No. 71.—From MISS L. CALDECOTT.
"February 11th, 1890.
"A sensation of faint glowing light in the darkest corner of the room made me first look in that direction (which happened to be next the door), and I then became aware of some one standing there, holding her hands outstretched as if in appeal. My first impression was that it was my sister, and I said, 'What's the matter?' but instantly saw who it was—a friend, who was at that time in Scotland. I felt completely riveted, but though my heart and pulses were beating unnaturally fast, neither much frightened nor surprised, only with a sort of impulse to get up and go after the figure, which I could not move to do. The form seemed to melt away into the soft glow, which then also died out. It was about half-past ten at night. I was at my home in ——. The date I am unable to fix nearer than that it was either August or September 1887.
"I was perfectly well. I was reading Carlyle's Sartor Resartus at the time. I was in no trouble or anxiety of any kind. Age about twenty-six.
"I had not seen my friend for about a year. I wrote to her the day after this happened, but, before my letter reached her, received one in which she told me of a great family trouble that was causing her much suffering, and saying that she had been longing for me to help her. Another letter in answer to mine then told me that her previous letter was written about 10.30 on the night I saw her, and that she had been wishing for my presence then most intensely. My friend died very shortly afterwards.
"No other persons were present at the time."
One of the agent's letters, written in reply to a letter from Miss Caldecott describing the apparition, has fortunately been preserved. The letter is dated August 16th, 1888. The following extracts were written down by Mrs. Sidgwick from Miss Caldecott's dictation:—
"'Your account is very strange, and I cannot quite make up my mind what to think of it. If it had not been that on that very Tuesday night I really was thinking of you very much, and wishing from the bottom of my heart that I could get at you, I should be inclined to say that your apparition was entirely subjective, and that you imagined you saw me. But if there is any connection between mind and mind, why should it not be so, and that it really was because I was wishing so hard I could be with you. You know that was the night I got back. I unpacked some of my things, and then began to write to you. It was then somewhere between eleven and twelve. At all events, I remember it struck twelve some time after I got into bed.... Tell me anything you can of my general appearance, and so forth. If you saw me as I was at the time it seems fairly conclusive it was my thinking of you caused you to see me, and not indigestion on your part, and entirely independent of me.'"
In conversation Mrs. Sidgwick learnt that the face and hands of the figure were seen most clearly. The hands appeared as if held out, palms upward. The dress was "rather indefinite. She looked as Miss Caldecott was accustomed to see her, but Miss Caldecott did not notice the dress particularly, and did not see the figure clearly at all below the knees." Miss Caldecott has had a visual hallucination on two other occasions, when she was in bed recovering from an illness. At the time of the vision above described she was in perfect health. It will be observed that the phantasm developed gradually, the percipient's attention having been first arrested by noticing the glow in the corner of the room. (Compare No. 84, Chapter XII., and the cases given in Phantasms of the Living, vol. i., chap. xii.) It will be seen that the percipient's recollection was at fault, both as to the date and the hour of the incident. But a discrepancy of this kind cannot be regarded as serious. Persons whose lives are not marked off—e.g., by changes of residence or occupation—into distinct periods, frequently experience a difficulty in assigning to the right year even an event of importance. But in this case the incident in itself was trivial, and there was no landmark by which to determine its relation, in point of time, to external events. A mistake in the date under such circumstances can scarcely be held to reflect upon the narrator's general accuracy.
In the next case also the apparition was preceded and accompanied by a luminous effect. In this instance, however, the percipient appears to have been in bed, and the hallucination should be classed as a "borderland" case. It will be seen that the apparition preceded the actual death by several hours, but apparently coincided with a period of severe illness.
No. 72.—From DR. CARAT.[116]
"25-bis RUE VICTOR-HUGO, MALAKOFF,
PARIS, July 20th, 1891.
"My mother, from the time she was twenty-five years old, had suffered from an affection of the lungs, but she had kept her health, although she had gone through many troubles. There was nothing to indicate what happened on the 11th June 1877—she succumbed in a few hours to an attack of inflammation of the lungs; indeed, I had two days before that date received a letter from her in which she showed no anxiety about her health.
"On the night of the 10th June 1877 I had what might be called a telepathic hallucination. I cannot state the hour with absolute precision, but it was between ten o'clock and midnight. About that time, 'between sleeping and waking,' I saw the end of my room lighted up, the darkness was illuminated by a silvery light (it is the only word I can think of), and I saw my mother gazing fixedly at me, with a sort of troubled expression. After a few seconds it all disappeared.
"Next day one of my friends—M. Laroche, now sub-director of the Conservateur Co., 18 Rue Lafayette—was breakfasting with me. I told him about my experience, and he too regarded it as a hallucination. At parting I said to him, 'Remember, Laroche, if anything happens, that I have told you this to-day.'