PHANTASMS CONTINUED.
So far a single class of cases has been brought forward in proof and
illustration of our proposition, that _sensation may be produced
telepathically_, namely, the voluntary class; as for instance, when it has
been resolved beforehand and strongly desired and willed that a
representation or apparition of one's self should be seen and recognized
by another person at a specified time and place, and it has been so
recognized. This class contains fewer recorded cases, but, on the other
hand, they are specially valuable, because the element of error arising
from chance coincidence is almost entirely excluded. In addition to these
voluntary or prearranged cases there is, however, another and much larger
class of cases which occur spontaneously, unthought of, and unexpected by
the percipient as well as by the agent.
Passing over cases of an indefinite or undefined sense of danger or
peril--or of a "presence"--we will proceed to notice some well
authenticated cases of spontaneous impressions of a definite character
made upon the senses, and especially upon the sense of sight. This
definite impression may be made upon the senses of the percipient in
dreams--especially those of a veridical character, where there is a
definite reality corresponding in time and circumstances.
It may also be made when the percipient is in a condition of reverie,
between sleeping and waking, and even when wide awake and in a perfectly
normal condition.
This definite impression of seeing or hearing may be made upon a single
percipient, or it may be perceived by several persons at once.
The following may serve as examples of _veridical dreams_. They were
carefully examined by the editors of _Phantasms of the Living_, and
especially by Mr. Gurney. Only initials in the first case were given for
publication.
"In the year 1857, I had a brother in the very centre of the Indian
Mutiny. I had been ill in the spring and taken from my lessons in the
school-room, consequently, I heard more of what was going on from the
newspapers than a girl of thirteen ordinarily would in those days. We
were in the habit of hearing regularly from my brother, but in June and
July of that year no letters came, and what arrived in August proved to
have been written quite early in the spring, and were full of disturbances
around his station.
"He was in the service of the East India Company--an officer in the 8th
Native Infantry. I was always devoted to him, and I grieved and fretted
far more than any of my elders knew at his danger. I cannot say that I
dreamt constantly of him, but when I did the impressions were very vivid
and abiding.
"On one occasion his personal appearance was being discussed and I
remarked, 'He is not like that now, he has no beard nor whiskers;' and
when asked why I said such a thing, I replied, 'I know it, for I have seen
him in my dreams;' and this brought a severe reprimand from my governess,
who never allowed 'such nonsense' to be talked of.
"On the morning of the 25th of September, quite early, I awoke from a
dream, to find my sister holding me and much alarmed. I had screamed and
struggled, crying out, 'Is he really dead?' When I fully awoke, I felt a
burning sensation in my head. I could not speak for a moment or two; I
knew my sister was there, but I neither saw nor felt her.
"In about a minute, during which she said my eyes were staring beyond her,
I ceased struggling cried out, 'Harry's dead, they have shot him,' and
fainted. When I recovered I found my sister had been sent away, and an
aunt who had always looked after me, was sitting by my bed.
"In order to soothe my excitement, she allowed me to tell my dream, trying
all the time to persuade me to regard it as a natural consequence of my
anxiety.
"When, in my narration, I said he was riding with another officer and
mounted soldiers behind them, she exclaimed 'My dear, that shows you it is
only a dream, for your brother is in an _infantry_, not a cavalry,
regiment.'
"Nothing, however, shook my feeling that I had seen a reality; and she was
so much struck by my persistence that she privately made notes of the
dates and of the incidents, even to the minutest details of my dream, and
then for a few days the matter dropped, but I felt the truth was coming
nearer and nearer to all. In a short time the news came in the
papers:--'Shot down on the morning of the 25th, when on his way to
Lucknow.' A few days later came one of his missing letters, telling how
his own regiment had mutinied, and that he had been transferred to a
command in the 12th Irregular Cavalry, bound to join Havelock's force in
the relief of Lucknow.
"Some eight years after, the officer who was riding by him when he fell,
Captain or Major Grant, visited us and when, in compliance with my aunt's
request, he detailed the incidents of that sad hour, his narration tallied
(even to the description of buildings on their left) with the notes she
had taken the morning of my dream. I should also add that we heard my
brother had made the alteration in his beard and whiskers, just about the
time that I had spoken of him as wearing them differently."
"L. A. W."
The next case which I will present is from Dr. A. K. Young, F. R. C. S.
I., of the Terrace, Monaghan, Ireland.
One Monday night, in December, 1836, Dr. Young had the following dream,
or, as he would prefer to call it, revelation. He found himself suddenly
at the gate of Major N. M.'s avenue, many miles from his home. Close to
him was a group of persons, one of them a woman with a basket on her arm,
the rest men, four of whom were tenants of his own, while the others were
unknown to him. Some of the strangers seemed to be murderously assaulting
H. W., one of his tenants, and he interfered. He goes on to say:
"I struck violently at the man on my left and then with greater violence
at the man's face to my right. Finding to my surprise that I did not knock
him down either, I struck again and again with all the violence of a man
frenzied at the sight of my poor friend's murder. To my great amazement I
saw that my arms, although visible to my eye, were without substance; and
the bodies of the men I struck at and my own came close together after
each blow through the shadowy arms I struck with. My blows were delivered
with more extreme violence than I ever before exerted; but I became
painfully convinced of my incompetency. I have no consciousness of what
happened after this feeling of unsubstantiality came upon me."
Next morning, Dr. Young experienced the stiffness and soreness of violent
bodily exercise and was informed by his wife that in the course of the
night he had much alarmed her by striking out again and again with his
arms in a terrific manner, "as if fighting for his life." He in turn
informed her of his dream and begged her to remember the names of the
actors in it who were known to him.
