ACTION OF SPIRITS THROUGH THE MEDIUMSHIP OF A FIVE-MONTH'S-OLD INFANT.
VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS AROUND THE BABY--WRITING IN GREEK THROUGH
HIS HAND.
In the preceding Chapter VI., I have mentioned some marvels about the
infant mediumship of my little nephew, the elder of Cathie's two boys,
Ferdinand Diedrich Loewenstein Jencken. Since the writing of that
chapter and its consignment to unchangeable type, I have come across a
copy of a newspaper which had got mislaid and was supposed lost, the
London _Medium and Daybreak_, of May 8, 1874. The possibility of such
things as were mentioned on my pages 89 to 95 having been done through
the dear little fingers of a babe in arms, must have been hard to many
readers to believe or to realize; though it ought not to be so difficult
to those who pause to reflect that it was not those five-months-old
fingers that thus acted, but the force and the will of Spirit powers
controlling and guiding them. For the double purpose of supporting what
I have written and of carrying still farther the marvellousness of this
perfectly attested case, I now quote from page 290 of the _Medium and
Daybreak_ the following article, which, on its face, bears the direct
testimony of Mr. Jencken himself and of J. Wason, Esq., a respectable
English solicitor. Of Mr. Jencken's unimpeachable authority enough has
been said on page 90.
[Illustration: _Katie Fox Jencken._]
_From the London Medium and Daybreak, May 8, 1874, p. 290:_
MEDIUMSHIP OF A BABY.
"A brief account, for which we are indebted to Mrs. and Mr. Jencken,
of the progress of their infant boy, may not be uninteresting to the
Spiritualistic public. We hence render it, _ipsissima verba_, as
received by us.
"The baby medium, whose writing we have had engraved, was born on
September 19, 1873. Of a sensitive and delicate organization, great
difficulty was felt in preventing the life-cord snapping during the
first few weeks of his existence. Care and a good nurse, however, saved
the little fellow, who is now a healthy, blue-eyed baby, with a
singularly well-formed head and large forehead.
"Six weeks after his advent, the wet nurse complained of constant
noises, resembling gentle knocks or taps. These were at first ascribed
to rats or mice; finally, the truth could not be resisted, and the
gentle rappings on the doors of the wardrobe, on the iron head-rail of
the bedstead, were admitted to be by unseen beings. On the 16th of
November last, Mr. Jencken, desirous of testing the fact of the medial
powers of his boy, obtained distinct raps and messages, holding his
little boy near to a small round pedestal table. Soon afterward the
alarmed nurse related how luminous hands had been seen by her making
passes over the baby; the rappings increasing in intensity; shadowy
forms had likewise been seen moving from the hearth to the bed. A
whistling sound then attracted attention; whispered words and other
mysterious manifestations were observed. On one occasion, during the
absence of Mrs. Jencken, a Spirit-form opened the door of the nursery,
entered, and left the room all but immediately, quietly gazing at the
little boy with luminous eyes.
"During the month of December, small articles were frequently taken
from the nurse; on one occasion a shadowy form appeared bending over the
bed on which the nurse and baby were lying. Terribly frightened, the
nurse grasped the child to leave the room; soft echoes, however, warned
her not to fear. On December 16th, shortly after Mrs. Jencken arrived at
Brighton, the little fellow uttered his first spoken words--'Ma-ma,
darling ma-ma'--much to the alarm of the nurse. On February 2d, the
little fellow was carried by a Spirit-form from the nursery, on the same
landing, to the door of the drawing-room, where Mrs. Jencken, who had
been impressed to go to the door, received him into her arms.[24] A
half-suppressed cry of anguish from her informed Mr. J. Wason and Mr.
Jencken what had happened. On entering the bed-room the nurse was found
asleep on the bed. During the whole of this time the rappings continued.
On one occasion a halo of light was observed to surround the baby's
head, finally enveloping his whole form. On other occasions clear
luminous rays of light were noticed to stream from the eyes of the baby.
On March 6th, he wrote for the first time. This was done in the presence
of Mr. Wason, whose account is now published. A few days subsequently,
two sentences were written by the baby medium, under the following
circumstances: Mr. and Mrs. Jencken were seated at the dinner-table, the
nurse with the baby occupying an armchair some eight or ten feet off.
Suddenly a pencil was seen between the fingers of his hand. 'Ah, he is
going to write,' exclaimed Mrs. Jencken, and placed a sheet of paper on
the nurse's knee; his little tiny hand then moved rapidly, and wrote the
words:
"'I love this little boy, God bless
his Mamma. J. B. T.
"'I am happy.'
Shortly afterward the pencil was again placed in his hand by an
invisible agency, a sheet of paper fluttered through the room and
settled on the nurse's knee; the little fellow then wrote:
"'I love my Grandmamma,'
signing the paper with a mark the late Dr. Jencken used to employ when
on earth. The paper and pencil were then jerked into the middle of the
room. Since then, owing to Mr. Jencken's strong objection to any tests
being applied, no further writings have been obtained. The rappings,
however, continue, so also that strange luminosity of the eyes, so
intense at times as to alarm his mother and nurse. Numerous letters have
been received by Mr. Jencken from different parts of England, Holland,
Russia, and other places, asking him to test this marvellous power of
his little boy, who, not six months old, has written messages; but to
all these applications the answer has been a polite refusal, the medical
gentleman attendant having warned the parents against any trial of
strength of this singularly gifted child.
