"FORTON, GARSTANG.
(Received on the 18th of September 1889.)
"Two years ago I had occasion to undergo a course of magnetism, under the treatment of Miss ——. I was under her treatment for six weeks, and derived considerable benefit from her treatment. A warm friendship sprang up between us, as she had wonderfully improved my sight. I went up to St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, at the commencement of the October term, as my eyes were so much stronger. One afternoon, as I had just come in from the river, being rather tired, I sat down for a minute before I changed, when, to my great surprise, the door opened, and Miss —— appeared to walk in.
"She was looking rather pale at the time, and looked intently at me for about a minute, then left the room as slowly as she had walked in. I was much alarmed, as I fancied that something must have happened to her, and I immediately sat down and wrote off two letters, one to Miss ——, asking if she was well, and another to my mother, telling her of the strange occurrence. The next day I had back the two replies. My mother said that on that very afternoon she had called on Miss ——, and naturally they had been discussing my case. She said that my description of Miss ——'s dress, etc., was perfectly accurate. I then read Miss ——'s note. She stated that my mother had called, and had left at about half-past four, she then had lain down for a few minutes, and was thinking and wishing to see me. She had a distinct impression that she saw me during this sleep, or trance, but when she awoke the impression was not very vivid. The time exactly coincided, and she said that my description of her was very accurate. At the time that she appeared to me I was not thinking in the least of her.
"CHARLES LLOYD EVANS."
I called on Mr. Evans on the 20th April 1892, and had a long conversation with him. The following notes of my interview were made at the time and written out a few days later:—
"The occurrence took place in November 1887. It would be about 4.15 P.M. He was resting in his chair—in boating clothes—with the door ajar. Heard a knock or sound as of some one entering; turned round and saw Miss —— come into the room and walk towards him. She was dressed in red bodice and dark silk skirt (a not unfamiliar dress), but with a silver filigree cross hanging from a chain round her neck which he had never seen before. Learnt afterwards that the cross had been given by General —— only a few days before the incident.
"The figure looked him straight in the face, then seemed to fade away bit by bit.
"He was himself perfectly well and not a bit sleepy.
"He has had no other hallucinations. His age at the time was twenty."
Mr. Evans's mother writes:—
"April 27th, 1892.
"In reply to the questions you asked me about the apparition of Miss —— to my son, when at Oxford, I can fully verify his statement. He wrote to me the same afternoon, begging me to call upon Miss —— and see if she was ill, detailing me the account of what he had seen, and also describing her dress minutely and the cross she was wearing. I called upon Miss —— the following day, and read her my son's letter, giving the hour at which she had appeared to him. She told me that she had not been feeling well, and was lying down on the couch thinking, too, of my son, and that she went off into a sort of trance, and she saw him distinctly looking at her and he was very pale. This made a deep impression upon me, for I must own myself that I hardly believed it to be possible. However, Miss —— told me that my son had at once written to her, fearing that she must be ill, and told her the circumstances under which she appeared to him. When I saw Miss —— she was then wearing the same dress and filigree cross which Charlie had described to me in his letter, and which he had never seen her wearing before. I fear that I cannot now find my son's letter, but should I come across it I will forward it to you. Miss ——, however, can corroborate all that I have said.
"MARY E. EVANS."
Afterwards I saw Miss ——. The following, notes of the interview were made the same day:—
"July 17th, 1892.
"Her account of the matter is that Mrs. Evans (percipient's mother) called on her on the afternoon of the vision and talked much about her son. After Mrs. Evans left—probably about 5.30 P.M.—Miss ——, as usual, lay down to sleep for a few minutes; woke about 6 P.M. with the recollection of having seen Mr. C. L. Evans. Can recall no details of appearance—merely the recollection of having been in the same room with him.
"The next day she received a letter from Mr. C. L. Evans telling of his vision, and on the same day another visit from his mother.
"Miss —— was wearing the dress and filigree cross described. The cross, as stated, had been given to her only a few days before.
"Miss —— has kept Mr. Evans's letter.[128] She has had many visions and dreams in her life, but she cannot recall another relating to Mr. Evans.
"She is not sure of the time at which her vision or dream occurred. It may have been earlier than 6 P.M., her hours being very irregular.
"She had compared notes with Mr. Evans, and was under the impression that their experiences coincided. But I think that her first statement—6 P.M.—is probably correct. If so, her dream would have come one and a half to two hours after Mr. Evans's vision."