On the morning of the following day, Wednesday, he received a letter from
his agent, who resided in the town close to the scene of his dream,
informing him that his tenant, H. W., had been found on Tuesday morning at
Major N. M.'s gate speechless and apparently dying from a fracture of the
skull, and that there was no trace of the murderers. That night Dr. Young
started for the town and arrived there on Thursday morning. On his way to
a meeting of the magistrates he met the senior magistrate of that part of
the country and requested him to give orders for the arrest of the three
men whom, besides H. W., he had recognized in his dream, and to have them
examined separately. This was done. The three men gave identical accounts
of the occurrence, and all named the woman who was with them. She was then
arrested and gave precisely similar testimony.
They said that between eleven and twelve on Monday night they had been
walking homeward, all together along the road, when they were overtaken by
three strangers, two of whom savagely assaulted H. W., while the other
prevented his friends from interfering. The man H. W. did not die, and no
clue was ever found to the assassins.
The Bishop of Clogher writes confirmatory of Dr. Young's account.
"Borderland cases" are those in which the percipient, though seeming to
himself to be awake, may be in bed, has perhaps been asleep, and is in
that condition between sleeping and waking known as reverie and which we
have seen is favorable for the action of the subliminal self, either as
agent or percipient.
Passing, then, from dreams to "Borderland cases," the first example under
this head which I will present is from Mrs. Richardson, of Combe Down,
Bath, England.
She writes:--
"August 26th, 1882.
"On September 9th, 1848, at the Siege of Mooltan, my husband,
Major-General Richardson, C. B., then adjutant of his regiment, was
most severely wounded, and supposing himself dying, asked one of the
officers with him to take the ring off his finger and send it to his
wife, who at that time was fully one hundred and fifty miles distant,
at Ferozepore. On the night of September 9th, 1848, I was lying in my
bed between sleeping and waking, when I distinctly saw my husband
being carried off the field seriously wounded, and heard his voice
saying, 'Take this ring off my finger and send it to my wife.'
"All the next day I could not get the sight nor the voice out of my
mind. In due time I heard of Gen. Richardson having been severely
wounded in the assault on Mooltan. He survived, however, and is still
living. It was not for some time after the siege that I heard from
Colonel L., the officer who helped to carry Gen. Richardson off the
field, that the request as to the ring was actually made to him, just
as I had heard it at Ferozepore at that very time.
"M. A. RICHARDSON."
The following questions were addressed to Gen. Richardson.
1. "Does Gen. Richardson remember saying, when he was wounded at Mooltan,
'Take this ring off my finger and send it to my wife,' or words to that
effect?"
Ans. "Most distinctly; I made the request to my commanding officer, Major
E. S. Lloyd, who was supporting me while my man was gone for assistance."
2. "Can you remember the _time_ of the incident?"
Ans. "So far as my memory serves me, I was wounded about nine P. M., on
Sunday, the 9th September, 1848."
3. "Had Gen. Richardson, before he left home, promised or said anything to
Mrs. R. as to sending his ring to her in case he should be wounded?"
Ans. "To the best of my recollection, never. Nor had I any kind of
presentiment on the subject. I naturally felt that with such a fire as we
were exposed to, I might get hurt."
The next case is from Miss Hosmer, the celebrated sculptor. It was written
out by Miss Balfour, from the account given by Lydia Maria Child, and
corrected by Miss Hosmer, July 15th, 1885.
"An Italian girl named Rosa was in my employ for some time, but was
finally obliged to return home to her sister on account of confirmed
ill-health. When I took my customary exercise on horseback, I frequently
called to see her. On one of these occasions I called about six o'clock P.
M., and found her brighter than I had seen her for some time past. I had
long relinquished hopes of her recovery, but there was nothing in her
appearance that gave me the impression of immediate danger. I left her
with the expectation of calling to see her again many times. She
expressed a wish to have a bottle of a certain kind of wine, which I
promised to bring her myself next morning.
"During the remainder of the evening I do not recollect that Rosa was in
my thoughts after I parted with her. I retired to rest in good health and
in a quiet frame of mind. But I woke from a sound sleep with an oppressive
feeling that some one was in the room.
"I reflected that no one could get in except my maid, who had the key to
one of the two doors of my room--both of which doors were locked. I was
able dimly to distinguish the furniture in the room. My bed was in the
middle of the room with a screen around the foot of it. Thinking some one
might be behind the screen I said, 'Who's there?' but got no answer. Just
then the clock in the adjacent room struck five; and at that moment I saw
the figure of Rosa standing by my bedside; and in some way, though I could
not venture to say it was through the medium of speech, the impression was
conveyed to me from her of these words: 'Adesso son felice, son contenta.'
And with that the figure vanished.
"At the breakfast table I said to the friend who shared the apartment with
me, 'Rosa is dead.' 'What do you mean by that?' she inquired; 'you told
me she seemed better yesterday.' I related the occurrence of the morning
and told her I had a strong impression Rosa was dead. She laughed and said
I had dreamed it all. I assured her I was thoroughly awake. She continued
to jest on the subject and slightly annoyed me by her persistence in
believing it a dream when I was perfectly sure of having been wide awake.
To settle the question I summoned a messenger, and sent him to inquire how
Rosa did. He returned with the answer that she died that morning at five
o'clock.
"H. G. HOSMER."
