"At the seance held on the evening of Wednesday, 8th May 1901, at which were present Mrs. E. V. M., Mr. Thomas Atwood, and Mr. John Polley, we, the undersigned, testify that Mr. John Polley gave to us a description of a vision of the burning of a child which he saw at this seance.
(Signed in full) "E. V. M.
"THOMAS ATWOOD"
I personally interviewed Mr. John Polley"s wife and sister and received a written statement from each confirming Mr. Polley"s account.
A local paper containing an account of the inquest on the child states that the accident took place on Tuesday, 7th May, and the child was taken to a hospital immediately and there died. The father of the child wrote to me as follows:--
"DEAR SIR,--In reply to your inquiry respecting my late son, John Frederick, I beg to say that on Tuesday, 7th May, my wife went out to do some shopping, leaving my son, aged two years and two months, in a bedroom with another brother aged seven. Whilst the elder brother was getting some toys to play with, the deceased thrust some paper in the fire, pulled it out again, and set fire to his clothes. Some neighbours took him to the Children"s Hospital, Paddington Green, where he pa.s.sed away on Wednesday, 8th May, at 11.45 a.m. No intimation of this was given by myself or any member of our family to my brother, Mr. John Polley, until a friend of the family called at my address on Thursday, 9th May, between 1 and 2 p.m., when we informed him of the sad loss that we had sustained, and he told us that he intended calling on my brother that evening, and we asked him if he would communicate the news to my brother and sister who reside at Church Street, Stoke Newington. Of course, Sir, you know I am antagonistic to your views, but my brother has told me it is for the interests of science. If this is so, I take great pleasure in its furtherance.--Yours sincerely,
(Signed) "FREDERICK GEORGE POLLEY"
In the above case it appears to me that the vision of the burning child which Mr. John Polley saw arose out of a spontaneous telepathic impression, either from the mind of the father of the child to his brother"s (Mr. John Polley"s mind), or from the mind of one of the persons who was cognizant of the sad event.
In regard to the second case of spontaneous telepathy to which I have referred, I cannot do better than to give the account of same as it appeared in the _Journal of the Society for Psychical Research_ of June 1912:--
"The following case of a reciprocal telepathic impression occurring to two persons at the same time has been communicated to us by Mr. W. W. Baggally. Both Miss Emma Steele and Mr. Claude Burgess, the lady and gentleman concerned in the case, are known personally to Mr. Baggally.
"Miss Steele writes as follows:--
""16 and 17 SILLWOOD PLACE, ""BRIGHTON, _13th March 1912_
""Mr. Claude Burgess, who is an invalid, had been staying at my private hotel, at the above address, for some months. He left on 15th February to take up his residence at No. 10 Belgrave Place, Kemp Town, Brighton. In the interval between the date of his leaving and the night of the 5th inst., when I had the remarkable dream (if it can be called a dream) which I am about to relate, I had not seen Mr. Burgess, and nothing had occurred to cause me to think particularly about him.
""On the above night I retired to rest at my usual time. I awoke finding myself standing in the middle of my room and answering, "All right, I"m coming," to Mr. Burgess, who, I thought, called three times: "Miss Steele! Miss Steele! Miss Steele!"
""By the time I had put on my dressing-gown and lighted the gas I was fully awake. I then remembered Mr. Burgess was no longer in the house.
I looked at the clock and noticed it was exactly 3 a.m. When I came downstairs next morning I told my cook my dream, and remarked I hoped nothing had happened to Mr. Burgess. During the next day, Wednesday, 6th March, in the afternoon, a man called while I was out and left a note from Mr.
Burgess, which I enclose. I was much surprised by its contents. It struck me most forcibly getting it from him, as he is paralysed and has to write with great difficulty with his left hand. He very seldom writes now, so it must have made a great impression on him seeing me as he relates in his letter.
""EMMA M. STEELE"
"The letter from Mr. Burgess to Miss Steele referred to above, which is now in our possession, was as follows:--
""10 BELGRAVE PLACE, BRIGHTON
""MY DEAR EMMA,--I had a funny dream about you last night. I dreamed that you appeared at about 3 a.m. Just a glimpse of you. It"s funny, isn"t it?--Yours,
""CLAUDE BURGESS"
"Miss Steele"s cook made the following statement to Mr.
