Knocking

In the year 1870 I was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston, and had an occasional correspondence with Miss S., an American, then residing in Europe. I received a letter from her, dated Miirzzuschlag, August 6th, 1870, in which she says : ' Yesterday I sat alone in my room, arranging my herbarium, till I was very tired, but there was such a fascination in the work that I did not seem able to break the spell and leave it ; but of a sudden someone touched my shoulder with such force that I immediately turned. You were as plainly to be seen as if in the body, and I said^ Why, Mr. Blake, are you really here? and directed by you I laid aside my work, and went to the woods. I do not know that my mind was upon you at the time. I tried to trace the influence to a concentration of thought upon you, but failed to do it. Whether it was your letter, your spirit, or my imagination, certainly it was a reality to me.' I wrote for more particulars. She answered : ' Vienna, Austria, 23rd October, 1870. In explanation of your coming to me, I heard your voice, or a voice, speak my name. I turned, and you stood near me. I arose as if it were a reality, and as I turned again you were gone ; and yet before I did that it seemed many minutes, for I said, Is it you ? and you replied, Do you not know me 1 and then you said, I have come because you are tired, for you to go to the woods and rest yourself, and, as I told you, I obeyed the summons, and wished that I could have a tangible evidence of your companionship.' My diary does not record any dream or thought of Miss S. on August 5th, 1870. I was at home, and quiet, and under good conditions for such a visit as that described by Miss S. In November, 1883, being in New York, I was in correspondence with Mrs. G., who was residing in San Francisco. A letter written by her in November, says : ' Last evening, I saw you distinctly standing by my side ; you seemed trying to speak, but did not ; you made passes over me, and I felt your influence plainly ; you were here several minutes, then disappeared.' In another letter she wrote : ' You came to me yesterday afternoon, in Market Street, at the corner of Stockton Street, you crossed the street with me. I turned to speak with you, and you were gone. I have seen you many times in this way.' While Mrs. G. has been sitting in a room, sewing and conversing, I, being in a room 40 feet distant, have willed, or asked, that she come to me, and she instantly broke off the conversation, came to my room, knocked, and on my asking her to come in she opened the door, entered, and seemed a little confused, and said, ' Well, I don't know what I came in here for.' I have had many instances of this kind. Mr. Blake has forwarded to us the following letter, written to him by the Mrs. G. of these last incidents. It will be seen that she is to some extent predisposed to hallucination, which of course weakens these items of the evidence, San Francisco, Cal. March 22nd, 1885. Dear Sir, — You ask me to narrate the circumstances under which I saw you, as I wrote you in November, 1883. At that time I was in my room in San Francisco, Cal., and I saw you distinctly standing by my side. It was about 1 1 o'clock p.m. You seemed trying to speak, but did not. You made passes over me, the influence of which I plainly felt. You remained several minutes, then disappeared. Another time you came to me at 12 o'clock, while I was walking on Market Street, near the corner of Stockton. You crossed the street with me. I turned to speak with you, but you had disappeared. I have seen you several times that way, as I have three other persons whom I know to be alive and in good health. — Yours truly,