Dr. Edwin
Clay, the well known Baptist clergyman, called at the house to behold
the wonders with his own eyes. He had read some little account of them
in the newspapers, but was desirious of seeing and hearing for himself,
not taking much stock, as the saying is, in what other people told him
about the affair. However, he was fortunate enough to have his desire
fully gratified. He heard the loudest kind of knocks, in answer to his
various questions, saw the mysterious writing on the wall, and left the
house fully satisfied that Esther did not produce any of the
manifestations herself, and that the family did not assist her as some
people believed. He, however, was of the opinion that through the shock
her system had received the night she went riding, she had become in
some mysterious manner an electric battery. His theory being, that
invisible flashes of lightening left her person, and that the knocks
which every body could hear distinctly, were simply minute claps of
thunder. He lectured on his theory, and drew large audiences as he
always does, no matter what the subject is. Perfectly satisfied that the
manifestations are genuine, he has nobly defended Esther Cox from the
platform and the pulpit.

Rev. R.A. Temple, the well known Wesleyan minister pastor of the
Wesleyan Church in Amherst, has witnessed some of the manifestations. He
saw, among other strange things, a bucket of cold water become agitated,
and to all appearances boil, while standing on the kitchen table.

As soon as people in the village found that such eminent men as Dr.
Clay, Dr. Caritte and Rev. Dr. Temple took an interest in the case, it
became quite fashionable for people in the village to call at Dan's
little cottage to see Esther Cox and witness the wonderful
manifestations. While the house was filled with visitors, large crowds
often stood outside unable to gain admittance. On several occasions the
village police force had to be called out to keep order, so anxious were
people to see and hear for themselves.

Many believed and still believe the whole affair a fraud, and others say
that Esther mesmerizes people, and they think they hear and see things
which never have an existence. Dr. Nathan Tupper is of this belief,
although he has never witnessed a single manifestation.

Dr. Caritte, who continued to be one of the daily callers at the
cottage, would have a theory one day that would seem to account for the
manifestations he had witnessed,