[24] See Medium 206, page 167.
"In conclusion we may repeat the prophecy respecting this boy, which
prediction was spelt out at the house of Mr. H. P. Townsend, New York,
some five years ago, the message received then being to this effect:
that Kate Fox would go to Europe, marry, give birth to a child, whose
medial powers would be unexcelled; so great indeed would they be, that
compared to her child the mother would be a mere cipher. Jocosely, for
years afterward, Kate Fox was called the cipher in the house of Mr.
Townsend. Thus far this prediction has been verified. If this little
fellow be allowed by Providence to attain to years of maturity, he may
perhaps verify all that the Spiritual beings, who foretold his birth
within ten hours of its occurrence, have foreshadowed.
"Dear Mr. Burns:--The sentence signed 'Susan,' photographed [and now
reproduced in our engraving.--ED. M.], was written through the hand of
the infant boy, aged five months and fifteen days, of Mr. and Mrs.
Jencken, on March 6th last, at No. 5 Lansdowne Terrace East, Brighton,
by invisible agency, in my presence and that of Mrs. Jencken and her
nurse, the pencil having been placed in the baby's right hand by
invisible agency, when I caused a memorandum of the fact to be written
at once as a record, and afterward had the writing by the baby's hand
and the memorandum with the signatures of the witnesses photographed,
and I send you a copy of the whole, which you are at liberty to publish
in the _Medium_, together with this letter, if you think fit. The
circumstances under which the photographed document was written are as
follows:
"Mr. and Mrs. Jencken and the child were taken from London to Brighton
for the benefit of Mrs. Jencken's and the baby's health, and they had
been, on March 6th before mentioned, at Brighton over three months; and
I was at this time their guest, or rather sharing their lodgings with
them. Mrs. Jencken's and the baby's health improved, but Mr. Jencken
became seriously ill at Brighton; violent nervous headaches with
neuralgia and a general derangement of the stomach and digestive organs.
I told him I thought his travelling from his chambers in the Temple to
the lodgings in Brighton--105 miles daily, which, by calculation,
showed he had travelled over 8,000 miles while at Brighton within four
months--was the probable cause of his illness; but he took a different
view, and consulted his friend, a German physician of note, who agreed
with him that these rapid journeys daily were not the cause of his
ill-health. I contended that a German M.D., however able, had no
experience as to the effect on health of daily long journeys by cab,
omnibus, and railway, but I could make no change in Mr. Jencken's view.
On the day in question, viz., March 6th last, baby's nurse was holding
baby on her lap in the parlor, by the fire, about 1.30 P.M. I was
writing at a table near. Mrs. Jencken was in a room adjoining and
opening into the parlor, the door between being half open. Suddenly the
nurse exclaimed, 'Baby has a pencil in his hand!' She did not say that
the pencil had been put into the baby's hand by invisible agency, and I
having had experience of babies clutching my finger pretty tightly, took
no notice, but continued my writing. Nurse almost immediately after
exclaimed, 'Baby is writing!' in a still more excited voice, which drew
Mrs. Jencken's attention, and she rushed into the parlor to the nurse
and baby, and this roused me, when I got up and walked to the nurse, and
looking over Mrs. Jencken's shoulder, I saw the pencil in the child's
hand and the paper under it with the writing as photographed.
"I may add that 'Susan' was the name of my departed wife, who was
remarkably fond of children, and her Spirit (as is believed) had on
several occasions previously manifested itself by writing and by raps
through Mrs. Jencken, who, before her marriage, as most of your readers
are aware, was the celebrated American medium, through whose family at
Rochester, U. S., the truths of Spiritualism (now so stupendous) were
first manifested.
"The value will now be seen of the advice given by 'Susan' to Mr.
Jencken, 'to go back to London,' which Mr. Jencken did, and almost
immediately recovered his usual health and strength, which are those of
a strong, healthy man.
"Hoping your readers may take the same interest in this anecdote that
you do, and that it may conduce to increase the interest felt in
Spiritualism, believe me, sincerely yours,
"J. WASON, _Solicitor_.
"Wason Buildings, Liverpool."
SPIRIT WRITING.
"_Photograph of a Sentence written in Greek characters by Direct
Spirit-Agency, without the Intervention of a Human Hand, at H. D.
Jencken, Esq.'s, Rooms in Brighton, February 28, 1874._
"Paper (marked by a sceptic with his initials) and a pencil were placed
on the table, all the circle (one sceptic and five Spiritualists)
joining hands; lights extinguished, a scratching noise, as of a pencil
writing on paper, was heard. On the candles being relighted, the
sentence, as photographed below from the original writing, was found
written on the initialed paper. Time occupied, about five minutes.
Present--One sceptic, Mr. and Mrs. Jencken, Mr. James Wason (of
Liverpool), and two other parties of respectability, who were for
Spiritualism 'when in her silver slippers and walking abroad with
applause, but not when in rags and tatters;' they did not wish their
names to appear.
"_Facsimile of the photographed writing._
[Illustration: Ὁ πιστευων εις εμε ζωσει]
"Translation: 'WHO BELIEVES IN ME SHALL LIVE.'"
* * * * *
Think of this child, born on September 19, 1873, writing a Greek
quotation from the New Testament, and in the Greek characters, on
February 28, 1874, at the age of five months and nine days! But it was
not the mere baby fingers that wielded the pencil, though they were made
to hold it.