668 A. From the Rev. Clarence Godfrey. This case first appeared in the second edition of Phantasms of the Living, vol. i. p. lxxxi., having been sent to Mr. Podmore by the experimenter, a friend of his. I quote the somewhat briefer account given in Mr. Podmorés Apparitions and Thought-transference, pp. 228-230. Mr. Godfrey wrote to Mr. Pod-more on November 16th, 1886, as follows: -

I was so impressed by the account on p. 105 [of Phantasms of the Living], that I determined to put the matter to an experiment.

Retiring at 10.45 (on the 15th November 1886), I determined to appear, if possible, to a friend, and accordingly I set myself to work with all the volitional and determinative energy which I possess, to stand at the foot of her bed. I need not say that I never dropped the slightest hint beforehand as to my intention, such as could mar the experiment, nor had I mentioned the subject to her. As the " agent" I may describe my own experiences.

Undoubtedly the imaginative faculty was brought extensively into play, as well as the volitional, for I endeavoured to translate myself, spiritually, into her room, and to attract her attention, as it were, while standing there. My effort was sustained for perhaps eight minutes, after which I felt tired and was soon asleep.

The next thing I was conscious of was meeting the lady next morning {i.e. in a dream, I suppose ?) and asking her at once if she had seen me last night. The reply came, "Yes." "How?" I inquired. Then in words strangely clear and low, like a well-audible whisper, came the answer, " I was sitting beside you." These words, so clear, awoke me instantly, and I felt I must have been dreaming; but on reflection I remembered what I had been "willing" before I fell asleep, and it struck me, "This must be a reflex action from the percipient." My watch showed 3.40 a.m. The following is what I wrote immediately in pencil, standing in my night-dress: "As I reflected upon those clear words, they struck me as being quite intuitive I mean subjective, and to have proceeded from within, as my own conviction, rather than a communication from any one else. And yet I can't remember her face at all, as one can after a vivid dream".

But the words were uttered in a clear, quick tone, which was most remarkable, and awoke me at once.

My friend, in the note with which she sent me the enclosed account of her own experience, says: "I remember the man put all the lamps out soon after I came upstairs, and that is only done about a quarter to four".

Mr. Godfrey received from the percipient on the 16th November an account of her side of the experience, and at his request she wrote it down as follows: -

Yesterday - viz., the morning of November 16th, 1886 - about half-past three o'clock, I woke up with a start and an idea that some one had come into the room. I heard a curious sound, but fancied it might be the birds in the ivy outside. Next I experienced a strange, restless longing to leave the room and go downstairs. This feeling became so overpowering that at last I rose and lit a candle, and went down, thinking if I could get some soda-water it might have a quieting effect. On returning to my room I saw Mr. Godfrey standing under the large window on the staircase. He was dressed in his usual style, and with an expression on his face that I have noticed when he has been looking very earnestly at anything. He stood there, and I held up the candle and gazed at him for three or four seconds in utter amazement, and then, as I passed up the staircase, he disappeared. The impression left on my mind was so vivid that I fully intended waking a friend who occupied the same room as myself, but remembering that I should only be laughed at as romantic and imaginative, refrained from doing so.

I was not frightened at the appearance of Mr. Godfrey, but felt much excited, and could not sleep afterwards.

On the 21st of the same month (says Mr. Podmore) I heard a full account of the incident given above from Mr. Godfrey, and on the day following from Mrs. ------. Mrs. ------told me that the figure appeared quite distinct and life-like at first, though she could not remember to have noticed more than the upper part of the body. As she looked it grew more and more shadowy, and finally faded away. Mrs. ------, it should be added, told me that she had previously seen two phantasmal figures, representing a parent whom she had recently lost.1

Mr. Godfrey at our request made two other trials, without, of course, letting Mrs. - - know his intention. The first of these attempts was without result, owing perhaps to the date chosen, as he was aware at the time, being unsuitable. But a trial made on the 7th December 1886 succeeded completely.

Mrs. ------, writing on December 8th, states that she was awakened by hearing a voice cry, "Wake," and by feeling a hand rest on the left side of her head. She then saw stooping over her a figure which she recognised as Mr. Godfrey's.

In this last case the dress of the figure does not seem to have been seen distinctly. But in the apparition of the 16th November, it will be observed that the dress was that ordinarily worn in the day-time by Mr. Godfrey, and that in which the percipient would be accustomed to see liim, not the dress which he was actually wearing at the time. If the apparition is in truth nothing more than an expression of the percipient's thoughts, this is what we should expect to find, and as a matter of fact in the majority of well-evidenced narratives of telepathic hallucination this is what we actually do find. The dress and surroundings of the phantasm represent, not the dress and surroundings of the agent at the moment, but those with which the percipient is familiar.

1 These details are taken from notes made by the writer immediately after the interview.