I thought I left my bed and wandered down-stairs. There the silence
was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible.
I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same
mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. It was light in
all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the
people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled
and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this?
“‘Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so
shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered.
There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque,
on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were
stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of
people, some gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered,
others weeping pitifully.
“‘“Who is dead in the White House?” I demanded of one of the soldiers.
“‘“The President,” was his answer; “he was killed by an assassin.”
“‘Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which awoke me from my
dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I
have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.’
“‘That is horrid!’ said Mrs. Lincoln. ‘I wish you had not told it. I am
glad I don’t believe in dreams, or I should be in terror from this time
forth.’
“‘Well,’ responded Mr. Lincoln, thoughtfully, ‘it is only a dream, Mary.
Let us say no more about it, and try to forget it.’
“This dream was so horrible, so real, and so in keeping with other
dreams and threatening presentiments of his, that Mr. Lincoln was
profoundly disturbed by it. During its recital he was grave, gloomy,
and at times visibly pale, but perfectly calm. He spoke slowly, with
measured accents and deep feeling.
“In conversations with me, he referred to it afterwards, closing one
with this quotation from ‘Hamlet’: ‘To sleep; perchance to dream! ay,
there’s the rub!’ with a strong accent upon the last three words.
“Once the President alluded to this terrible dream with some show of
playful humor. ‘Hill,’ said he, ‘your apprehension of harm to me from
some hidden enemy is downright foolishness. For a long time you have
been trying to keep somebody-the Lord knows who--from killing me.
“‘Don’t you see how it will turn out? In this dream it was not me, but
some other fellow, that was killed. It seems that this ghostly assassin
tried his hand on some one else. And this reminds me of an old farmer in
Illinois whose family were made sick by eating greens.
“‘Some poisonous herb had got into the mess, and members of the family
were in danger of dying. There was a half-witted boy in the family
called Jake; and always afterward when they had greens the old man would
say, “Now, afore we risk these greens, let’s try ‘em on Jake. If he
stands ‘em we’re all right.” Just so with me. As long as this imaginary
assassin continues to exercise himself on others, I can stand it.’
“He then became serious and said: ‘Well, let it go. I think the Lord in
His own good time and way will work this out all right. God knows what
is best.’
“These words he spoke with a sigh, and rather in a tone of soliloquy, as
if hardly noting my presence.
“Mr. Lincoln had another remarkable dream, which was repeated so
frequently during his occupancy of the White House that he came to
regard it is a welcome visitor. It was of a pleasing and promising
character, having nothing in it of the horrible.
“It was always an omen of a Union victory, and came with unerring
certainty just before every military or naval engagement where our arms
were crowned with success. In this dream he saw a ship sailing away
rapidly, badly damaged, and our victorious vessels in close pursuit.
“He saw, also, the close of a battle on land, the enemy routed, and our
forces in possession of vantage ground of inestimable importance. Mr.
Lincoln stated it as a fact that he had this dream just before the
battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and other signal engagements throughout
the War.
“The last time Mr. Lincoln had this dream was the night before his
assassination. On the morning of that lamentable day there was a Cabinet
meeting, at which General Grant was present. During an interval of
general discussion, the President asked General Grant if he had any news
from General Sherman, who was then confronting Johnston. The reply was
in the negative, but the general added that he was in hourly expectation
of a dispatch announcing Johnston’s surrender.
“Mr. Lincoln then, with great impressiveness, said, ‘We shall hear very
soon, and the news will be important.’
“General Grant asked him why he thought so.
“‘Because,’ said Mr. Lincoln, ‘I had a dream last night; and ever since
this War began I have had the same dream just before every event of
great national importance. It portends some important event which will
happen very soon.’
“On the night of the fateful 14th of April, 1865, Mrs. Lincoln’s
first exclamation, after the President was shot, was, ‘His dream was
prophetic!’
“Lincoln was a believer in certain phases of the supernatural. Assured
as he undoubtedly was by omens which, to his mind, were conclusive, that
he would rise to greatness and power, he was as firmly convinced by
the same tokens that he would be suddenly cut off at the height of his
career and the fullness of his fame. He always believed that he would
fall by the hand of an assassin.
“Mr. Lincoln had this further idea: Dreams, being natural occurrences,
in the strictest sense, he held that their best interpreters are the
common people; and this accounts, in great measure, for the profound
respect he always had for the collective wisdom of plain people--‘the
children of Nature,’ he called them--touching matters belonging to
the domain of psychical mysteries. There was some basis of truth, he
believed, for whatever obtained general credence among these ‘children
of Nature.’
“Concerning presentiments and dreams, Mr. Lincoln had a philosophy of
his own, which, strange as it may appear, was in perfect harmony
with his character in all other respects. He was no dabbler in
divination--astrology, horoscopy, prophecy, ghostly lore, or witcheries
of any sort.”