Chapter VI: Phantasms of the Dead

Thus far I have devoted myself to an investigation of phenomena for which the theory of telepathy is not inapplicable. It is, however, when we come to discuss hallucinations from which the idea of a living agent is apparently excluded that I feel myself entering on even more delicate and mysterious territory. Having dealt with phantasms of persons at the point of death, I now propose to deal with phantasms of persons already dead. Where, indeed, the death has been very recent, the telepathic theory still serves, for the reception conveyed by the dying agent might conceivably remain dormant in the sub-consciousness of the percipient, and only be aroused in a dream or during a propitious waking moment.

This would apply to the case of a lady who saw the body of a well-known London physician, about ten hours after death, lying in a bare unfurnished room, which turned out to be a cottage hospital abroad. Mr Myers, in his "Human Personality," has collected a large number of examples of apparitions of departed spirits, upon which he lays the utmost stress, because they, more than any other kind of evidence, tend to support his great theory of the survival of personality. If, he reasons, we can gain a number of well-authenticated cases of hallucinations projected telepathically from an agent before death, an equal amount of evidence of hallucinations projected by an agent after death would prove the continuance of life beyond the grave! And some of the cases which the Society of Psychical Research, both in this country and America, have collected are certainly of an impressive character.

Unhappily, most of the best and most convincing cases are too long to be given here; they cannot even profitably be summarised.

In one instance Mr F. G. of Boston, whose high character and good position are vouched for by Professor Royce and Dr Hodgson, states that nine years after the death of a favourite sister an apparition appeared before him:

"The hour was high noon, and the sun was shining cheerfully
into my room. While busily smoking my cigar and writing out my
orders, I suddenly became conscious that someone was sitting on
my left, with one arm resting on the table. Quick as a flash I
turned, and distinctly saw the form of my dead sister, and for
a brief second or so looked her squarely in the face; and so
sure was I that it was she, that I sprang forward in delight,
calling her by name, and as I did so the apparition instantly
vanished."

But that is not the most extraordinary part of the story. The visitation so impressed the percipient that he took the next train home and related to his parents what had occurred. He particularly mentioned a bright red line or scratch on the right-hand side of his sister's face, which he had distinctly seen:

"... When I mentioned this, my mother rose trembling to her
feet, and nearly fainted away, and as soon as she sufficiently
recovered her self-possession, with tears streaming down her
face, she exclaimed that I had indeed seen my sister, as no
living mortal but herself was aware of the scratch, which she
had accidentally made while doing some little act of kindness
after my sister's death.... In proof, neither my father nor any
of our family had detected it, and positively were unaware of
the incident, yet _I saw the scratch as bright as if just
made_. So strangely impressed was my mother, that even after
she had retired to rest she got up and dressed, came to me, and
told me _she knew_ that I had seen my sister. A few weeks later
my mother died."

Now, is it not a little singular that, although both Dr Hodgson and Mr Myers record this incident, the theory of telepathy between a living agent and a living percipient does not occur to them? Is it not conceivable that the mother, on whose mind the incident of the scratch on the features of the corpse had admittedly preyed, should have unwittingly communicated her secret to her son? In other words, the mother projected a phantasm of her dead daughter to the mind of her son.

In the "Proceedings of the Society" there is a case which, according to Mr Stead, "appears to suggest that the deceased are continuing to take an interest in mundane affairs." The story is communicated by Miss Dodson. On Sunday, 5th June 1887, close upon midnight, Miss Dodson was roused by hearing her name called three times. She answered twice, thinking it was her uncle. The third time she recognised the voice of her mother, who had been dead sixteen years. "I said," continued Miss Dodson, "'Mamma!'"

"She then came round a screen near my bedside with two children
in her arms and placed them in my arms and put the bedclothes
over them, and said: 'Lucy, promise me to take care of them,
for their mother is just dead.' I said: 'Yes, mamma.' She
repeated: '_Promise_ me to take care of them.' I replied: 'Yes,
I promise you,' and added, 'Oh, mamma, stay and speak to me, I
am so wretched.' She replied: 'Not yet, my child,' then she
seemed to go round the screen again and I remained, feeling the
children to be still in my arms and fell asleep. When I awoke
there was nothing. Tuesday morning, 7th June, I received the
news of my sister-in-law's death. She had given birth to a
child three weeks before, which I did not know till after her
death."

Professor Sidgwick says, as the result of an interesting conversation with Miss Dodson, that the children were of the ages corresponding with the ages of the children of her sister-in-law; they seemed to be a little girl and a baby newly born. The only way an ingenious sceptic can get round this case is by supposing that a telepathic impulse from the living brother might conceivably embody itself in the form of his mother. But the idea of a brother in Belgium being able to transmit a telepathic message in the assumed shape and with the voice of his mother, who had been dead for sixteen years, and also to telepath into existence in London the two little children who were living in his house at Bruges, is rather a clumsy hypothesis. But what other have we?

