§ 5. We now come to an example of the "borderland" class (E) - the class where the percipient, though not asleep, was not, or cannot be proved to have been, in a state of complete normal wakefulness. The case was first published in the Spiritual Magazine for 1861, by Dr. Collyer, who wrote from Beta House, 8, Alpha Road, St. John's Wood, N.W.

"April 15th, 1861.

(25) "On January 3rd, 1856, my brother Joseph being in command of the steamer ' Alice,' on the Mississippi, just above New Orleans, she came in collision with another steamer. The concussion caused the flagstaff or pole to fall with great violence, which, coming in contact with] my brother's head, actually divided the skill, causing, of necessity, instant death. In October, 1857, I visited the United States. When, at my father's residence, Camden, New Jersey, the melancholy death of my brother became the subject of conversation, my mother narrated to me that at the very time of the accident, the apparition of my brother Joseph was presented to her. This fact was corroborated by my father and four sisters. Camden, New Jersey, is distant from the scene of the accident, in a direct line, over 1000 miles, and nearly double that distance by the mail route. My mother mentioned the fact of the apparition on the morning of the 4th of January to my father and sisters; nor was it until the 16th, or 13 days after, that a letter was received confirming in every particular the extraordinary visitation.

It will be important to mention that my brother William and his wife lived near the locality of the dreadful accident, now being in Philadelphia; they have also corroborated to me the details of the impression produced on my mother".

It will be seen that if Mrs. Bidder's report is strictly accurate, there is a discrepancy as to which of the two horses it was that reared. But even eye-witnesses of a sudden and confusing accident might afterwards differ in such a point as this.

Dr. Collyer then quotes a letter from his mother, which contains the following sentences: -

" Camden, New Jersey, United States.

"March 27th, 1861.

"My beloved Son, - On the 3rd of January, 1856, I did not feel well, and retired to bed early. Some time after, I felt uneasy and sat up in bed; I looked round the room, and to my utter amazement, saw Joseph standing at the door, looking at me with great earnestness, his head bandaged up, a dirty night-cap on, and a dirty white garment on, something like a surplice. He was much disfigured about the eyes and face. It made me quite uncomfortable the rest of the night. The next morning, Mary came into my room early. I told her that I was sure I was going to have bad news from Joseph. I told all the family at the breakfast-table; they replied, ' It was only a dream, and all nonsense,' but that did not change my opinion. It preyed on my mind, and on the 16th of January I received the news of his death; and, singular to say, both William and his wife, who were there, say that he was exactly attired as I saw him.

" Your ever affectionate Mother,

"Anne E. Collyer." Dr. Collyer continues: -

"It will no doubt be said that my mother's imagination was in a morbid state, but this will not account for the fact of the apparition of my brother presenting himself at the exact moment of his death. My mother had never seen him attired as described, and the bandaging of the head did not take place until hours after the accident. My brother William told me that his head was nearly cut in two by the blow, and that his face was dreadfully disfigured, and the night-dress much soiled.

"I cannot wonder that others should be sceptical, as the evidences I have had could not have been received on the testimony of others; we must, therefore, be charitable towards the incredulous.

"Robert H. Collyer, M.D., F.C.S., etc".

On our applying to Dr. Collyer, he replied as follows: -

"25, Newington Causeway, Borough, S.E.

"March 15th, 1884.

"In replying to your communication, I must state that, strange as the circumstances narrated in the Spiritual Magazine of 1861 are, I can assure you that there is not a particle of exaggeration. As there stated, my mother received the mental impression of my brother on January 3rd, 1856. My father, who was a scientific man, calculated the difference of longitude between Camden, New Jersey, and New Orleans, and found that the mental impression was at the exact time of my brother's death. I may mention that I never was a believer in any spiritual intercourse, or that any of the phenomena present during exalted conditions of the brain are spiritual. I am, and have been for the last 40 years, a materialist, and think that all the so-called spiritual manifestations admit of a philosophical explanation, on physical laws and conditions. I do not desire to theorise, but to my mind the sympathetic chord of relationship existed between my mother and my brother (who was her favourite son), when that chord was broken by his sudden death, she being at the time favourably situated to receive the shock.

"In the account published in the Spiritual Magazine, I omitted to state that my brother Joseph, prior to his death, had retired for the night in his berth; his vessel was moored alongside the levee, at the time of the collision by another steamer coming down the Mississippi. Of course, my brother was in his nightgown. He ran on deck on being called and informed that a steamer was in close proximity to his own. These circumstances were communicated to me by my brother William, who was on the spot at the time of the accident. I do not attempt to account for the apparition having a bandage, as that could not have been put for some time after death. The difference of time between Camden, New Jersey, and New Orleans is nearly 15o, or one hour.

