Observations placeholder
Stainton-Moses, William - Spirit Identity - EXTREMELY YOUNG CHILDREN SEND PRECISE DETAILS FOM INDIA
Identifier
015624
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Hmmm. No bridge, no possible connection and communication from very young children who seemed able to give their full names and very accurate particulars – even apparently dead. Suspicious I think.
We have two possibilities. Either the Reverend Moses used prior knowledge to create this [in which case the accusations of fraud would be justified] or he was fed it by one of the members of his circle – such as Dr Speer and Moses was the innocent party.
It is important to know that both Dr Speer and Moses would look up obituaries, daily newspapers, biographies or The Annual Register to research the history of deceased people. I suspect that one of the circle had found this arresting and easily found case and communicated it to Moses via intercomposer communication. If this is not the explanation, then Moses was a fraud and all the rest of the observations recorded for him are also likely to be fraudulent
A description of the experience
Spirit Identity – William Stainton Moses
On the 10th of February 1874, we were attracted by a new and peculiar triple tap on the table and received a long and most circumstantial account of the death, age (even to the month) and full names (in two cases four and in the other cases three in number) of three little ones, children of one father, who had been torn from him at one fell swoop by the Angel of death.
None of us had ever heard the names, which were peculiar. They had passed away in a far distant country, India; and when the message was given, there was no apparent point of connection with us.
The statements, however, were afterwards verified in a singular manner. On the 28th of March 1874, I met, for the first time, Mr and Mrs A A Watts, at the house of Mr Cowper Temple M P. Our conversation was concerned chiefly with evidence of the kind that I am now summarising.
I recounted various cases and among others, the case of these three children. Mrs Watts was much struck with the recital, which corresponded in outline to a very distressing history which she had just heard.
On the Monday previous Mr and Mrs Watts had dined with an old friend, Mrs Leaf and from her had heard a distressing story of bereavement which had befallen the relative of one of Mrs Leaf’s acquaintances. A gentleman residing in India had, within a brief space of time, lost his young wife and three children. Mrs Leaf entered fully into the melancholy details, but did not mention either names or the place of the sad occurrence.
In reciting the incident of three young children communicating with me, I gave the names and the place, as they had been furnished to me in the messages.
Mrs Watts undertook to ascertain from Mrs Leaf the particulars of the case she had mentioned. She did so on the very next day and the names were the same.