"Mr Theobald, an Australian, forwards to the Society a paper
discovered amongst the effects of his uncle, now dead. The
apparition, as will be seen, occurred on October 24th, 1860,
and the account is endorsed on 9th November by the percipient's
father. Further particulars sent to Mr B---- by the percipient
(who is here called Mr D----) are dated November 13th, 1860.
The first account seems to have been sent by the percipient to
his father, and by the father to Mr B----"

The percipient had been identified, and confirms, as will be seen, this early narrative, which is as follows:--

"On the evening of Wednesday, October 24th, 1860, having
retired to bed about nine o'clock, I had slept, I conclude,
about two hours, making it then about eleven o'clock P.M. I was
awoke from my sleep by a hand touching my forehead, and the
well-known voice of Mrs B---- pronouncing my name, E----. I
started up and sat in bed, rubbed my eyes, and then saw Mrs
B----. From the head to the waist the figure was distinct,
clear, and well defined; but from the waist downwards it was
all misty, and the lower part transparent. She appeared to be
dressed in black silk. Her countenance was grave and rather
sad, but not unhappy.

"The words she first uttered were: 'I have left dear John.'
What followed related entirely to myself, and she was permitted
by a most kind Providence to speak words of mercy, promise, and
comfort, and assurance that what I most wished would come to
pass. She came to me in an hour of bitter mental agony, and was
sent as a messenger of mercy...."

Occasionally there is a curious variant, when the phantasm is auditory and not visible. In the case published in "Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research," vol. iii. p. 90, Mr Wambey heard a phantasmal voice as though in colloquy with his own thought. He was planning a congratulatory letter to a friend, when the words "What, write to a dead man? write to a dead man?" sounded clearly in his ears. The friend had been dead for some days.

Gurney was much impressed by the unexpectedly large proportion of cases where the percipient informed us that there had been a _compact_ between himself and the deceased person that whichever passed away first should try to appear to the other. "Considering," he adds, "what an extremely small number of persons make such a compact, compared with those who do not, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that its existence has a certain efficacy."

A characteristic case is thus reported by a Mr Bellamy:

"When a girl at school my wife made an agreement with a
fellow-pupil, Miss W., that the one of them who died first
should, if divinely permitted, appear after her decease to the
survivor. In 1874 my wife, who had not seen or heard anything
of her former school friend for some years, casually heard of
her death. The news reminded her of her former agreement, and
then, becoming nervous, she told me of it. I knew of my wife's
compact, but I had never seen a photograph of her friend, or
heard any description of her." (Mr Bellamy told Gurney in
conversation that his mind had not been in the least dwelling
on the compact.)

"A night or two afterwards, as I was sleeping with my wife, a
fire brightly burning in my room and a candle alight, I
suddenly awoke and saw a lady sitting by the side of the bed
where my wife was sleeping soundly. At once I sat up in the bed
and gazed so intently that even now I can recall her form and
features. Had I the pencil or the brush of a Millais I could
transfer to canvas an exact likeness of the ghostly visitant. I
remember that I was much struck, as I looked intently at her,
with the careful arrangement of her coiffure, every single hair
being most carefully brushed down. How long I sat and gazed I
cannot say, but directly the apparition ceased to be, I got
out of bed to see if any of my wife's garments had by any means
optically deluded me. I found nothing in the line of vision but
a bare wall. Hallucination on my part I rejected as out of the
question, and I doubted not that I had really seen an
apparition. Returning to bed, I lay till my wife some hours
after awoke, and then I gave her an account of her friend's
appearance. I described her colour, form, etc., all of which
exactly tallied with my wife's recollection of Miss W. Finally
I asked, 'But was there any special point to strike one in her
appearance?' 'Yes,' my wife promptly replied, 'we girls used to
tease her at school for devoting so much time to the
arrangement of her hair.' This was the very thing which I have
said so much struck me. Such are the simple facts.

"I will only add that till 1874 I had never seen an apparition,
and that I have not seen one since.

"ARTHUR BELLAMY."

