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 (pronounced 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. God 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.
Among my loose papers I find a newspaper article from the London Spiritualist of December 12, 1873, respecting this extraordinary child: