The Society for Psychical Research : its rise & progress & a sketch of its work / by Edward T. Bennett.

  • Bennett, Edward T.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Society for Psychical Research : its rise & progress & a sketch of its work / by Edward T. Bennett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

    60/72 page 52
    conviction that I have really been a witness, were it only for a few minutes, of the voluntary manifestion of a deceased person.* IV.—Blanche Abercromby (not real name).t—This is a very curious case. A number of MS. books belonging to Mr. W. Stainton Moses were placed in the hands of Mr. Myers by Mr. Stainton Moses' literary Executors, Mr. C. C. Massey and Mr. Alfred A. Watts. In one of these books were some pages gummed down, apparently by Mr. Stainton Moses, and marked by him private matter. With the permission*, of the Executors, Mr. Myers carefully opened the pages. In describing what he found, he says the case is in some respects the most remarkable of all [among those of alleged spirits whose communications are in any way evidential], from the series of chances which have been needful in order to establish its veracity. Mr. Myers continues : The spirit in question is that of a lady known to me, whom Mr. Moses had met, I believe, once only. . . The lady died on a Sunday afternoon, about 20 years ago, at a country house about 200 miles from London. Her death, which was regarded as a matter of public interest, was at once telegraphed to London, and appeared in Monday's Times; but of course, on Sunday evening, no one in London, save the Press and perhaps the immediate family, was cognisant of the fact. On that evening near mid- night a communication purporting to come from her was made to Mr. Moses, at his secluded lodgings in the North of London. The identity was some days later corroborated by a few lines purporting to come directly from her, and to be in her handwriting. There is no reason to suppose that Mr. Moses had ever seen this handwriting. . . On receiving these messages he seems to have mentioned them to no one, and simply to have gummed down the pages in his MS. book. Mr. Myers continues:— The book when placed in my hands was still thus gummed down. . . I opened the pages, and was surprised to find a brief letter (automatically written, professedly from Blanche Abercromby), which though containing no definite facts was entirely characteristic of the Blanche Abercromby I had known. But although I had received letters from her in life, I had no recollec- tion of her handwriting. I happened to know a son of hers sufficiently well to be able to ask his aid—aid which, I may add, he would have been most unlikely to afford to a stranger. He lent me a letter for comparison. The strong resemblance was at once obvious, but the A of the surname was made in the letter in a way quite different from that adopted in the automatic script. The son then allowed me to study a long series of letters, reaching * Proceedings, S.P.R., vol. xvii. pp. 83-84.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3