I will also introduce here as a "Borderland case" an extract from _The
Life and Times of Lord Brougham, written by himself_ (1871), the extract
being an entry in his journal during a journey in Sweden in December,
1799. It is as follows:--
"We set out for Gothenburg [apparently on December 18th], determined to
make for Norway. About one in the morning, arriving at a decent inn, we
decided to stop over night. Tired with the cold of yesterday, I was glad
to take advantage of a hot bath before I turned in, and here a most
remarkable thing happened to me--so remarkable that I must tell the story
from the beginning.
"After I left the High School, I went with G., my most intimate friend, to
attend the classes at the University. There was no divinity class, but we
frequently in our walks discussed and speculated upon many grave
subjects--among others, on the immortality of the soul, and a future
state. This question, and the possibility, I will not say of ghosts
walking, but of the dead appearing to the living, were subjects of much
speculation; and we actually committed the folly of drawing up an
agreement written with our blood, to the effect that which ever of us died
first should appear to the other, and thus solve any doubts we had
entertained of the 'life after death.' After we had finished our classes
at college, G. went to India, having got an appointment there in the Civil
Service.
"He seldom wrote to me, and after the lapse of a few years I had almost
forgotten him; moreover, his family having little connection with
Edinburgh, I seldom saw or heard anything of them, or of him through them,
so that all his school-boy intimacy had died out, and I had nearly
forgotten his existence. I had taken, as I have said, a warm bath, and
while lying in it and enjoying the comfort of the heat after the late
freezing I had undergone, I turned my head round, looking towards the
chair on which I had deposited my clothes, as I was about to get out of
the bath. On the chair sat G., looking calmly at me.
"How I got out of the bath I know not, but on recovering my senses I found
myself sprawling on the floor. The apparition, or whatever it was that had
taken the likeness of G., had disappeared.
"This vision produced such a shock that I had no inclination to talk about
it even to Stewart; but the impression it made upon me was too vivid to be
easily forgotten; and so strongly was I affected by it that I have here
written down the whole history, with the date, 19th December, and all the
particulars, as they are now fresh before me.
"No doubt I had fallen asleep; and that the appearance presented so
distinctly to my eyes was a dream, I cannot for a moment doubt; yet for
years I had had no communication with G., nor had there been anything to
recall him to my recollection; nothing had taken place during our Swedish
travels either connected with G. or with India, or with anything relating
to him, or to any member of his family. I could not discharge from my mind
the impression that G. must have died, and that his appearance to me was
to be received as a proof of a future state; yet all the while I felt
convinced that the whole was a dream; and so painfully vivid, so unfading
the impression, that I could not bring myself to talk of it or make the
slightest allusion to it."
In October, 1862, Lord Brougham added as a postscript:--
"I have just been copying out from my journal the account of this strange
dream: _Certissima mortis imago!_ And now to finish the story, begun about
sixty years ago. Soon after my return to Edinburgh, there arrived a letter
from India, announcing G.'s death, and stating that he had died on the
19th of December!
"Singular coincidence! Yet, when one reflects on the vast number of dreams
which night after night pass through our brains, the number of
coincidences between the vision and the event are perhaps fewer and less
remarkable than a fair calculation of chances would warrant us to expect.
Nor is it surprising, considering the variety of thoughts in sleep, and
that they all bear some analogy to the affairs of life, that a dream
should sometimes coincide with a contemporaneous, or even with a future,
event. This is not much more wonderful than that a person whom we have had
no reason to expect should appear to us at the very moment we have been
thinking or speaking of him. So common is this, that it has for ages grown
into the proverb, 'Speak of the devil.' I believe every such seeming
miracle is, like every ghost story, capable of explanation."
I have introduced in full Lord Brougham's statement of the case and his
method of reasoning upon it; let us for a moment analyze each.
I have also introduced Harriet Hosmer's experience along with that of Lord
Brougham, because they are both notable persons whose evidence regarding
matters of fact could not be impugned, and whose strength of character,
honesty of purpose, and knowledge of affairs enables us to throw out of
account any idea of imposture or self-deception in either case. These
cases, then, must be received as having actually occurred as related; and
being so received they render all the more credible other cases reported
by persons less well known.
What was the character of the apparitions or appearances which were
presented; were they, properly speaking, dreams? In Miss Hosmer's
statement she stoutly affirms that she was awake, and she gives good
reasons for so believing, namely, before she _saw_ anything, but only
_felt_ that some one was in the room, she _awoke_ from a sound sleep; she
reasoned with herself regarding the possibility of any one getting into
the room; she called out: "Who's there?" She saw the furniture, heard the
clock strike, and counted five; and in another account which I also have,
she heard the familiar noises about the house of servants at their usual
work, and she resolved to get up. All this before she saw anything
unusual; then turning her head she saw Rosa. Clearly this was not a dream
but a vision occurring possibly in a condition of reverie.
Taking up Lord Brougham's case: in simply recording the facts in his diary
he speaks of his experience as a _vision_ and the idea that it was a
_dream_ was evidently an after-thought. He was _enjoying_ the heat; he was
_about to get out of the bath_; he _turned_ his head. He describes the
sensations and actions of a man who is awake, or certainly not in a
condition to have dreams disconnected with his actual surroundings. After
all this, looking toward the chair upon which he had deposited his
clothes--still a part of his surroundings, of which he was perfectly
conscious--he saw G. on the chair _looking calmly at him_.
Now to have _dreamt_ of G., his old school-fellow and friend, looking
calmly at him, would not have been anything shocking nor even surprising;
it would not have been even _uncommon_ among dreams--it would have been
nothing out of the ordinary course of nature. Dreams seldom shock or even
surprise us--surely not unless there is something intrinsically shocking
represented by them; but when we see the phantasm of a person whom we know
cannot be there--that is unusual, that is not in the ordinary course of
nature, as we are accustomed to observe nature, and it surprises us,
shocks us, perhaps frightens us; but it does so because we are awake and
can reason about it and compare its strangeness with the usual order of
things.