"My mother retired for the night on 3rd January, 1856, at 8 p.m., which would mark the time at New Orleans 7 p.m. as the time of my brother's death".

Mr. Podmore says: -

"I called upon Dr. Collyer on 25th March, 1884. He told me that he received a full account of the story verbally from his father, mother, and brother in 1857. All are now dead; but two sisters - to one of whom I have written - are still living. Dr. Collyer was quite certain of the precise coincidence of time,"

The following is from one of the surviving sisters: -

"Mobile, Alabama, 12th May, 1884.

"I resided in Camden, New Jersey, at the time of my brother's death. He lived in Louisiana. His death was caused by the collision of two steamers on the Mississippi. Some part of the mast fell on him, splitting his head open, causing instantaneous death. The apparition appeared to my mother at the foot of her bed. It stood there for some time gazing at her, and disappeared. The apparition was clothed in a long white garment, with its head bound in a white cloth. My mother was not a superstitious person, nor did she believe in Spiritualism. She was wide awake at the time. It was not a dream. She remarked to me when I saw her in the morning, ' I shall hear bad news from Joseph,' and related to me what she had seen. Two or three days1 from that time we heard of the sad accident. I had another brother who was there at the time, and when he returned home I inquired of him all particulars, and how he was laid out. His description answered to what my mother saw, much to our astonishment.

"A. E. Collyer".

Here we have no direct proof of the exactness of the coincidence; but Dr. Collyer is clear on the fact that the matter was carefully inquired into at the time. As to the alleged resemblances between the phantasm and the real figure, we shall find reason further on to think that the impression of the white garment may have been really transferred. But the criticism made above in respect of Mrs. Bettany's narrative again applies: we cannot account it certain that points were not read back into the vision, after Mrs. Collyer had learnt the actual aspect which the dead man presented. It will be observed, too, that the more striking details - especially that of the bandage - could not in any case help the telepathic argument. For if the son who was killed was the "agent" of his mother's impression, any correspondence of the phantasmal appearance with features of reality which did not come into existence till after death must plainly have been accidental. We shall afterwards encounter plenty of instances where the percipient supplements the impression that he receives with elements from his own mind, and especially, in death-cases, with elements symbolic of death; and it is not impossible that in the present instance the white garment and bandaged head were a dim representation of grave-clothes.

1 This is probably incorrect, as it differs from Dr. Collyer's and the mother's statement; but the point does not seem important.

The following piece of independent evidence has been received as to the manner of Captain Collyer's death. An advertisement was inserted for us in the Daily Picayune, the leading New Orleans newspaper, offering a small reward for definite information as to the fatal accident on the "Alice." For some months no information was given; but on January 6, 1886, the editor wrote to us as follows: -

"To-day a party called at the Picayune office and made the following statement: ' My name is J. L. Hall. I was a striker on the steamer "Red River " at the time she ran into the "Alice," John Collyer, master, at a point about 20 miles above New Orleans. The accident occurred at 10 o'clock at night, in January, 1856. The day of the month I do not remember. The "Red River" was bound up stream, and the "Alice" bound down. The collision broke the starboard engine of the "Alice " and stove in her upper guards and boiler deck. As soon as possible the " Red River " went to the assistance of the "Alice," when one of the crew of the disabled boat remarked that the captain had been killed. On investigation, Captain Collyer was found lying on his back on the starboard side of the boiler deck of his boat, with a severe wound in the head and life extinct. The crew of the "Alice," all of whom were negroes, stated that Captain Collyer had been killed by the collision, but the officers of the "Red River" thought otherwise, as the wound in his (Captain Collyer's) head appeared to have been made before the two boats met, and the blood on the deck was coagulated.

Probably not more than 10 minutes elapsed from the time the collision took place until the body of Captain Collyer was viewed by the officers of the "Red River." After helping the "Alice" to make repairs, the "Red River " proceeded on her voyage. I cannot say positively, but I do not think the killing of Captain Collyer was ever investigated.'"¹

It will be seen that there is a suggestion here that the death preceded the collision; and if this was so, it is an additional reason for supposing the coincidence with Mrs. Collyer's experience to have been extremely close; for the witness had no idea why the evidence was wanted, and cannot have adjusted his account to a narrative of which he knew nothing.

Mrs. Collyer would probably have affirmed that at the time of her vision she was completely awake. That the percipient in the next example was completely awake is, I think, nearly certain; but as he was in bed, the account may serve as a transition to the cases where the matter admits of no doubt. Mr. Marchant, of Linkfield Street, Redhill, formerly a large farmer, wrote to us in the summer of 1883: -