The Missing Link In Modern Spiritualism Part 7

The next instance of mediumship in the generation succeeding ourselves is such as to merit a chapter to itself.

CHAPTER VII.

MEDIUMISTIC VEIN IN OUR FAMILY (_Continued_).

MARVELLOUS WRITING BY A BABY MEDIUM.

But I must mention more particularly the case of my little nephew, the elder of the two children of my sister Katie, now Mrs. Jencken (p.r.o.nounced Yencken); for I have now before me two pieces of writing actually executed by his baby fingers. The story of the incident is as follows:

Katie and I were sitting at the billiard table, which then occupied the middle of our library, with the child in my lap; while his mother, at my side, was relating some of the incidents of the day. (She had been calling on old friends.) The child being troublesome in his movements and cries, his mother, to quiet him, gave him the paper and pencil (it was a piece of white blotting paper, not much inked by use), as the child was fond of scratching lines and marks. She said, "There! take that, and keep still." He dropped the paper once or twice, and I picked it up and held one end of it, he holding the other; and with his disengaged hand I noticed that he was not making mere marks and scratches, but that he was actually forming letters, and I exclaimed, "Why, Katie, he is writing!"

"I shouldn't be surprised," was her answer. We watched the process, as his dear little fingers were guided to complete, in somewhat straggling letters, though perfectly distinct, "Grandma is here. Boysie." It is not strong nor dark enough to be reproduced in photography, but any respectable inquirer is welcome to inspection of the sentence written by the child, then one year old. His father had been delighted, at his birth, with the appearance of so beautiful a child; and his baptismal name was Ferdinand Lowenstein Diedrick. His pet name was "Boysie." The extent of his baby vocabulary at that time was "papa" and "mamma." My late brother-in-law, Mr. Jencken, was a highly respected barrister in London. He was prominent in the labors of the "Society for the Codification of International Law," of which the well-known David Dudley Field is President; who has said of him that not half a dozen men in all Europe could compete with him.

Besides the above-mentioned writing actually executed by this wonderful medium baby of about a year old, which I have in my possession, and of which I regret that it cannot be photographed, I have before me also a photographic copy, of _carte de visite_ size (sent me by Mr. Jencken), of a piece of writing executed by his infant fingers at the age of five months and eighteen days (of course controlled by Spirit power), in these words: _I love this little boy. G.o.d bless his mama. J. B. F._ And below, _I am happy_ (the last syllable of "happy" being scrawled very indistinctly). Below it is the following attestation by Mr. Jencken's hand: "Written by the infant boy of Mrs. Jencken on the 11th March, 1874, aged five months and eighteen days. Mr. Jencken, Mrs. Jencken, and nurse present."

On the rear of the card, in the hand of Mr. Jencken (and in that of my sister, Katie, for her signature), is the further attestation: "The writing on the other side of this leaf was written by our infant child, aged five months and eighteen days, in our presence, in a clear light, the pencil having been placed in the baby's hand by an invisible agency.--London, 11th March, 1874. (Signed) H. D. Jencken. (Signed) K. F. Jencken."

On the opposite page will be found lithographic copies of the two sides of the card above described.

[Ill.u.s.tration: I love this little boy. G.o.d bless his mama.

J B F,

I am happy

Written by the infant boy of Mrs Jencken on the =11 March 1874=, aged 5 months & 18 =days=

Mr Jencken, Mrs Jencken & nurse present.

The writing on the other leaf was written by our infant child, aged 5 months & 18 days, in our presence, in a clear light, the pencil having been placed in the baby's right hand by an invisible agency.

London 11 March 1874.

H. D. Jencken.

K. F. Jencken.]

Among my loose papers I find a newspaper article from the _London Spiritualist_ of December 12, 1873, respecting this extraordinary child:

"MEDIUMSHIP OF A BABY.--H. D. Jencken, Barrister-at-Law, of 53 Brompton-Crescent, Brompton, has had further disturbances in his house, in consequence of the mediumship of his little boy, aged two months.