Lord Brougham was awake, he did so reason, and was accordingly shocked.
So vivid was the apparition that he tumbled out of the bath and fainted.
It is only some time after this, when writing up his diary, that he has no
doubt that he had fallen asleep. Preconceived theories about apparitions
now come up in his mind and get him into trouble; he must _explain_ his
vision.
Now for the explanation. Lord Brougham finds, on returning to Scotland,
that his former friend is dead, and that the time of his death
corresponded with the time at which he had seen his apparition in Sweden,
December 19th.
"Singular coincidence!" That is Lord Brougham's explanation; and that is
the usual explanation; but it is ill-considered--it is weak--it does not
cover the ground.
Lord Brougham had but two theories from which to choose: namely, Chance
and Supernaturalism; and of the two horns of the dilemma he chose the
easier one.
Let us, however, place ourselves, for the moment, on his ground, namely,
that (1) It was a dream; and (2) dreams are so numerous that it is not
surprising that some of them coincide with contemporaneous events.
Evidently the more numerous the coincidences, or the dreams which
correspond to contemporaneous events, the weaker becomes the theory of
_chance_ coincidences. Supposing, then, Lord Brougham's case to have been
unique, that not another similar case was known to have occurred, then we
should have no particular hesitation in assigning it to the category of
chance coincidences; but even then it would be out of the order of _usual_
coincidences both in interest and the number of separate points involved;
it would excite special interest, but the reference of it to chance would
not be considered unreasonable: if, however, three or four such cases had
been reported and discussed in a generation, thoughtful people would
begin to inquire if there might not be some relation of sequence, or
possibly of cause and effect; but when hundreds of cases have been
reported, because they have been systematically sought for--veridical
dreams connected with the moment of the death of the agent, with fainting,
with trance, with moments of supreme excitement, or of extreme danger, so
many different conditions in which by careful observation it is found that
such hallucinations and symbols relating to actual contemporaneous
occurrences originate and are telepathically transmitted--the matter is
then quite removed from the category of chance coincidences, and any
attempt to force these cases there to-day denotes either ignorance of
established facts or inability to appreciate logical reasoning or even
mathematical demonstration. This is all upon the supposition that the case
in question was a dream. On the other hand, now place the case where it
really belongs as a _waking_ or Borderland _vision_--an event in a class a
hundred-fold less numerous than dreams--and in which class corresponding
events are at least tenfold _more numerous_, and we see how conspicuously
weak is the coincidence theory.
Neither need the other horn of the dilemma, namely, Supernaturalism, any
longer be taken. A newly recognized method of mental interaction is
gradually coming into view; a new principle and law in psychology is being
established; and under this law the erratic and discredited facts of
history as well as the facts of present observation and experiment are
falling into line and becoming intelligible.
The new principle or law, as we have seen, is this: Perceptions, of the
class which have usually been known as hallucinations, may be originated
and transferred _telepathically_; in other words, there is a subliminal
self, which, under various conditions on the part of either agent or
percipient, or both, may come to the surface and act, impressing the
sensitive percipient through the senses, by dreams, visions, and
apparitions, as well as through hallucinations of hearing and touch.
Returning to our well considered cases illustrating some of these various
conditions: having presented examples of veridical or truth-telling
dreams, and of waking or borderland visions also corresponding to actual
events taking place at the same time, I will next present cases where the
percipient was _undoubtedly awake_ and in a normal condition. The
following case is reported on the authority of Surgeon Harris of the Royal
Artillery, who, with his two daughters, was a witness of the occurrence:
"A party of children, sons and daughters of the officers of artillery
stationed at Woolwich, were playing in the garden. Suddenly a little girl
screamed, and stood staring with an aspect of terror at a willow tree
standing in the grounds. Her companions gathered round, asking what ailed
her. 'Oh!' said she, 'there--there. Don't you see? There's papa lying on
the ground, and the blood running from a big wound.' All assured her that
they could see nothing of the kind. But she persisted, describing the
wound and the position of the body, still expressing surprise that they
did not see what she so plainly saw. Two of her companions were daughters
of one of the surgeons of the regiment, whose house adjoined the garden.
They called their father, who at once came to the spot. He found the child
in a state of extreme terror and agony, took her into his house, assured
her it was only a fancy, and having given her restoratives sent her home.
The incident was treated by all as what the doctor had called it, a fancy,
and no more was thought of it. News from India, where the child's father
was stationed, was in those days slow in coming, but the arrival of the
mail in due course brought the information that the father of the child
had been killed by a shot, and died under a tree. Making allowances for
difference in time, it was found to have been about the moment when the
daughter had the vision at Woolwich."
The next case is from Mr. Francis Dart Fenton, formerly in the native
department of the Government, Auckland, New Zealand. In 1852, when the
incident occurred, Mr. Fenton was engaged in forming a settlement on the
banks of the Waikato.
He writes:--
"March 25th, 1860.
"Two sawyers, Frank Philps and Jack Mulholland, were engaged cutting
timber for the Rev. R. Maunsell, at the mouth of the Awaroa Creek, a
very lonely place, a vast swamp, no people within miles of them. As
usual, they had a Maori with them to assist in felling trees. He came
from Tihorewam, a village on the other side of the river, about six
miles off. As Frank and the native were cross-cutting a tree, the
native stopped suddenly and said, 'What are you come for?' looking in
the direction of Frank. Frank replied, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'I
am not speaking to you; I am speaking to my brother.' Frank said,
'Where is he?' The native replied, 'Behind you. What do you want?'
