"I have read my wife's account, and endorse it.
"To my recollection I was not dreaming previously to sitting up in bed, when I believed I saw my father going towards the door. My mind had not been specially active about his affairs at that time, although I was rather anxious about some matters of business.
"The figure I supposed to be my father (and I had no thought it was any one else) moved noiselessly across the room and disappeared through the doorway. I should have treated it as a dream only, if my wife had not recalled my attention to it in the morning by asking me if I remembered sitting up in bed.
"Although I am certain my eyes were open at the time of the apparition, I did not see the face, but recognised the figure as that of my father by the general appearance as I remembered him.
"I have had no other similar waking experience, but have previously seen my father distinctly in a dream after his decease."
Mr. C. told me that he was positive the figure could not have been that of a real man: the doors were found locked on the inside in the morning. Moreover, his recognition of the figure, though he could not see the face, was unmistakable.
We have many similar accounts of collective phantasms which appear to have differed from subjective hallucinations of the ordinary type in no other particular than the fact of their occurrence to two persons simultaneously. Thus, to quote a few instances, Mrs. Willett, of Bedales, Lindfield, Sussex, sent us an extract from her diary describing a figure seen by her daughter and a visitor,—a fair-haired child running along a gallery. The account is confirmed by the visitor, Miss S. From Mrs. and Miss Goodhall we have an account of a tall figure seen by them when driving in a country lane. Miss C—— and two of her sisters saw in a bedroom in a London house the figure of a young man of middle height wearing a peaked cap and dark clothes. Mrs. Y. and her niece saw the figure of a child in a long grey dressing-gown running down a lighted staircase. In this last case the figure was mistaken for Mrs. Y.'s daughter, but in the other cases the phantasm bore no resemblance to any one with whom the percipients were acquainted. In no instance does it seem possible except by violently straining the probabilities to suppose the figure seen to have been that of a human being.
In the next case the phantasm, which was recognised, occurred within a short time of the death of the person represented. The narrator is a decorator and house-painter, of Uniontown, Kentucky, U.S.A.
No. 83.—From MR. S. S. FALKINBURG.
"September 12th, 1884.
"The following circumstance is impressed upon my mind in a manner which will preclude its ever being forgotten by me or the members of my family interested. My little son Arthur, who was then five years old, and the pet of his grandpapa, was playing on the floor, when I entered the house a quarter to seven o'clock, Friday evening, July 11th, 1879. I was very tired, having been receiving and paying for staves all day, and it being an exceedingly sultry evening, I lay down by Artie on the carpet, and entered into conversation with my wife—not, however, in regard to my parents. Artie, as usually was the case, came and lay down with his little head upon my left arm, when all at once he exclaimed, 'Papa! papa! Grandpa!' I cast my eyes towards the ceiling, or opened my eyes, I am not sure which, when, between me and the joists (it was an old-fashioned log-cabin), I saw the face of my father as plainly as ever I saw him in my life. He appeared to me to be very pale, and looked sad, as I had seen him upon my last visit to him three months previous. I immediately spoke to my wife, who was sitting within a few feet of me, and said, 'Clara, there is something wrong at home; father is either dead or very sick.' She tried to persuade me that it was my imagination, but I could not help feeling that something was wrong. Being very tired, we soon after retired, and about ten o'clock Artie woke me up repeating, 'Papa, grandpa is here.' I looked, and believe, if I remember right, got up, at any rate to get the child warm, as he complained of coldness, and it was very sultry weather. Next morning I expressed my determination to go at once to Indianapolis. My wife made light of it and over-persuaded me, and I did not go until Monday morning, and upon arriving at home (my father's), I found that he had been buried the day before, Sunday, July 13th.
"Now comes the mysterious part to me. After I had told my mother and brother of my vision, or whatever it may have been, they told me the following:—
"On the morning of the 11th July, the day of his death, he arose early and expressed himself as feeling unusually well, and ate a hearty breakfast. He took the Bible (he was a Methodist minister), and went and remained until near noon. He ate a hearty dinner, and went to the front gate, and, looking up and down the street, remarked that he could not, or at least would not be disappointed, some one was surely coming. During the afternoon and evening he seemed restless, and went to the gate, looking down street, frequently. At last, about time for supper, he mentioned my name, and expressed his conviction that God, in His own good time, would answer his prayers in my behalf, I being at that time very wild. Mother going into the kitchen to prepare supper, he followed her and continued talking to her about myself and family, and especially Arthur, my son. Supper being over, he moved his chair near the door, and was conversing about me at the time he died. The last words were about me, and were spoken, by mother's clock, 14 minutes of 7. He did not fall, but just quit talking and was dead.
"In answer to my inquiries, my son Arthur says he remembers the circumstances, and the impression he received upon that occasion is ineffaceable.
"SAMUEL S. FALKINBURG."
We have procured a certificate of death from the Indianapolis Board of Health, which confirms the date given.
Mrs. Falkinburg writes to us, on September 12, 1884:—