225 A. A full account of the well-known case of Ansel Bourne was first published in the Proceedings S.P.R., vol. vii. pp. 221-58, in a paper by Dr. Hodgson, entitled "A Case of Double Consciousness." I give extracts from this paper, as follows: -

The case which I am about to relate has many points of interest. The secondary condition has, so far as can be ascertained, occurred only once in the lifetime of the subject; and the memory of it, entirely lost during waking hours, is easily, though incompletely, brought back by putting the patient into the hypnotic trance.

Ansel Bourne, at the time of his seizure, was an itinerant preacher sixty-one years old, and residing in the small town of Greene, in the State of Rhode Island. One morning, whilst apparently in his usual state of health, he disappeared, and in spite of the publicity which the newspapers gave to the fact, and the efforts of the police to find him, he remained undiscovered for a period of two months, at the end of which time he turned up at Norristown, Pennsylvania, where for the previous six weeks he had been keeping a small variety store under the name of A. J. Brown, appearing to his neighbours and customers as a normal person, but being, as it would seem, in a somnambulistic condition all the while. As Elder Bourne's life presents at least one other incident of great interest, I shall give a sketch of its entire course, as an introduction to my account of the episode which forms the main subject of this paper.

Ansel Bourne is of New England parentage, and was born in New York city, July 8th, 1826. His maternal grandfather "lost his mind "late in life ("about seventy"), but seems to have had no acute form of insanity. His father "became dissipated," so that Ansel's mother and he separated when Ansel was only seven years old, and the boy's early life was spent in poverty, with little schooling and much work, until at the age of fifteen he was set to learn the carpenter's trade at Olneyville, Rhode Island. From then to the age of thirty-one he worked at his trade at various places in that state. Being of a serious turn of mind, he read and studied a good deal in his leisure moments, and from having become a member of the Baptist Church, changed at last into a convinced atheist, not of the disputatious and aggressive sort, but silent and stubborn, as he is wont to be in other matters which are exclusively " his own business." Meantime he had married, in 1854, and had children, and in 1857 was living at Westerly, Rhode Island, next door to Mr. Taylor, minister of the so-called "Christian" Church, for whom he had come to cherish a decided feeling of enmity.

In relating the crisis of that year, I abridge the account given in a pamphlet1 which has had a wide circulation.

The following is a brief summary of the facts related in the pamphlet, which are given fully in Dr. Hodgson's paper: -

On August 6th, 1857, Ansel Bourne was brought home ill. Thinking himself recovered, he was working again in his garden on August 14th, the hottest day of the season; in the middle of the day he experienced much pain in his head, but went on working at intervals. On August 16th he suddenly became unconscious, and this lasted for two days. The doctor who attended him put it down to a severe sunstroke. He recovered, but had several relapses.

On Wednesday, October 28th, he went out for a walk, feeling quite well. An unaccountable idea suddenly occurred to him that he ought to go to church; but he said to himself that he would rather be struck deaf and dumb for ever than go there. A few minutes later he felt dizzy, and sat down on a stone by the side of the road. Then, in the words of the pamphlet: " In an instant it seemed as though some powerful hand drew something down over his head, and then over his face, and finally over his whole body; depriving him of his sight, his hearing, and his speech, and rendering him perfectly helpless. Yet he had as perfect power of thought as at any time in his life. His mind instantly went back to the conflict of his thoughts, some eight or ten minutes before. The terrible decision and choice, ' I would rather be struck deaf and dumb for ever, than go to the Christian Chapel,' came before him with awful significance. It seemed that God had truly taken him at his word, and given him what he had chosen." He was soon found and carried home in a waggon. He was perfectly sensible of everything that happened; he could feel perfectly, but could not see, hear, or speak, so that he was thought by the doctor and his friends to be entirely unconscious.

He remained firmly convinced that this was a judgment on him for his sins. About twenty-six hours after the seizure his sight was suddenly restored, and he was then able to communicate with his friends in writing. He could still neither hear nor speak, though he could use his tongue freely in other ways. On November nth, at his own desire, he was carried to the " Christian Chapel," and wrote a message on his slate to be read to the congregation, announcing his conversion.

On the following Sunday, November 15th, he went again to the chapel and wrote another message to the same effect to be read aloud. As a further sign to them of his state of mind, he wished to stand up before the congregation and hold up his hands. In the general emotional excitement that followed the reading of his message, he stood up in the pulpit and lifted up his hand, and in an instant his hearing and speech were suddenly restored, and from that time onwards he has always had the complete use of his faculties.

1 "Wonderful Works of God: a narrative of the wonderful facts in the case of Ansel Bourne, of West Shelby, Orleans Co., N.Y., who, in the midst of opposition to the Christian religion, was suddenly struck blind, dumb, and deaf; and after eighteen days was suddenly and completely restored, in the presence of hundreds of persons, in the Christian Chapel at Westerley, on the 15th of November 1857. Written under his direction." (Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by Ansel Bourne, in the clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of the State of New York).

The result of these experiences was to make him adopt the career of an itinerant preacher; but finding the hard work and incessant travelling too much for bis health, he returned to his former trade of a carpenter. His second wife, whom he married in 1882, disapproved of his absences from home in the course of his preaching, so that he confined his labours to the immediate vicinity. On this account he became somewhat troubled, thinking that he was not so active in religious work as he ought to be, and he was afterwards inclined to think that if he had been more active and therefore more contented with his work, his subsequent experiences would never have occurred.

At this point I resume Dr. Hodgson's narrative.

January 17th, 1887, he went from his home in Coventry, R.I., to Providence, in order to get money to pay for a farm which he had arranged to buy, leaving his horse at Greene Station, in a stable, expecting to return the same afternoon from the city. He drew out of bank $551, and paid several small bills, after which he went to his nephew's store, 121 Broad Street, and then started to go to his sister's house in Westminster Street. This was the last that was known of his doings at that time. He did not appear at his sister's house, and did not return to Greene, where his horse remained for about three weeks, and was finally taken away by Mrs. Bourne. [The police were communicated with, and the disappearance was announced in the local paper].

Notwithstanding the publicity given to the fact of his disappearance, no tidings whatever were received of him till March 14th, eight weeks later. The account of the morning of March 14th, as given to us by Mr. Bourne in reply to our inquiries, agrees substantially with that given to Dr. Weir Mitchell (who has taken much interest in the case, and has kindly allowed us to use his notes in the preparation of this paper) a year ago by Mr. Bourne, and with that furnished to Dr. Weir Mitchell by Surgeon-General L. H. Read, who was summoned to examine Mr. Bourne on the morning of March 14th, soon after he regained his ordinary waking consciousness. The contemporary newspaper accounts which we have seen are also in substantial agreement with the results of our recent inquiries.

It appears that Ansel Bourne arrived at Norristown, Pa., about February 1st, 1887, i.e. two weeks after his disappearance from Providence, R.I. Under the name of A. J. Brown he rented a store-room at 252 East Main Street, from Mr. Pinkston Earle, and divided the room into two by means of curtains. The rear portion of the room he filled with furniture and used as a " general living" apartment, not only sleeping there, but preparing his own meals there also. The front portion of the room he stocked with notions, toys, confectionery, etc. These he purchased and paid for in Philadelphia, which he visited each week for the purpose of replenishing his stock. He fastened a sign to his window, reading A. J. Brown. The room which he rented was part of the house in which the Earle family were dwelling, but although they came in daily contact with "Mr. Brown," there was nothing in his manner or proceedings which suggested anything peculiar. He was quiet in his behaviour, precise and regular in his habits, and paid his bills promptly.