(to the other Maori). Frank looked round and saw nobody; the native no
longer saw any one, but laid down the saw and said, 'I shall go across
the river; my brother is dead.' Frank laughed at him, and reminded him
that he had left him quite well on Sunday (five days before), and
there had been no communication since. The Maori spoke no more, but
got into his canoe and pulled across. When he arrived at the
landing-place, he met people coming to fetch him. His brother had just
died. I knew him well."
In answer to inquiries as to his authority for this narrative, Mr. Fenton
writes the editors of _Phantasms of the Living_:--
"December 18th, 1883.
"I knew all the parties well, and it is quite true. Incidents of this
sort are not infrequent among the Maoris.
"F. D. FENTON,
"Late Chief Judge, Native Law Court of New Zealand."
The following case was first published in the _Spiritual Magazine_ in
1861, by Robert H. Collyer, M. D., F. C. S.
Although published in a spiritual publication, Dr. Collyer states that he
himself is not a believer in spiritualism, but, on the contrary, is a
materialist and has been for forty years.
He writes from Beta House, 8 Alpha Road, St. John's Wood, N. W.:--
"April 15th, 1861.
"On January 3d, 1856, my brother Joseph being in command of the
steamer _Alice_, on the Mississippi, just above New Orleans, she came
in collision with another steamer. The concussion caused the flagstaff
or pole to fall with great violence, which coming in contact with my
brother's head, actually divided the skull, causing of necessity
instant death. In October, 1857, I visited the United States. When at
my father's residence, Camden, New Jersey, the melancholy death of my
brother became the subject of conversation, and my mother narrated to
me that at the very time of the accident the apparition of my brother
Joseph was presented to her. This fact was corroborated by my father
and four sisters. Camden, N. J., is distant from the scene of the
accident, in a direct line, over one thousand miles. My mother
mentioned the fact of the apparition on the morning of the 4th of
January to my father and sisters; nor was it until the 16th, or
thirteen days after, that a letter was received confirming in every
particular the extraordinary visitation. It will be important to
mention that my brother William and his wife lived near the locality
of the dreadful accident, and are now living in Philadelphia; they
have also corroborated to me the details of the impression produced
upon my mother."
Dr. Collyer then quotes a letter from his mother which contains the
following sentences:--
"CAMDEN, N. J., UNITED STATES,
"March 27th, 1861.
"MY BELOVED SON,--On the 3d of January, 1856, I did not feel well and
retired early to bed. Some time after I felt uneasy and sat up in bed;
I looked around the room, and to my utter amazement, saw Joseph
standing at the door looking at me with great earnestness; his head
was bandaged up, a dirty night-cap on, and a dirty white garment,
something like a surplice. He was much disfigured about the eyes and
face. It made me quite uncomfortable the rest of the night. The next
morning Mary came into my room early. I told her I was sure I was
going to have bad news from Joseph. I told all the family at the
breakfast table. They replied, 'It was only a dream and nonsense;' but
that did not change my opinion. It preyed on my mind, and on the 16th
of January I received the news of his death; and singular to say both
William and his wife, who were there, say that he was exactly attired
as I saw him.
"Your ever affectionate mother,
"ANNE E. COLLYER."
In reply to questions, Dr. Collyer wrote: "My father, who was a scientific
man, calculated the difference of longitude between Camden and New Orleans
and found that the mental impression was at the exact time of my brother's
death....
"In the published account I omitted to state that my brother Joseph, prior
to his death, had retired for the night in his berth; his vessel was
moored alongside the levee, at the time of the collision by another
steamer coming down the Mississippi. Of course my brother was in his
_nightgown_. He ran on deck on being called and informed that a steamer
was in close proximity to his own. These circumstances were communicated
to me by my brother William, who was on the spot at the time of the
accident."
In addition to these accounts, Mr. Podmore says:--
"I called upon Dr. Collyer on March 25th, 1884. He told me that he
received a full account of the story verbally from his father, mother, and
brother in 1857.... He was quite certain of the precise coincidence of
time."
A sister also writes corroborating all the main statements.
Other senses besides that of sight may receive the telepathic impression.
In the following cases the sense of hearing was so impressed. The first
account is from Commander T. W. Aylesbury, late of the Indian Navy. It is
from Mr. Gurney's collection in _Phantasms of the Living_.
"The writer when thirteen years of age was capsized in a boat when landing
on the Island of Bally, east of Java, and was nearly drowned. On coming to
the surface after being repeatedly submerged, the boy called out for his
mother. This amused the boat's crew, who spoke of it afterwards and jeered
him a good deal about it. Months after, on arrival in England, the boy
went to his home, and while telling his mother of his narrow escape he
said, 'While I was under the water I saw you all sitting in this room; you
were working on something white. I saw you all--mother, Emily, Eliza, and
Ellen.' His mother at once said, 'Why, yes, and I _heard_ you cry out for
me, and I sent Emily to look out of the window, for I remarked that
something had happened to that poor boy.' The time, owing to the
difference in longitude, corresponded with the time when the voice was
heard."
Commander Aylesbury adds in another letter:
"I saw their features (my mother's and sisters'), the room and the
furniture, and particularly the old-fashioned Venetian blinds. My eldest
sister was seated next to my mother."