The following case, from "Proceedings," vol. viii. p. 178, bears a distinct resemblance to the old-fashioned ghost stories. Mrs M., the informant, writes under date 15th December 1891:

"Before relating my experience of having seen a ghost, I should
like my readers thoroughly to understand that I had not the
slightest idea that the house in which my husband and I were
living was haunted, or that the family residing there for many
years before us had had any family troubles. The house was
delightfully situated [etc.]. The house being partly new and
partly old we occupied the old part for our sleeping
apartments. There were two staircases leading to them, with a
landing and window, adjoining a morning sitting-room. One night
on retiring to my bedroom about 11 o'clock, I thought I heard a
peculiar moaning sound, and someone sobbing as if in great
distress of mind. I listened very attentively, and still it
continued; so I raised the gas in my bedroom, and then went to
the landing window of which I have spoken, drew the blind
aside; and there on the grass was a very beautiful young girl
in kneeling posture before a soldier, in a general's uniform,
sobbing and clasping her hands together, entreating for pardon;
but alas! he only waved her away from him. So much did I feel
for the girl, that without a moment's hesitation I ran down the
staircase to the door opening upon the lawn, and begged her to
come in and tell me her sorrow. The figures then disappeared!
Not in the least nervous did I feel then;--went again to my
bedroom, took a sheet of writing paper and wrote down what I
had seen. [Mrs M. has found and sent us this paper. The
following words are written in pencil on a half sheet of
notepaper:--"March 13th, 1886. Have just seen visions on
lawn:--a soldier in general's uniform,--a young lady kneeling
to him. 11.40 P.M."] My husband was away from home when this
event occurred, but a lady friend was staying with me, so I
went to her bedroom and told her that I had been rather
frightened by some noises;--could I stay with her a little
while? A few days afterwards I found myself in a very nervous
state; but it seemed so strange that I was not frightened at
the time.

"It appears the story is only too true. The youngest daughter
of this very old proud family had had an illegitimate child;
and her parents and relatives would not recognise her again,
and she died broken-hearted. The soldier was a near relative
(also a connection of my husband's); and it was in vain she
tried to gain his--the soldier's--forgiveness. [In a subsequent
letter Sir X. Y.'s career is described. He was a distinguished
officer.]

"So vivid was my remembrance of the features of the soldier
that some months after the occurrence, when I happened to be
calling with my husband at a house where there was a portrait
of him, I stepped before it and said: 'Why, look! There is the
General!' And sure enough it _was_."

In a subsequent letter Mrs M. writes:

"I did see the figures on the lawn after opening the door
leading on to the lawn; and they by no means disappeared
instantly, but more like a dissolving view--viz. gradually; and
I did not leave the door until they had passed away. It was
impossible for any real persons to act such a scene.... The
General was born and died (in the house where I saw him).... I
was not aware that the portrait of the General was in that room
(where I saw it); it was the first time I had been in that
room. The misfortune to the poor girl happened in 1847 or
1848."

Mrs M. then mentions that a respectable local tradesman hearing of the incident remarked: "That is not an uncommon thing to see _her_ about the place, poor soul! She was a badly used girl."

Mr M. writes as follows under date 23rd December 1891:--

"I have seen my wife's letter in regard to the recognition of
Sir X. Y.'s picture at ----. Nothing was said by me to her on
the subject; but knowing the portrait to be a remarkably good
likeness I proposed calling at the house (which was that of a
nephew of Sir X. Y.'s), being anxious to see what effect it
would have upon my wife. Immediately on entering the room she
almost staggered back, and turned pale, saying--looking hard
at the picture--'Why, there's the General!' ... Being a
connection of the family I knew all about the people, but my
wife was then a stranger, and I had never mentioned such things
to her; in fact they had been almost forgotten."

Here is a case where the phantasm was visible to several persons at the same time. It is given by Mr Charles A. W. Lett, of the Military and Royal Naval Club, Albemarle Street, W.

"December 3rd, 1885.

"On the 5th April 1873 my wife's father, Captain Towns, died at
his residence, Cranbrook, Rose Bay, near Sydney, N. S. Wales.
About six weeks after his death my wife had occasion one
evening about nine o'clock to go to one of the bedrooms in the
house. She was accompanied by a young lady, Miss Berthon, and
as they entered the room--the gas burning all the time--they
were amazed to see, reflected as it were on the polished
surface of the wardrobe, the image of Captain Towns. It was
barely half figure, the head, shoulders, and part of the arms
only showing--in fact, it was like an ordinary medallion
portrait, but life-size. The face appeared wan and pale, as it
did before his death, and he wore a kind of grey flannel
jacket, in which he had been accustomed to sleep. Surprised and
half-alarmed at what they saw, their first idea was that a
portrait had been hung in the room, and that what they saw was
its reflection; but there was no picture of the kind.

"Whilst they were looking and wondering, my wife's sister, Miss
Towns, came into the room, and before either of the others had
time to speak, she exclaimed, 'Good gracious! Do you see papa?'
One of the housemaids happened to be passing downstairs at the
moment, and she was called in and asked if she saw anything,
and her reply was, 'Oh, miss! the master.' Graham--Captain
Towns' old body-servant--was then sent for, and he also
immediately exclaimed, 'Oh, Lord save us! Mrs Lett, it's the
captain!' The butler was called, and then Mrs Crane, my wife's
nurse, and they both said what they saw. Finally, Mrs Towns
was sent for, and, seeing the apparition, she advanced towards
it with her arm extended as if to touch it, and as she passed
her hand over the panel of the wardrobe the figure gradually
faded away, and never again appeared, though the room was
regularly occupied for a long time after.

