The following case, also related to me by Mrs. Shepherd Munn, took place some years

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

The following case, also related to me by Mrs. Shepherd Munn, took place some years previous to the last, but is connected with the same family.

"An old man, named John George - grandfather of the consumptive boy, Charles Dyer, already referred to - lay dying. He and his wife, Mary Ann George, had had a great sorrow that same year in the death of their youngest son, Tom, a young man who had been killed on the railway line on which he worked.

"The dying man had been 'quiet for some time as though sleeping, when he suddenly looked up, opened his eyes wide, and looking at the side of the bed opposite to where his wife was, exclaimed, 'Why, Mother, here is Tom, and he is all right, no marks on him. Oh, he looks fine.' Then after another silence he said, 'And here's Nance too. A pause, then 'Mother, she is all right. She has been forgiven.' And very soon after he passed away, taking with him a sorrow which had long pressed upon the mother's heart, for Nance had fallen into sin, and had died soon after the child was born, and as the poor mother thought 'never having had time to repent.'"

The following three cases were sent to me by Mrs. Shepherd Munn, widow of the late

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

The following three cases were sent to me by Mrs. Shepherd Munn, widow of the late Vicar of Orleton, Brimfield, Herefordshire, to whom all the people concerned in the narratives were known personally. She writes as follows:

"A young boy, aged fourteen, named Charles Dyer, who lived with his parents at Orleton, was dying of consumption, and had wasted away very rapidly in four or five months. During the whole of that period he was very bright, full of interest in all around, and did not seem to be aware of his rapidly failing strength. About a week before he died he slept in a room off his mother's, with no door between - he called her, and when she went in, he was full of excitement about a door he could see at the corner of his room, which he said was opening wider and wider, and when it is open wide I shall be going through it, Mother.'

"On the morning of the day he died, his mother having left the room to fetch him something, heard him call and hastening back, found him sitting up in bed, looking towards the corner of the room, and he said to her, 'There is a nice old man come for me; he is holding out his arms for me. I must go. Don't fret, Mother'; and he fell back gently on his pillow and was gone, without any struggle for breath, and with a smile of joy on his face, which remained.

"His mother was full of ecstasy, and came down to the Vicarage that same morning to tell me of it. The impression this experience made upon her has continued to the present day, and has influenced her life for the better."

The Rev. W. G. Horder relates the following incident, and says:

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

The Rev. W. G. Horder relates the following incident, and says:

"A friend of mine, of a mind naturally indisposed to faith, and at the time quite sceptical about a future life, tells me of the following incident, which made a deep impression upon him, and even wakened belief in immortality:

"His brother, a young man of about 25 years of age, had been seized with brain fever, which at last rendered him quite unconscious for about 24 hours, but just before death he raised himself in his bed, resting himself upon his hand and said, 'Who is that at the bottom of my bed?' His mother, who was sitting by his bedside, said, 'There is no one there, my dear.' He said, 'Don't you see Emma' (a departed sister) 'standing at the foot of the bed? She said, 'No, there is no one there, my dear.' Yes, there is,' he said, 'it is Emma. I am coming, I am ready'; and fell back and died."(2)

Mrs. De Morgan in her book, From Matter to Spirit, relates the following incident,

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

Mrs. De Morgan in her book, From Matter to Spirit, relates the following incident, which she gives as it was told by the mother of the dying child.

"On the morning on which John died, having bade all the family farewell, he lay for some time quite quiet, and then he spoke, his voice sounding strong and clear, and was evidently replying to some question which he had heard asked. We were astonished and awestruck. We felt that he saw and heard an angel invisible to us. Then he spoke again and said, 'Mother, here is Grandmother come! You must see her! And she is with such a great company, and they say that they are come to take me away with them.' Soon after that he gently breathed his last."(1)

In the case(1) here abridged, the singing and voice of the unseen visitant were

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

In the case(1) here abridged, the singing and voice of the unseen visitant were heard by the mother as well as by her dying child; and a cousin of the deceased child appears to have had a vision of the child and heard a premonitory intimation of her death.