The following is an extract from a letter written to Commander Aylesbury
by one of his sisters and forwarded to Mr. Gurney, in 1883:--
"I distinctly remember the incident you mention in your letter (the voice
calling 'Mother'); it made such an impression upon my mind I shall never
forget it. We were all sitting quietly at work one evening; it was about
nine o'clock. I think it must have been late in the summer, as we had left
the street door open. We first heard a faint cry of 'Mother'; we all
looked up and said to one another, 'Did you hear that? some one cried out
"Mother."' We had scarcely finished speaking when the voice again called
'Mother' twice in quick succession, the last cry a frightened, agonizing
cry. We all started up and mother said to me, 'Go to the door and see what
is the matter.' I ran directly into the street and stood some few minutes,
but all was silent, and not a person to be seen; it was a lovely evening,
not a breath of air. Mother was sadly upset about it. I remember she paced
the room and feared something had happened to you. She wrote down the
date the next day, and when you came home and told us how nearly you had
been drowned, and the time of day, father said it would be about the time
nine o'clock would be with us. I know the date and the time corresponded."
In the next case three of the senses--sight, hearing, and touch were
concerned. It is from Mr. Gurney's collection.
"From Mr. Algeron Joy, 20 Walton Place, S. W.
"Aug. 16th, 1883.
"About 1862 I was walking in a country lane near Cardiff by myself,
when I was overtaken by two young colliers who suddenly attacked me.
One of them gave me a violent blow on the eye which knocked me down,
half-stunned. I distinctly remembered afterwards all that I had been
thinking about, both immediately prior to the attack and for some time
after it.
"Up to the moment of the attack and for some time previously, I was
absorbed in a calculation connected with Penarth Docks, then in
construction, on which I was employed. My train of thought was
interrupted for a moment by the sound of footsteps behind me. I looked
back and saw the two young men, but thought no more of them, and
immediately returned to my calculations.
"On receiving the blow, I began speculating on their object, what they
were going to do next, how I could best defend myself, or escape from
them; and when they ran away, and I had picked myself up I thought of
trying to identify them and of denouncing them at the police station,
to which I proceeded after following them until I lost sight of them.
"In short, I am positive that for about half an hour previous to the
attack, and for an hour or two after it, there was no connection
whatever, direct or indirect, between my thoughts and a person at that
moment in London, and whom I will call 'A.'
"Two days afterwards, I received a letter from 'A,' written on the day
after the assault, asking me what I had been doing and thinking about
at 4:30 P. M., on the day previous to that on which he was writing. He
continued: 'I had just passed your club and was thinking of you, when
I recognized your footstep behind me. You laid your hand heavily on my
shoulder. I turned, and saw you as distinctly as I ever saw you in my
life. You looked distressed, and in answer to my greeting and inquiry,
'What's the matter?' You said, 'Go home, old fellow, I've been hurt.
You will get a letter from me in the morning, telling you all about
it.' You then vanished instantaneously.
"The assault took place as near 4:30 as possible, certainly between
4:15 and 4:45. I wrote an account of it to 'A' on the following day,
so our letters crossed, he receiving mine, not the next morning as my
_double_ had promised, but on the succeeding one at about the same
time as I received his. 'A' solemnly assured me that he knew no one in
or near Cardiff, and that my account was the only one he had received
of the incident. From my intimate personal knowledge of him I am
certain that he is incapable of uttering an untruth. But there are
reasons why I cannot give his name even in confidence.
"ALGERON JOY."
Apparitions are perhaps more frequently seen by a single percipient; there
are, however, numerous well authenticated cases where they have been seen
by several persons at the same time, sometimes by the whole and sometimes
only by a part of the persons present.
Such cases are called _collective_. Here are two such cases reported to
Mr. Gurney by physicians.
First, one from Dr. Wyld, 41 Courtfield Road, S. W.
"December, 1882.
"Miss L. and her mother were for fifteen years my most intimate
friends; they were ladies of the highest intelligence and perfectly
truthful, and their story was confirmed by one of the servants, the
other I could not trace.
"Miss L., some years before I made her acquaintance, occupied much of
her time in visiting the poor. One day as she walked homewards she
felt cold and tired and longed to be at home warming herself at the
kitchen fire. At or about the minute corresponding to this wish, the
two servants being in the kitchen, the door-handle was seen to turn,
the door opened, and in walked Miss L., and going up to the fire she
held out her hands and warmed herself, and the servants saw she had a
pair of _green_ kid gloves on her hands. She suddenly disappeared
before their eyes, and the two servants in great alarm went upstairs
and told the mother what they had seen, including the green kid
gloves. The mother feared something was wrong, but she attempted to
quiet the servants by reminding them that Miss L. always wore black
and never green gloves, and that therefore the 'ghost' could not have
been that of her daughter.
"In about half an hour the veritable Miss L. entered the house, and
going into the kitchen warmed herself at the fire; and she had on a
pair of _green_ kid gloves which she had bought on her way home, not
being able to get a suitable black pair.
"G. WYLD, M. D."
The next case is from Dr. Wm. M. Buchanan, 12 Rutland Square, Edinburgh.
He writes:--
"The following circumstance took place at a villa about one and a half
miles from Glasgow, and was told me by my wife. Of its truth I am as
certain as if I had been a witness. The house had a lawn in front of
about three or four acres in extent, with a lodge at the gateway
distinctly seen from the house, which was about eighty yards' distant.
Two of the family were going to visit a friend seven miles' distant,
and on the previous day it had been arranged to take a lady, Miss W.,
with them, who was to be in waiting at a place about a mile distant.
