“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.