(1) See R. Pike's "Life's Borderland and Beyond," p. 28, in which the Atlantic Monthly, of March, 1879 is quoted as the source.

"Mrs. G., with her two little girls, Minnie and Ada, of the respective ages of eight and nine years, had been staying in the country on a visit to her sister-in-law, but having taken a house near London, she sent the two children with their nurse off by an early train, following herself by one a few hours later. Towards the evening of the same day, one of the little girls walked into the room of the house which they had quitted in the morning, where a cousin to whom she was much attached was sitting at his studies, and said to him, 'I am come to say good-bye, Walter; I shall never see you again.' Then kissing him she vanished from the room. The young man was greatly startled and astonished, as he had himself seen both the little girls and their nurse off by the morning train.

"At this very time of the evening both the children in London were taken suddenly W, while playing in their new home, a few hours after they had arrived. The doctor called in pronounced their complaint to be small-pox of the most malignant kind. They both died within the week, but the youngest, Minnie, died first. The day after she was buried, the poor bereaved mother was anxiously watching the last hours of the one still left, for whom she well knew no chance of life remained. Suddenly the sick child woke up from a kind of stupor, and exclaimed, 'Oh, look, Mamma, look at the beautiful angels!' pointing to the foot of the bed. Mrs. G. saw nothing, but heard soft sweet music, which seemed to float in the air. Again the child exclaimed: 'Oh, dear Mamma, there is Minnie! She has come for me'; she smiled and appeared greatly pleased. At this moment Mrs. G. distinctly heard a voice say, 'Come, dear Ada, I am waiting for you!' The sick child smiled once again and died without a struggle."

My friend Miss Dallas has sent me some cases of Visions of the Dying which occurred

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

My friend Miss Dallas has sent me some cases of Visions of the Dying which occurred to persons she knew.

In one case the face of her friend's mother, just before death, suddenly lighted up with an intense brilliancy. When this had passed away the dying woman opened her eyes and said that she had looked into Heaven, and had seen many people they knew who had passed over, and also that many of the things she had seen it was impossible to describe. Shortly after this she died.

In another case Miss Dallas tells of a widow living with her youngest surviving son, Jim, then dying of consumption. Miss Dallas visited the mother shortly after her son's death, and recorded the following in her note book the same day:

"Jim had died on a Thursday, and on the previous Sunday his end appeared to be near, but he revived, and told his mother that he had seen something beautiful. Again he had a relapse, and on reviving he said he had seen two of his sisters and a brother who had died previously, but he added, 'Mother, I cannot find Bessie.' His mother told Miss Dallas that Bessie had died twelve years before, when Jim was still a child. Not long after this Jim died."

The following case was given by Dr. Paul Edwards, and was published in the Journal

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

The following case was given by Dr. Paul Edwards, and was published in the Journal Light for April, 1906:

"While living in a country town in California (U.S.A.) about the year 1887, I was called upon to visit a very dear lady friend who was very low and weak from consumption. Every one knew that this pure and noble wife and mother was doomed to die, and at last she herself became convinced that immediate death was inevitable, and accordingly she prepared for the event. Calling her children to her bedside she kissed each in turn, sending them away as soon as good-bye was said. Then came the husband's turn to step up and bid farewell to a most loving wife, who was perfectly clear in her mind. She began by saying' Newton' (for that was his Christian name) ... 'do not weep over me, for I am without pain and am wholly serene. I love you upon earth, and shall love you after I have gone. I am fully resolved to come to you if such a thing is possible, and if it is not possible I will watch you and the children from Heaven, where I will be waiting when you all come. My first desire now is to go... I see people moving - all in white. The music is strangely enchanting. Oh! here is Sadi; she is with me - and - she knows who I am.' Sadie was a little girl she had lost about ten years before. 'Sissy! said the husband, 'you are out of your mind.' Oh, dear! why did you call me here again? 'said the wife, 'now it will be hard for me to go away again; I was so pleased while thereit was so delightful - so soothing.' In about three minutes the dying woman added, 'I am going away again and will not come back to you even if you call me.'

"This scene lasted for about eight minutes, and it was very plain that the dying wife was in full view of the two worlds at the same time, for she described how the moving figures looked in the world beyond, as she directed her words to mortals in this world.