"These are the simple facts of the case, and they admit of no
doubt; no kind of intimation was given to any of the witnesses;
the same question was put to each one as they came into the
room, and the reply was given without hesitation by each. It
was by the merest accident that I did not see the apparition. I
was in the house at the time, but did not hear when I was
called."

"C. A. W. LETT."

"We the undersigned, having read the above statement, certify
that it is strictly accurate, as we were both witnesses of the
apparition.

"SARA LETT,

"SIBBIE SMYTH

"(_nee_ TOWNS.)"

"Mrs Lett assures me," wrote Gurney, "that neither she nor her sister ever experienced a hallucination of the senses on any other occasion. She is positive that the recognition of the appearance on the part of each of the later witnesses was _independent_, and not due to any suggestion from the persons already in the room."

The following, taken from the "Report on the Census of Hallucinations," may belong to either the ante-mortem or post-mortem category:--

"At Redhill on Thanksgiving Day, between eight and nine in the
evening, when I was taking charge of the little daughter of a
friend, during my friend's absence on that evening, I left the
child sleeping in the bedroom, and went to drop the blinds in
two neighbouring rooms, being absent about three minutes. On
returning to the child's room in the full light of the
gas-burner from above I distinctly saw, coming from the child's
cot, a white figure, which figure turned, looked me full in the
face, and passed down the staircase. I instantly followed,
leaned over the banisters in astonishment, and saw the
glistening of the white drapery as the figure passed down the
staircase, through the lighted hall, and silently through the
hall door itself, which was barred, chained, and locked. I felt
for the moment perfectly staggered, went back to the bedroom,
and found the child peacefully sleeping. I related the
circumstance to the mother immediately on her return late that
night. She was incredulous, but said that my description of the
figure answered to that of an invalid aunt of the child's. The
next morning came a telegram to say that this relation who had
greatly wished to see her niece had died between eight and nine
the previous evening.

"I had just put down the 'Pickwick Papers,' with which I had
been whiling away the time, was free from trouble and in good
health."

Sister Bertha, Superior of the House of Mercy at Bovey Tracey, Newton Abbot, states:

"On the night of November 10th, 1861, I was up in my bed
watching, because there was a person not quite well in the next
room. I heard a voice which I recognised at once as familiar to
me, and at first thought of my sister. It said in the brightest
and most cheerful tone, 'I am here with you.' I answered,
looking and seeing nothing, 'Who are you?' The voice said, 'You
mustn't know yet.' I heard nothing more and saw nothing, and am
certain that the door was not opened or shut. I was not in the
least frightened, and felt convinced it was Lucy's [Miss Lucy
Gambier Parry's] voice.

"I have never doubted it from that moment. I had not heard of
her being worse. The last account had been good, and I was
expecting to hear that she was at Torquay. In the course of the
next day (the 11th), mother told me that she had died on the
morning of the 10th, rather more than twelve hours before I
heard her voice."

A case reported by Mr John E. Husbands, of Melbourne House, Town Hall Square, Grimsby, is interesting:

"I was sleeping in a hotel in Madeira in January 1885. It was a
bright moonlight night. The windows were open, and the blinds
up. I felt someone was in my room. On opening my eyes I saw a
young fellow about twenty-five, dressed in flannels, standing
at the side of my bed, and pointing with the first finger of
his right hand to the place where I was lying. I lay for some
seconds to convince myself of someone being really there. I
then sat up and looked at him. I saw his features so plainly
that I recognised them in a photograph which was shown me some
days afterwards. I asked him what he wanted. He did not speak,
but his eyes and hands seemed to tell me that I was in his
place. As he did not answer, I struck at him with my fist as I
sat up, but did not reach him, and as I was going to spring out
of bed he slowly vanished through the door, which was shut,
keeping his eyes upon me all the time. Upon inquiry I found
that the young fellow who appeared to me died in the room I was
occupying."

There is, too, the famous case of Mrs de Freville and the gardener Bard. The percipient, who had formerly been in the employ of this somewhat eccentric lady, who was especially morbid on the subject of tombs and so forth, was in the churchyard of Hinxton, Saffron Walden, on Friday, 8th May 1885. He happened to look at the square De Freville stone vault, when, to his amazement, he distinctly saw the old lady, with a white face, leaning on the rails. When he looked again she was gone, although it puzzled him to know how she could have got out of the churchyard, as, in order to reach any of the gates, she must have passed him. Next day he was told that Mrs de Freville was dead. As the apparition was seen about seven and a half hours after death, it could, as I have suggested, be considered a telepathic impression transmitted at the moment of death and remaining latent in the brain of the percipient; otherwise, the case belongs to the category of Haunting, which we will glance at in the next chapter.