"Last Friday Mr. Jencken and Mrs. Jencken (Kate Fox) went to the great scientific _soiree_ at the Crystal Palace, and that same evening, about nine o'clock, their housemaid, Elizabeth, went up-stairs to the front drawing-room to turn down the gas burners. As she approached the door she saw its handle turn round and she cried out, 'Who is that?' The door then opened, and a veiled figure looked out at her. She only saw a part of the face, because the white drapery about it hid the rest, and she fancied that the eyes had an evil look. She ran down-stairs and gave the alarm to the cook and sempstress, saying that she thought thieves were in the house.

"Just after this occurred on the first floor, the nurse, Mrs. Macarthy, who was watching the baby in a room near the top of the house, heard footsteps outside; the door gently opened, and a short woman, young and pleasant-looking, robed in white, entered, and returned quickly, twice.

At first the nurse thought that a joke was being played upon her; but, upon searching the adjoining room and landing, she could not find anybody. She then went down-stairs and joined the three servants below, who had previously heard footsteps going up-stairs from the drawing-room to the nursery.

"The cook then went for a policeman, and the other three servants went up to the nursery, where they heard rapping noises and voices; the latter were not sufficiently distinct to be intelligible. They also heard footsteps going right up to the top of the house. When the police arrived they searched the house and found nothing. Just as they were going away, some footsteps followed them down the stairs. One of the policemen turned round and said that the noises must be caused by a ghost.

"Three days previously the housemaid had seen a figure in the drawing-room. It suddenly disappeared. This form, she said, was covered with a shawl, like that worn by Mrs. Jencken before she left the house.

Was it Mrs. Jencken's 'double,' present there in consequence of her constant thoughts about the baby?

"The nurse says she has seen hands making pa.s.ses over the baby, and has heard raps at the head of the child's bedstead, and once the pillow was pressed down by an unseen hand. On another occasion, a gold ring was seen knocking against the iron rail at the head of the bedstead. Last Sunday we questioned the nurse and housemaid on all these points. They were in a very nervous state about the whole matter, and evidently deeply impressed by the circ.u.mstances, since they knew nothing about Spiritualism, until these phenomena forced themselves upon their attention.

"Mr. Jencken tells us that a few days ago, about six o'clock in the morning, while it was yet dark, Mrs. Jencken brought the child to him.

A strong light streamed from both the eyes of the baby, and illuminated its face, and raps said, 'We are looking at you through the eyes of the baby.' When Mr. Jencken stated this, we called his attention to the circ.u.mstance that a similar thing had occurred in connection with the mediumship of Swedenborg, whose eyes shone for a time with such l.u.s.tre, as to frighten some persons who unexpectedly entered his room. In that case also, the Spirits said that they were looking through his eyes. On several occasions recently, while we have been present at _seances_ at Mr. Jencken's house, footsteps have been heard outside, and the rustling of a dress against the door. On quickly opening the door, n.o.body was there.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jencken leave town for Brighton next Monday."

For a further specimen of Spirit writing executed by the fingers of this marvellous infant, the reader is referred to page 550 of Mrs. E.

Hardinge Britten's recent great work, ent.i.tled "Nineteenth Century Miracles." The writing in this case was, "_I love this little child G.o.d bless him advise his father to go back to London on Monday by all means.

Susan._" The attesting witnesses are, I. Wason, K. F. Jencken, E.

Buffum, New Church College, Devonshire Street, Islington, London, and the + mark of Mrs. McCarthy, the nurse who held the child.

From a letter from Mr. Jencken I know that this advice to him "_to go back to London on Monday by all means_" was good counsel. It proved that his presence there was necessary for important business. Mrs. Britten's book (p. 550) gives a facsimile of this communication as written by Spirit power through the tiny fingers of a baby. My sister wrote me at the time a long letter about it, full of anxiety lest so wonderful a child could not be expected to grow up to health. Its correctness is therefore unimpeachable. But I must add that the letter-press at the bottom, in which the age of the infant is given as "nine days," is a manifest mistake, probably typographical. It is quite sufficient that his age counted by months. As a human achievement by such baby fingers, it would be incredible; as the act of a Spirit employing those of a remarkable baby medium, it is simple enough to the apprehension of any experienced Spiritualist.