"... I think that of all my death scenes this was the most impressive - the most solemn."

The following case was first printed in the Religio-Philosophical Journal, May 5,

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

The following case was first printed in the Religio-Philosophical Journal, May 5, 1894(1). Mr. B. B. Kingsbury, who contributed it, states that the informant is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and her husband confirmed her statement of voices heard by the little boy calling him. Mr. Kingsbury adds that both his informants, Mr. and Mrs. H., are worthy of the highest credit. The father is somewhat, of a "sensitive," and the mother has had two or three clairvoyant experiences herself.

(1) See "Human Personality," Vol. II, p. 334.

The statement just as it was given by the mother runs as follows:

"Had I ever doubted that there is a life beyond, my doubt would have been removed by what I call a vision. In 1883 I was the mother of two strong, healthy boys. The eldest was a bright boy of two years and seven months. The other a darling baby boy of eight months. August 6th, 1883, my baby died. Ray, my little son, was then in perfect health. Every day after baby's death (and I may safely say every hour in the day) he would say to me, 'Mamma, baby calls Ray.' He would often leave his play and come running to me, saying, 'Mamma, baby calls Ray all the time.' Every night he would waken me out of my sleep and say, 'Mamma, baby calls Ray all the time. He wants Ray to come where he is; you must not cry when Ray goes, Mamma; you must not cry, for baby wants Ray.' One day I was sweeping the sitting room floor, and he came running as fast as he could run, through the dining-room where stood the table with baby's high chair (which Ray now used) at the side. I never saw him so excited, and he grabbed my dress and pulled me to the dining-room door, jerked it open, saying,' Oh, Mamma, Mamma, come quick; baby is sitting in his high chair.' As soon as he opened the door and looked at the chair, he said,' Oh, Mamma, why didn't you hurry; now he's gone; he laughed at Ray when he passed the chair; oh, he laughed at Ray so nice. Ray is going with baby, but you must not cry, Mamma.' Ray soon became very sick. Nursing and medicine were of no avail. He died Oct. 13th, 1883, two months and seven days after baby's death. He was a child of high intelligence and matured far beyond his years. Whether it is possible for the dead to return, and whether my baby came back and was seen by his little brother or not, we leave for others to judge."

In the following case the premonitory purpose seems to be strongly marked:

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

In the following case the premonitory purpose seems to be strongly marked:

Louise F., aged forty-eight, died after an abdominal operation in January, 1896. During her illness she frequently asked that, when cured, she might take her little niece Lily, aged three years and three months, of whom she was very fond, to live with her in the country. About a month after the death of her aunt little Lily, who was intelligent and precocious and in quite good health, often stopped in her play to look fixedly out of the window. Her mother asked her what she was looking at, and she answered, "It is Aunt Louise, who holds out her arms to me and calls me." Her mother, much frightened, tried to distract her attention, but the child drew her chair to the window and continued to look for several minutes. Her brother, M. F., who gave me these details, said, "I was then eleven years old and my little sister said, 'What! Don't you see Tata?' as she called her aunt. Of course I could see nothing." For some months nothing further was seen by the child, the visions ceased. Towards May 20th, little Lily fell ill, and when in bed she looked up to the ceiling saying that she saw her aunt calling her, surrounded by little angels. "Mother, how pretty!" she said. From day to day her illness increased, but she always repeated, "My aunt has come to fetch me; she is holding out her arms to me," and as her mother wept, she said, "Don't cry, Mother, it is very beautiful, there are angels round me." She died on the 9th of June of tubercular meningitis, four and a half months after the death of Louise F.

A striking case of collective hallucination (that is to say, a vision seen by the

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

A striking case of collective hallucination (that is to say, a vision seen by the relatives of the dying person as well as by the dying person herself) is given in the "Proceedings S.P.R." for 1889(1).

(1) See "Proceedings S.P.R.," Vol. VI, p. 20. Also Human Personality, Vol. II, P. 334.

