Place withheld · 1883-05-01 · from the PHANTASMS archive
May 11th, 1883. (1) My wife was sitting at a table in the middle of the room under a gas chandelier, either reading or doing some wool work. I was sitting on a couch at the side of the room in the shade ; she was not looking in the direction I was. I studiously spoke in a quiet manner to avoid alarming her ; she noticed nothing particular in me. (2) I have never seen any appearance before, but have disbelieved in them, not seeing any motive. (3) Mr. A. L. told me that in coming to inform me of his brother's death, he wondered what would be the best way of breaking the matter to me, when, without any reason except the knowledge of our strong mutual regard, it seemed to flash upon his mind that I might know it. There had been no instances of thought-transmission between us. There are many slight details which it is nearly impossible to describe in writing, so I may say that I shall be most willing to give you a personal account and answer any questions at any time you should be in town. There is one thing which strikes me as singular — the instant certainty I felt that my friend was dead, as there was nothing to lead up to the idea ; and also that I seemed to accept all that passed without feeling surprise, and as if it were an ordinary matter of course.
I was so impressed by the account on p. 105, that I determined to put the matter to an experiment. Retiring at 10.45, I determined to appear, if possible, to [a friend], and accordingly I se…
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This is a witness statement collected in the 1880s by Edmund Gurney, Frederic Myers and Frank Podmore of the Society for Psychical Research, and published in Phantasms of the Living (1886), the first large scientific collection of such testimony. Witnesses signed their statements and were often corroborated by others, whose statements appear as their own accounts. The book is in the public domain; the text is verbatim save for scanning artifacts, and the full volumes are at archive.org.
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