Baggally:--
""_13th March 1912_
""On Wednesday morning, the 6th March last, Miss Emma Steele came down from her bedroom at 8.30. I saw she was looking pale. I asked her if she were not well. She replied that she had had a strange dream. She heard Mr. Burgess call her three times.
She told me that she suddenly jumped up and put her dressing-gown on. By the time she had put on her dressing-gown and lit the gas she remembered Mr. Burgess had left the house. She said it was about 3 o"clock a.m. when she heard Mr. Burgess call.
(Signed) ""SARAH POLLARD"
"The following statement was written by Mr. Baggally on 13th March 1912, from Mr. Claude Burgess"s dictation:--
""On Tuesday night, 5th March 1912, I woke up at about 3 a.m. with a start. I saw Miss Emma Steele standing at the door of my bedroom. I had closed the door, but she appeared to have opened it. She was attired in her ordinary dress.
""I was much surprised. It was an absolutely distinct apparition. I had not been thinking of her the previous day, and I cannot tell why she appeared to me.
""The apparition lasted about five seconds. I was not at all frightened, and went to sleep immediately after.
""I was so struck by what I had seen that, next morning, the 6th March, at about 11 o"clock, I wrote a letter to Miss Steele which I handed to Mr. William Watkins, the proprietor of the establishment where I now reside, for him to send to Miss Steele. In this letter I told Miss Steele that I had dreamed that she had appeared to me on the previous night.
(Signed) ""CLAUDE BURGESS"
"In reply to Mr. Baggally"s personal inquiries, Mr. Claude Burgess stated that it was the first time that he had had a hallucination of this kind, and he had not had one since.
_Statement by Mr. William Watkins_
""10 BELGRAVE PLACE, ""BRIGHTON, _13th March 1912_
""Mr. Claude Burgess delivered to me a letter which he had written to Miss Steele, at about 11 a.m. on 6th March, which I handed to a man of the Church Army Labour Home to take to Miss Steele.
The same morning at 8 a.m. Mr. Burgess told me he had dreamt of Miss Steele.
""WILLIAM WATKINS"
_Statement by Mr. Baggally_
""I called on the afternoon of the 13th March 1912 at the offices of the Church Army Labour Home, St.
James Street, Brighton, and saw the Secretary, who showed me an entry in their books confirming the fact that, at the request of Mr. William Watkins, a man in their employ had delivered a letter to Miss Emma Steele of 16 Sillwood Place, Brighton, in the afternoon of 6th March 1912.
""I have interviewed all the persons connected with this case, and they confirmed their respective statements.
""W. W. BAGGALLY"
"In reply to our further questions as to whether Mr.
Burgess"s experience was a dream or a waking hallucination, Mr. Baggally wrote to us on 1st April 1912:--
""I had an interview with Mr. Burgess to-day, and the following is the information I received from him respecting the points you raise. He said to me:--
"""(1) I used the word "dream" in my letter to Miss Steele for want of a better word. (2) I woke up and then had the vision of Miss Steele. (3) I did not notice anything in the room at the time I had the vision. The room appeared dark. (4) Miss Steele appeared to me in a bright light, not self-luminous or phosph.o.r.escent, but just as she would have appeared in daylight. She appeared to me in the part of the room where the door was.""
"Mrs. Baggally sends us the following statement enclosed in a letter dated 27th April 1912:--
""I was in the drawing-room of Miss E. Steele"s sister on the evening of Wednesday, 6th March, when Miss Emma Steele came in, saying in an excited manner, "Where is Mr. Baggally? He will be so interested in this."
""She held in her hand a letter from Mr. Burgess, and proceeded to tell me that the previous night she had heard, as she thought, Mr. Burgess fall on the floor of the bedroom over her own. She sprang out of bed.
""Finding herself in the middle of the room, she heard him call "Miss Steele!" three times. She then suddenly remembered that Mr. Burgess was no longer living in her hotel. She struck a light, looked at the clock, and found it was 3 o"clock.