736 B. I give next an account of a case briefly mentioned by Gurney in Phantasms of the Living, vol. ii. p. 690, about which we afterwards obtained further evidence. After mentioning two other cases in which entries in the diary of the percipient - Mr. Cameron Grant - confirmed his recollection of strong impressions nearly coincident with deaths, Gurney continues:-

I have studied in Mr. Grant's diary the full record of a third case which was even more remarkable than the first, as it included the peculiarity that, for some time after his first impression, he felt forcibly impelled to draw the figure of the person who died. The case was made the more striking to me by the fact that Mr. Grant was so certain that the death (the time of which he had only very vaguely learnt) must have coincided in date with his impression, that he had actually not taken the trouble to verify the coincidence. He left it to me to find in the Times obituary - as he confidently foretold that I should - that the death (which was quite unexpected) occurred, thousands of miles from the place where he was, on the day preceding that on which the entry in his diary, relating his impression of the previous night, was written. The impression of that night did not, however, bear distinct reference to the particular person who died, but was a more general sense of calamity. Certain reasons which at present make it desirable not to publish the details of this case may in time cease to exist.

Now, on a fuller inspection of Mr. Grant's voluminous journal (largely a business record), which he has kindly permitted me to make, it appeared that the impulse to draw the dying man was the most marked feature in the whole incident, and furthermore that this impulse came on some months after the death - but on the night previous to the day on which Mr. Grant saw, in a casual newspaper received in Brazil, the announcement of his friend's demise in Scotland.1

The possibility of a telepathic impulse from the surviving members of the family of course suggests itself: but Mr. Grant was in a wild up-country station in Brazil; and it seems impossible that any one could guess at what date the news would reach him. The rough sketch which Mr. Grant was impelled to make contained two figures (of which the second was a servant) and a window; and it truly represented, as he afterwards learnt, the circumstances of the death.

The case has been further strengthened by permission to print the passages from Mr. Grant's diary, and by interviews of my own with the widow and daughter of the deceased person, Lord Z. (not the true initial), who were present at the time of the death.

1 I am not sure how many hours the impulse lasted, Mr. Grant having been obliged to return to Brazil before sending me a copy of the passage in his journal.

The following is Mr. Grant's statement, made to me, July 28th, 1889 (which I quote from Proceedings S.P.R., vol. viii. p. 212).

The first form in which this impression came to me was that of deep sympathy for [a member of Lord Z.'s family]. After this had lasted for some time I found myself rudely drawing a tall man stooping forwards on to another man. I had a conviction that Lord Z. was dead - that the falling forward indicated death. I also dimly perceived the position of windows behind the falling figure, though I did not draw these. I wrote to my mother at once to say that I knew that Lord Z. was dead. [Letter not preserved.] I was then up the country in Brazil, and saw few papers. I heard from England that Lord Z. was dead; but (as I told Mr. Gurney) did not look for date in papers, and did not, so far as I know, hear the date in any letter.

On reaching England I was partially hypnotised by a physician of my acquaintance [name given]; but did not lose consciousness. During my semi-trance I became aware that I was seeing the room and windows and the falling figure more clearly than ever before. I talked of this scene to the physician. Afterwards he invited me to look in a crystal. I did so; and saw the same room, the windows, bed, and figure, more distinctly.

I afterwards went to stay in the house where Lord Z. died. As soon as I entered I asked Lady Z. to allow me to describe to her the room where I had seemed to see Lord Z. dying. Lady Z. was at first incredulous; but on my describing the position of bed and windows she admitted that it was correct. Lord Z. had died in a dressing-room adjacent to his bedroom. The temporary bed and windows were exactly as I had seen them. He had fallen forwards into the arms of a male attendant, dying suddenly.

The first impression of the death, which was nearly coincident, was on December 24th, 1885 (date verified by Mr. Gurney). Entry in diary December 25th, 1885: "There was something upon my mind all day from yesterday - a sense of a death or loss of some one dear to me. I spoke to E. C. [Mr. Catlin, the manager, who wrote in corroboration] about it; and I don't know how it is, but as I wrote the above [a member of Lord Z.'s family] has been constantly in my thoughts".

Then on Tuesday, January 26th, 1886, is an entry - read by me in Mr. Grant's journal, and copied for me by him - as follows:-

"Impression at about one o'clock and drawing and reasoning therefrom on death".

January 27th

"Very tired, but did not sleep a wink all night. I am sure that something has happened to [a member of Lord Z.'s family]. I heard every hour strike, and kept thinking of [all the members of the family] but not of the dear old gentleman [i.e., imagining them in sorrow, but not Lord Z. himself]. I got up and wanted to draw him. His features seemed before me. I had before shown Mr. Catlin a face in the Graphic that was like him, also that of a dead man. I had the greatest difficulty not to draw his portrait with his head forward and sunk on his breast, as if he had been sitting in a room with a window on his right hand and an old man-servant; and then his head just went forward, and he fell asleep. Weeks ago [i.e., December 25th] I thought of him - some time about Christmas; and ever since I have been feeling [pity, etc, for members of family]".

On the next day, Thursday, January 28th, 1886, Mr. Grant received by accident a Scotch paper in which Lord Z.'s death was mentioned, but apparently without the precise date.

I have received a letter (which I have unfortunately mislaid) from Mr. Catlin corroborating Mr. Grant's statements as to his having shown him drawings and spoken of the death of a friend at home.

Lady Z. and Miss Z. gave me in April 1892 the following corroboration:-

Lord Z. died December 24th, 1885, in a dressing-room adjoining his own larger room. The dressing-room was narrow, with a window at one end, and a small bed, then occupied by a man-servant who attended on him. Lord Z. had entered this room to speak to the servant, when he fell forward, the servant catching him in his arms, and shortly afterwards breathed his last His death was unexpected, although he had long been ill. I remember that Mr. Cameron Grant visited our country seat - where this occurred - for the first time some months after Lord Z.'s death; and that he said something to me as to his having known of it, or recognised the scene; but I cannot now remember the details. (Signed) [Lady Z].

I remember that Mr. Cameron Grant, before going upstairs, when he arrived on the visit referred to, asked whether my father had not fallen forwards into the arms of a man in a long room with a window at one end of it.

(Signed) [Miss Z].

This case should be studied along with Mr. Cameron Grant's other records of experiences (Phantasms of the Living, vol. ii. pp. 688 - 690).

It would in a certain way explain these intimations if we could suppose that Lord Z. (who was, and who knew Mr. Grant to be, much interested in such phenomena) first impressed Mr. Grant at the time of his own death, and then renewed the impression when he knew, in some inconceivable manner, that Mr. Grant was about to receive, quite casually, a newspaper announcement of the decease. On that occasion the deceased person seems to have been able to impress a picture of the scene of death on Mr. Grant's subliminal mind; an impression which worked itself out in the rude drawings, as a motor message, and afterwards returned both as a vision in hypnotic trance, and as a crystal-vision in the waking state. Here, however, as in all similar cases, we cannot exclude the possibility of a wide clairvoyance on the percipient's own part.