Examples of Apparitions at the time of Death to friends and relations are, however, so numerous that a considerable number might readily be printed. Here are two, well and duly authenticated.
The following statement is vouched for by the person signing the same:—
“In the summer of 1816, my father and mother having retired to bed about nine o’clock, the latter was about to draw down the blind, when she observed the figure of a female approaching their house by a footpath which communicated with the village. Thinking the circumstance unusual, she waited till the figure approached sufficiently near to discern its features, when she exclaimed to my father, ‘Why, here is my sister B——; what can have induced her to come here at this time of the evening?’ She was about to prepare to go downstairs to inquire the cause of such a visit at that late time of night, when my mother observed the figure retracing its steps in the same direction by which it had come. The following morning, early, intelligence was brought to my mother that her sister B—— died at the same hour at which her apparition appeared to my mother. This is a simple statement of facts.
“Signed by the son of the person to whom the apparition appeared.
“C. J. Hanmer.
“33, Henley Street, Camp Hill, Birmingham.”
The following is another statement of facts vouched for by those who formally testify to its truth:—
“One evening in the autumn of the year 1868, my wife retired to bed early. On my entering the bedroom about midnight, I found her wide awake, and in a very excited state. On inquiring the cause, she stated that she believed most firmly she had seen our old friend Mrs. G——, then residing at a distance, whom we believed to be in perfect health. My wife gave a minute description of her dress, which I had remembered to have seen her wear, and at the same time stated that when the apparition appeared to her, every object in the bedroom was strangely but distinctly visible. Of course I tried to allay my wife’s excitement by assuring her that she was suffering from the effects of an unpleasant dream, but I failed to shake her conviction that she had seen the spirit of our friend.
“Nothing occurred during the next day, but on the following we received a letter from a relative, stating that Mrs. G—— had died the night before about twelve o’clock.
“It appears that Mrs. G——, while in her garden, was observed to fall upon one of the flower beds. Having been taken to her room, medical aid was promptly procured, but without avail: she remained unconscious from that time until the moment of her death, which occurred about twelve o’clock the same evening.