Part 5 (1/2)
”At Wiesbaden, Professor Ebenan, whose old sister kept his house, stated that he had a friend residing forty or fifty miles off--likewise a professor--who was very poor and had a large family. On hearing that his wife was dying, Mr E---- went to see them, and brought back their eldest boy, for whom a little bed was put up in Mr E----'s room.
”One morning, about ten days after, Mr E---- called and asked me: 'Do you believe that at the moment of death you may appear to one whom you love?' I replied: 'Yes, I do.' 'Well,' he said, 'we shall see. I have noted the day and the hour, for last night after I went to bed the child said sweetly (in German): ”Yes, dear mamma, I see you.” To which I replied: ”No, dear boy, it is I; I am come to bed.” ”No,” he said, ”it is dear mamma, she is standing there smiling at me,” pointing to the side of the bed.' On his next visit Mr Ebenan told us that he had received a letter informing him that at that time, and on that evening, the wife had breathed her last.”
In some cases a vague shadowy form is seen which gradually acquires definiteness. Here is an interesting example contributed to ”Proceedings,” vol. x., by a Mr T. A.:--
”9th May 1892.
”I saw a darkish vapour leave my father's head when he died, about twelve years ago, and it formed into a figure full-sized, and for seven consecutive nights (I) saw it in my room, and saw it go each night into the next room, in which he died. It became more distinct each night and brighter each night, till it was quite brilliant, even dazzling, by the seventh night. It lasted, say, one and a half minutes. It was quite dark when the phantom used to appear. I was quite awake, going to bed; [age]
thirty two.”
In other cases what is first seen is a glow of light--the apparition subsequently appearing in it.
Mr R. W. Raper, of Trinity College, Oxford, made the following statement to the Society for Psychical Research:--
”'Just before Christmas 1894 I went over to Liverpool with one of my brothers and my sister. It was a very fine clear day and there was a great crowd of people shopping in the streets. We were walking down Lord-street, one of the princ.i.p.al streets, when, pa.s.sing me, I saw an old uncle of mine whom I knew very little, and had not seen for a very long time, though he lived near me. I saw three distinct shapes hobbling past (he was lame), one after another, in a line. It didn't seem to strike me at the moment as being in the least curious, not even there being three shapes in a line. I said to my sister: ”I have just seen Uncle E----, and I am sure he is dead.” I said this, as it were, mechanically, and not feeling at all impressed. Of course my brother and sister laughed. We thought nothing more about it while in Liverpool. The first thing my mother said to us when getting home was: ”I have some news”; and then she told us that this uncle had died early that morning. I don't know the particular hour. I saw the three shapes at about twelve in the morning. I felt perfectly fit and well, and was not thinking of my uncle in the least, nor did I know he was ill. Both my brother and my sister heard me say that I had seen him and believed he was dead, and they were equally astonished at hearing of his death on our return home. My uncle and I knew each other very little. In fact, he hardly knew me by sight, although he knew me well when I was a small child.'
”The corroboration from the percipient's mother and sister is quite ample; the day of the agent's death coincided with the apparition, but the hour is not certainly known.”
Another well-known case is that of Prince Victor Duleep Singh, who writes:
”On Sat.u.r.day, October 21st, 1893, I was in Berlin with Lord Carnarvon. We went to a theatre together and returned before midnight. I went to bed, leaving, as I always do, a bright light in the room (electric light). As I lay in bed I found myself looking at an oleograph which hung on the wall opposite my bed. I saw distinctly the face of my father, the Maharajah Duleep Singh, looking at me, as it were, out of this picture; not like a portrait of him, but his real head. The head about filled the picture frame. I continued looking, and still saw my father looking at me with an intent expression. Though not in the least alarmed, I was so puzzled that I got out of bed to see what the picture really was. It was an oleograph commonplace picture of a girl holding a rose and leaning out of a balcony, an arch forming the background. The girl's face was quite small, whereas my father's head was the size of life and filled the frame.”
The Prince's father had been in ill-health for some time, but nothing alarming was to be expected. On the day following the dream he mentioned it to Lord Carnarvon, and on the evening of that day Lord Carnarvon handed him a telegram announcing the elder Prince's death. He had had an apoplectic seizure on the previous evening and never recovered. It is interesting to note that he had often said that he would try to appear to his son at death if they happened to be apart. The account is confirmed by Lord Carnarvon.
It sometimes happens that the point of hallucination is not quite reached. The following instance, communicated to the Society for Psychical Research, is straightforward enough:
”'20 Rankeillor Street, Edinburgh,
”'December 27th, 1883.
”'In January 1871 I was living in the West Indies. On the 7th of that month I got up with a strong feeling that there was something happening at my old home in Scotland. At seven A.M. I mentioned to my sister-in-law my strange dread, and said even at that hour what I dreaded was taking place.
”'By the next mail I got word that at eleven A.M. on the 7th of January my sister died. The island I lived in was at St Kitts, and the death took place in Edinburgh. Please note the hours and allow for the difference in time, and you will notice at least a remarkable coincidence. I may add I never knew of her illness.
”'A. C----N.'
”In answer to inquiries, Mr C----n adds: 'I never at any other time had a feeling in any way resembling the particular time I wrote about. At the time I wrote about I was in perfect health, and in every way in comfortable circ.u.mstances.'”
There is nothing unreasonable in the a.s.sumption that telepathy is the agency primarily concerned in these manifestations. The idea having been received, a hallucination is built up, so to speak, by the percipient. A truly hallucinable person can suggest to himself his own hallucinations with no external aid, but a non-hallucinable personage cannot induce these hallucinations at all. Dr Hugh Wingfield stated to the Society for Psychical Research that the case of one of his patients proved that hallucinations could be produced by self-suggestion. ”He could, by a simple effort of the mind, himself believe almost any delusion--_e.g._ that he was riding on horseback, that he was a dog, or anything else, or that he saw snakes--if left to himself the delusion vanished slowly.
Anyone else could remove it at once by a counter-suggestion. He made,”
he adds, ”these experiments without my consent, as I consider them unsafe.”
Hallucination is at times accompanied by curious organic effects. One of the commonest of these is a feeling of cold--generally described as a ”chill” or ”cold shudder.” The following example is taken from the Census of Hallucinations of the Society for Psychical Research:--
FROM MISS K. M.
(_The account was written in 1889._)