Three of the family and a lady visitor were standing at one of the
dining-room windows waiting for the carriage, when they, including my
wife, saw Miss W. open the gate at the lodge. The wind had disarranged
the front of a pelisse which she wore, which they distinctly saw her
adjust. She wore a light gray-colored beaver hat, and had a
handkerchief at her mouth; it was supposed she was suffering from
toothache to which she was subject. She entered the lodge to the
surprise of her friends, and as she did not leave it, a servant was
sent to ask her to join the family; but she was informed that Miss W.
had not been there, and it was afterwards ascertained that no one
except the woman's husband had been in the lodge that morning.
"The carriage arrived at the house about ten A. M., and Miss W. was
found at the place agreed upon, in the dress in which she appeared at
the lodge, and suffering from toothache. As she was a nervous person,
nothing was said to her about her appearance at the gate. She died
nine years afterwards."
Sometimes an apparition seemingly intended for one person is not
perceived by that person, but is seen by some other person present who
may be a stranger to the agent or person whose image is seen. The
following case is in point. It is from Mrs. Clerke, of Clifton Lodge,
Farquhar Road, Upper Norwood, S. E., and also belongs to Mr. Gurney's
collection:--
"In the month of August, 1864, about three or four o'clock in the
afternoon, I was sitting reading in the verandah of our house in
Barbadoes. My black nurse was driving my little girl, about eighteen
months or so old, in her perambulator in the garden. I got up after
some time to go into the house, not having noticed anything at all,
when this black woman said to me, 'Missis, who was that gentleman that
was talking to you just now?' 'There was no one talking to me,' I
said. 'Oh, yes, dere was, Missis--a very pale gentleman, very tall,
and he talked to you and you was very rude, for you never answered
him.' I repeated there was no one, and got rather cross with the
woman, and she begged me to write down the day, for she knew she had
seen some one. I did, and in a few days I heard of the death of my
brother in Tobago. Now the curious part is this, that I did not see
him, but she--a stranger to him--did; and she said that he seemed very
anxious for me to notice him.
"MAY CLERKE."
In answer to inquiries Mrs. Clerke says:--
"(1) The day of the death was the same, for I wrote it down. I think it
was the third of August, but I know it was the same.
"(2) The description 'very tall and pale' was accurate.
"(3) I had no idea he was ill. He was only a few days ill.
"(4) The woman had never seen him. She had been with me about eighteen
months and I considered her truthful. She had no object in telling me."
Her husband, Colonel Clerke, corroborates as follows:--
"I well remember that on the day on which Mr. John Brersford, my wife's
brother, died in Tobago--after a short illness of which we were not
aware--our black nurse declared she saw, at as nearly as possible the time
of his death, a gentleman exactly answering to Mr. Brersford's
description, leaning over the back of Mrs. Clerke's easy-chair in the open
verandah. The figure was not seen by any one else.
"SHADWELL H. CLERKE."
In this instance, looking upon the dying brother as the agent and the
sister as the _intended_ percipient, the question arises, why was _she_
unable to perceive the telepathic influence which presented the likeness
of her brother, while the colored nurse, an entire stranger to him, sees
and describes him standing by his sister's chair and apparently anxious
that she should recognize him?
In another of Mr. Gurney's cases, of four persons present in a business
office where the phantasm of a fifth well-known person appeared, two
persons saw the phantasm and two did not.
Abridged from Mr. Gurney's account the circumstances were as follows:--
The narrator is Mr. R. Mouat, of 60 Huntingdon St., Barnsbury, N., and the
incident occurred in his office on Thursday, September 5th, 1867. The
persons concerned were the Rev. Mr. H., who had a desk in the same office
and who may be considered the _agent_; Mr. Mouat, himself, and Mr. R., a
gentleman from an office upstairs in the same building, the _percipients_;
while a clerk and a porter who were also present saw nothing.
Mr. Mouat goes into his office at 10:45 o'clock on the morning of
September 5th, sees his clerk and the porter in conversation, and the Rev.
Mr. H. standing at the corner of a table at the back of the clerk. He is
about to speak to Mr. H. about his being there so early (more than an hour
before his usual time), when the clerk commenced speaking to him about
business and especially a telegram concerning which something was amiss.
This conversation lasted several minutes and was decidedly animated.
During this scene, Mr. R., from an office upstairs, comes in and listens
to the excited conversation. He looks at Mr. H. in a comical way,
motioning with his head toward the two disputants, as much as to say "they
are having it hot;" but to Mr. R.'s disgust Mr. H. does not respond to the
joke. Mr. R. and the porter then leave the room. Mr. Mouat turns to Mr.
H., who was all the while standing at the corner of the table, notices
that he looks downcast, and is without his neck-tie; he says to him,
"Well, what is the matter with _you_, you look so sour?" Mr. H. makes no
reply, but looks fixedly at Mr. Mouat. Having finished some papers he was
reading Mr. Mouat noticed Mr. H. still standing at the table. The clerk at
that moment handed Mr. Mouat a letter saying, "Here, sir, is a letter from
Mr. H."
No sooner was the name pronounced than Mr. H. disappeared in a second.
Mr. Mouat is dumfounded--so much so that the clerk notices it. It is then
discovered that the clerk has not seen Mr. H. at all, and declares that he
has not been in the office that morning. The letter from Mr. H. was
written on the previous day and informs Mr. Mouat that he is ill, and will
not be at the office the next day, and asks to have his letters sent to
his house.
The next day, Friday, Mr. H. enters the office at his usual hour, twelve
o'clock; and on being asked by Mr. Mouat where he was the previous day at
10:45 o'clock, he replied that at that time he had just finished
breakfast--was at home with his wife, and did not leave the house all day.