The narrator, Miss Emma Pearson, writes an account of her aunt's illness and death, which is here given considerably abridged:

"My aunt, Miss Harriet Pearson, who was taken very ill at Brighton in November, 1864, craved to be back in her own home in London, where she and her sister Ann (who had died some years previously) had spent practically all their lives. I accordingly made the necessary arrangements, and had her moved home. Her two nieces (Mrs. Coppinger and Mrs. John Pearson), Eliza Quinton the housekeeper, and myself did the nursing between us. She became worse and worse. On the night of Dec. 23rd Mrs. John Pearson was sitting up with her, while Mrs. Coppinger and I lay down in the adjoining room, leaving the door ajar to hear any sound from the next room. We were neither of us asleep, and suddenly we both started up in bed, as we saw someone pass the door, wrapped up in an old shawl, having a wig with three curls each side, and an old black cap. Mrs. Coppinger called to me, 'Emma, get up, it is old Aunt Ann!' I said, 'So it is; then Aunt Harriet will die to-day!' As we jumped up, Mrs. John Pearson came rushing out of Aunt Harriet's room, saying, 'That was old Aunt Ann. Where has she gone?' I said to soothe her, 'Perhaps it was Eliza come down to see how her old mistress is.' Mrs. Coppinger ran upstairs and found Eliza asleep. Every room was searched - no one was there; and from that day to this no explanation has ever been given of this appearance, except that it was old Aunt Ann come to call her sister. Aunt Harriet died at 6 p.m. that day."

Eliza Quinton, the housekeeper, confirms the above statement, and adds: "We searched in every room but could not find anyone in the house. Miss Harriet died on the evening of that day, but before that she told us all that she had seen her sister, and that she had come to call her."

This last statement is further confirmed by Miss Emma Pearson in a later letter, in which she states that she remembers her Aunt saying that "her sister had come for her, for she had seen her."

"With reference to the incident I related to you, which happened several years ago,

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

"DEAR MADAM,

"With reference to the incident I related to you, which happened several years ago, the following are the facts just as they occurred:

"I lost my daughter when she was seventeen years of age; she had been ill for some five years, and for eight months before her death had been confined to her bed. During all this time, and up to her death, she maintained a remarkable degree of intelligence and will. A fortnight before her death, one evening when I was leaning over the head of her bed, I asked her what she was thinking of, seeing her absorbed. She replied, 'Little mother, look there,' pointing to the bed-curtains. I followed the direction of her hand and saw a man's form, completely white, standing out quite clearly against the dark curtain. Having no ideas of spiritism, my emotion was intense, and I closed my eyes not wishing to see any longer. My child said to me, 'You do not reply.' I had the weakness to declare to her, 'I see nothing'; but my trembling voice betrayed me doubtless, for the child added with an air of reproach, 'Oh, little mother, I have seen the same thing for the last three days at the same hour; it's my dear father who has come to fetch me.'

"My child died 15 days later, but the apparition was not repeated; perhaps it attained its greatest intensity on the day I saw it.

"(Signed) Z. G."

The following case is quoted from Mr. Richard Pike's Life's Borderland and Beyond

From Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying by Sir William Barrett, Chapter 3 Visions seen by the Dying of Persons known by them to be Dead, and Death-Bed Visions seen by Others

The following case is quoted from Mr. Richard Pike's Life's Borderland and Beyond (p. 46):

"In the summer of 1883, a young man named Giles, of Nottingham, had the misfortune to lose several children after long and painful periods of illness. The two eldest, Fred and Annie, aged respectively seven and eight, had died and been buried for some weeks when his little boy of four years old showed symptoms of approaching death.

"The father and mother were constantly by his side, as will be readily believed, to mitigate the little fellow's sufferings as much as possible. On the night when he died the father came to his bedside with the customary medicine, when the little boy, sitting upright in bed, cried out: 'There's Fred and Annie.' 'Where, my boy?' asked the father. 'Don't you see them there - there?' said the lad, pointing to the wall, 'they're waiting for me to go to them,' and the next minute the little sufferer fell back on the pillow dead. It should be mentioned that the father saw nothing of the apparition to which his dying boy so vividly pointed, but he quite believes its reality."