Voices

My deceased wife never had, as far as I know, similar distressing dreams of death to which no real event corresponded. There is no doubt that the Chinese struck off his head. Particulars of his fate were sent to Mr. Wellington's father by the Raja himself. In saying I calculated the time and found it to correspond approximately, I probably gave you a wrong impression. I did not note down the date of the dream, but when the news reached England I calculated the usual time of such a voyage, and found it corresponded with the time I considered had elapsed since the night of the dream. Professor Sidgwick, after an interview with Mr. Menneer, on September 17, 1884, wrote : — He said that Mrs. Menneer had no definite idea where her brother 366 DREAMS WHICH MAY BE REASONABLY [chap. had gone ; they had not heard from him since his departure ; she had certainly no idea that he would be engaged in military operations at all, still less that he would be engaged with Chinese. In fact she was in no state of alarm about him at all. Mr. Menneer said that they did not put down the date of the dream at the time, and that when the news came he could not remember it exactly ; but he took pains to calculate it at the time, and satisfied himself that it was at the time of the death as nearly as he could reckon. He had not been a believer in dreams previously. He heard the particulars of the death from Mr. Wellington, the father. This dream, if it is to be telepathically explained, must apparently have been due to the last flash of thought in the brother's consciousness. It may seem strange that a definite picture of his mode of death should present itself to a man in the instant of receiving an unexpected and fatal blow ; but, as Hobbes said, thought is quick. The coffin, at any rate, may be taken as an item of death-imagery supplied by the dreamer's mind. The repetition of the dream should again be noted (p. 357). In the following cases the imagery of death is still more elaborately developed. Mrs. Hilton, a lady actively engaged in most practical work, and not in the least a visionary, has given us the following accounts. 234, Burdett Road, E. April 10th, 1883. (131) The dream which I am about to relate occurred about 2 years ago. I seemed to be walking in a country road, with high grassy banks on either side. Suddenly I heard the tramp of many feet. Feeling a strange sense of fear, I called out, 'Who are these people coming 1 ' A voice above me replied, 'A procession of the dead.' I then found myself o