The following Monday Mr. Mouat meets Mr. R. and asks him if he remembers
being in his office the previous Thursday morning. R. replies that he
does, perfectly. Does he remember who were present and what was going on?
"Yes," said Mr. R., "you were having an animated confab with your clerk
about a telegram. Besides yourself and the clerk there were present the
porter and Mr. H."
On being informed that Mr. H. was at home, fourteen miles' distant, at
that time, Mr. R. became indignant that any one should insinuate that he
did not know a man was present when he saw him. He insisted on calling the
porter to corroborate him; but on being questioned, the porter, like the
clerk, declared that he did not see anything of Mr. H. that morning.
Here, in broad daylight, of four persons present and engaged in business,
two saw Mr. H. and addressed him either in words or by signs, while two
others with equal opportunities did not see him at all.
The Rev. Mr. H. at home during the time had no particular experience of
any kind. All that can be said is, that, it must have been about his usual
time for starting for the office; he had sent a letter about his mail
which he knew would then be received, and all the general routine and
habit of his life would tend to direct his mind to that locality at that
particular time. He was ill as he appeared to be to those who saw his
_appearance_ at the office, and very likely he was negligently dressed.
Why should two of those present have seen his apparition, and two others
have failed to see it? For the simple reason that, as in ordinary
thought-transference, or in the "willing game" some are _good subjects_,
or percipients, and others are not. For the same reason that of ten
persons making trial of Planchette-writing, the board will move for only
two or three out of the whole number--that is, in only a few would the
hands act automatically in response to a subliminal self; and for the same
reason it may also be true that amongst several persons, in only a few of
those present, can the sense of sight or hearing be effected by a
phantasm.
In many instances, children, and in some instances, very young children,
have been the percipients--children too young to perceive any difference
between the phantasm and a real person, and who have accordingly addressed
it and spoken of it as they would of a real person. Even animals,
especially horses and dogs, have given unmistakable evidence--by
crouching, trembling, and fright--of perceiving the same phantasms that
have been seen by persons who were present with them. The phantom being,
so to speak, _in the air_, it is perceived by those whose organization is
so adjusted as to make it _impressionable_, and to constitute, to a
greater or less degree, what is known as a _sensitive_.
Doubtless, on close examination, it would be found that persons capable of
hypnotization, though they may never have been hypnotized, natural
somnambulists, persons accustomed to vivid dreaming, reverie, abstraction,
and kindred states, in other words, persons in whom the subliminal self
sometimes gives indications of independent action, are most likely to have
some _marked_ psychical experience. It may be only once in a lifetime, and
this one instance _may_ be the perception of a phantasmal appearance.
In bringing to a close these examples of apparitions, I wish to introduce
one which has specially impressed me. It was the experience of a child--it
is reported by the percipient herself. The statement is singularly
straightforward, and simple; something was done on account of the vision
which impressed the circumstance upon others who did not see it, for
prompt action founded upon what was seen, saved a life. I give it in the
percipient's own words, written to Mr. Gurney. It is from Mrs. Brettany, 2
Eckington Villas, Ashbourne Grove, Dulwich.
She writes:--
"November, 1884.
"When I was a child I had many remarkable experiences of a psychical
nature, and which I remember to have looked upon as ordinary and
natural at the time.
"On one occasion (I am unable to fix the date, but I must have been
about ten years old) I was walking in a country lane at A., the place
where my parents then resided. I was reading geometry as I walked
along, a subject little likely to produce fancies, or morbid phenomena
of any kind, when, in a moment, I saw a bedroom, known as the White
Room in my home, and upon the floor lay my mother, to all appearances
dead.
"The vision must have remained some minutes, during which time my real
surroundings appeared to pale and die out; but as the vision faded
actual surroundings came back, at first dimly, and then clearly. I
could not doubt that what I had seen was real. So instead of going
home, I went at once to the house of our medical man, and found him at
home. He at once set out with me for my home, on the way putting
questions I could not answer, as my mother was to all appearances well
when I left home.
"I led the doctor straight to the White Room, where we found my mother
actually lying as in my vision. This was true, even to minute details.
"She had been seized suddenly by an attack of the heart, and would
soon have breathed her last but for the doctor's timely arrival. I
shall get my father and mother to read this and sign it."
"JEANIE GWYNNE-BRETTANY."
Mrs. Brettany's parents write:--
"We certify that the above is correct."
"S. G. GWYNNE.
"J. W. GWYNNE."
In answer to inquiries, Mrs. Brettany states further:
"The White Room in which I saw my mother, and afterwards actually
found her, was out of use. It was unlikely she should be there.
"She was found lying in the attitude in which I had seen her. I found
a handkerchief with a lace border beside her on the floor. This I had
distinctly noticed in my vision. There were other particulars of
coincidence which I cannot put here."
Mrs. Brettany's father writes further:--
"I distinctly remember being surprised by seeing my daughter in
company with the family doctor, outside the door of my residence; and
I asked, 'Who is ill?' She replied, 'Mamma.' She led the way at once
to the 'White Room,' where we found my wife lying in a swoon on the
floor. It was when I asked when she had been taken ill that I found it
must have been after my daughter had left the house. None of the
servants in the house knew anything of the sudden illness, which our
doctor assured me would have been fatal had he not arrived when he
did.
"My wife was quite well when I left her in the morning."
"S. G. GWYNNE."
Taking, as we must, the main incidents of this narrative as true, we have
either a simple case of clairvoyance on the part of Mrs. Brettany as a
child, or else, on the other hand, the subliminal self of the unconscious
mother hastened to impress the situation upon the sensitive child, and
with the definite good result which is recorded.