What future awaits this child remains to be seen. The house of his parents used for a time to be overrun by people of rank too high to be (in that country) refused admittance, who wanted to see some specimens of his mediumistic manifestations; until his parents wisely determined to break it all off, and not allow any exercise of his powers in that line to be indulged in, till he shall have reached the age of adult physical development in health and strength.

The child is now about ten years of age, and, I rejoice to say, healthy, active, and bright, as well as beautiful;--and further that his parents have kept him entirely aloof from mediumship--to which course I strongly advised them.

OUR MOTHER AND FATHER.

Our dear mother (who pa.s.sed from this life to the next on the 3d August, 1865) was a woman of sound intellect, gentle disposition, very charitable, and just to every one. She had great power of discrimination, and seldom failed in her estimate of character. Her portrait looks down upon me from our parlor wall; and when I look up into her blessed face, my first impulse is to fall upon my knees and thank my G.o.d that I have had such a mother.

Robert Dale Owen was one day sitting in the back parlor, engaged in writing. He remained with us three months, at my husband's invitation, while writing his "Foot-falls on the Boundary of Another World." He sat at equal distance from mother and her portrait, alternately looking from one to the other. As I stepped in the door, he turned to me and said, "Mrs. Underhill, if that were the portrait of my mother, and she were living, as yours now is, and could sit for another every day, I would not take a thousand dollars for it. I never saw a portrait so perfectly correct in my life, and I doubt if you could ever get another so perfect."

Our father was not as well known to the public. Situated as we were, our parents concluded that, as we were compelled to travel and submit to all investigations necessary to establish a new truth (for new it was, to us), or to submit to, or rest under the condemnation of the world at large, we must of necessity have suitable companions. Therefore it was decided that mother and Calvin should go wherever we went.

Our father was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a cla.s.s leader at the time of his death (on the 10th January, 1865). One Sunday morning he was ready to go to church and stood in the library, waiting for my husband, who was going with him. I stood beside him when suddenly the signal for the alphabet was given. I repeated the letters, and the Spirit said, "My dear son, it is a pleasure to me to attend you to the church. I always go with you there."

His chest heaved, and with tears in his eyes he said, "Are you the Spirit of my dear mother now speaking to me?" The answer was, "Yes, I am your mother Catharine." He then asked, "Is my father here too?" Answer, "Yes, my dear son. I bless you this morning. We shall all be together in Heaven soon.

"DAVID."

I asked him, "Do you think the Methodists would approve of this if you were to read it to them?" He replied, "It would matter little to me whether they did or not. I not only believe it but I know it is true, and the time will come when they will all believe it."

Mr. Underhill then went with him to church, and when they returned he said to me (holding up the little message in his hand), "This, to me, is far stronger proof of a glorious immortality than all the preachers on earth could give me."

Mother was also a member of the same church in Rochester in 1849. She was officially waited upon in Arcadia by a very young preacher (hardly twenty years of age in appearance) who had, evidently, but little experience in the office to which he had been _specially called_ to save souls. He introduced himself as the "servant of the Lord," and, walking up to mother, said, "This is sister Fox, I suppose?" Mother replied, "I am Mrs. Fox." "Well, Mrs. Fox, there is a complaint against you for countenancing your children in carrying on a wicked deception. It is calculated to do much harm, and it is contrary to the religion of the Bible." He urged her to make her confession before the church, and cause her children to discontinue their unholy pursuit, and she could remain in good standing in the church. This little man was a circuit preacher, and we suppose had taken upon himself to do the Lord's work, in his own way, as we never heard from him again; and I seriously doubt if any one ever sent him. It recalls what Sojourner Truth said to the preacher, when she was attending a woman's rights meeting in the church and a violent thunder-storm came up, with peal after peal shaking the building to its foundation, when the minister arose and proposed that they should adjourn, as he thought the Lord was angry on account of the movement, and he believed it was wicked to hold such a meeting in a church.

Sojourner arose and said to him, "Set still, chile. Don't you be afeared. I don' believe the Lord ever hearn tell on you."

Mother was never expelled from the church, but the leading members came to our side--minister and all.