(228) "At about 11 o'clock on the night of December 6th, 1873, I had just got into bed, and had certainly not fallen asleep, or even into a doze, when I suddenly startled my wife by a deep groan, and when she asked the reason, I said, 'I have just seen my aunt. She came and stood beside me, and smiled with her old kind smile, and disappeared.1 A much-loved aunt, my mother's sister, was at that time in Madeira for her health, accompanied by my cousin, her niece. I had no reason to think that she was critically ill at this time, but the impression made upon me was so great that the next day I told her family (my mother among them) what I had seen. Within a week afterwards we heard that she had died on that very night, and, making all allowance for longitude, at about that very time.

1 This other vision followed closely on an accident which had much distressed the percipient.

"When my cousin, who was with her to the last, heard what I had seen, she said, 'I am not at all surprised, for she was calling out for you all the time she was dying'.

"This is the only time I have experienced anything of this nature. I think, perhaps, this story first-hand may interest you. I can only say that the vivid impression I received that night has never left me.

"Frederick Barker".

We find the date of death confirmed in the Times obituary.

Mrs. Barker's account is as follows: -

"I recollect the circumstances well, upon which my husband wrote to you. It must have been somewhere about 11 o'clock. He was not asleep (for he had only just spoken), when he groaned deeply. I asked what was the matter, and he said his aunt, who was then in Madeira, had appeared to him, smiling at him with her own kind smile, and then vanished. He said she had 'something black, it might have been lace, thrown over her head.' The next day he told many relations of the occurrence, and it turned out she died that very night. Her niece, Miss Garnett, told me she was not at all astonished that he should have seen her aunt, for that while she was dying she was calling out for him. He had been to her almost like a son. "P. s. Barker".

In answer to inquiries, Mr. Barker says, " My recollection is of some lace-like head-gear, as of a black lace veil thrown round the head".

The following statement is from Miss Garnett, who was with Mr. Barker's aunt at the time of her death: -

"Wyreside, near Lancaster.

"October, 1885.

"I beg to certify that I was with my aunt, Miss -, at the time of her death in Madeira, December 6th, 1873. On hearing that my cousin, the Rev. F. Barker, now living in Stanley Place, Chester, had had some kind of a vision of my aunt at a time almost exactly corresponding with that of her death, I told my uncle, from whom I heard of the occurrence, that I was not surprised, since my aunt had so frequently expressed a wish to see Mr. Barker during the last few days of her life.

"Louisa Garnett".

The following case [from the Additional Chapter] is from Mr. Teale, of 50, Hawley Road, Kentish Town, N.W.

" June, 1886.

(695) "In 1884, my son Walter was serving in the 3rd King's Royal Rifles Regiment, in the Soudan. The last we had heard from him was a letter informing us that he was about to return to England, which he expected would be about Christmas time. Things were in this position on the 24th October, 1884, when on returning home in the evening, I said (noticing my wife looking very white), 'Whatever is the matter with you? ' and she said she had seen Walter, and he had stooped down to kiss her, but owning to her starting he - like - was gone, so she did not receive the kiss.

"After that we had a letter from the lady nurse at Ramleh Hospital to say that the poor boy had a third relapse of enteric fever; they thought he would have pulled through, but he had been taken, and when we had that letter, it was a week after he died. But the date when the letter was written corresponded with the date of the day when Walter appeared, which was on the 24th October, 1884.

[When Mr. Teale used these words, he had not referred to the letter, and was under the impression that it had been written on the very day of the death, which (as will be seen below) was October 24].

"My son Frederick, Selina, and Nelly were in the room, but none of them sawWalter; only Fred heard his mother scream, ' Oh 1' and Fred asked her what was the matter. I thought, having heard many tales of this kind, I would set it down; so I put the date on a slip of paper. He was in his regimentals, and she thought he had come on furlough to take her by surprise - knowing the back way; but when she saw he was gone, and the door not open, she got dreadfully frightened.

"Fred. J. Teale".

Mrs. Teale herself died in April, 1886, after an illness due in great measure to the shock of the bereavement.

Mr. Teale has shown me the letters which were received during August, September and October, 1884, respecting his son's condition. A letter, dated August 20, which the son dictated and signed, states that he is in hospital, down with enteric fever. The next letter, dated September 7, which was similarly dictated and signed, states that he has had a very serious illness, but is much better, and hopes soon to be home. The next letter, dated October 12, from Sister Thomas, states that he had had a bad relapse a fortnight previously, but "is getting on very nicely now." This was the last letter received before October 24. In a letter dated October 25, Lieutenant W. H. Kennedy states that the death had taken place on the preceding day; and in a letter dated October 28, Sister Thomas states that the death occurred about 2 o'clock p.m., on Friday, October 24. This date has been confirmed to us by an official communication from the Dep6t at Winchester.

In conversation, Mr. Teale explained to me that his wife's experience took place between 7 and 8 in the evening - which would be between 7 and 8 hours after the death. She was at the time sitting at the table, talking. The son who was present is at a distance; but Miss Teale showed me how the persons in the room were placed, and described to me how she saw her mother start, and heard her exclamation. Mr. Teale is certain that his wife never experienced any other visual hallucination; and he says that she was of anything but a brooding temperament, and was not at the time anxious about her son. His note of the date of the vision was on the back of an envelope, which he carried in his pocket-book. He thought that this envelope was lost; but was kind enough, at my request, to make a search, which brought it to light. The envelope, which lies before me, bears his address, and the post-mark London, N., Feb. 22, 84; the pencil note on the back of it is 24-10-84.

[Cases 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, are omitted here.] The next case is from Miss Bale, of Church Farm, Gorleston.

"September 17th, 1885.