Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-01-31
rFRom THE LIVERPOOL MERCURY
Gaze of hiss MalgMret N' AroY.l

LstteF from Mr.. Egcrtop Smith TO DIR. Thomas
Renwick, Liverpool.
tn'my former letter confined myself TO
the simple and scrupulous relation OF
facts neither suggesting any theory OF
my own, nor coumteuancing that os any
other person. had seen Miss M'Avoy
decipher very minute print, and other OBJ
Jects IN tight, wherein | could barely
discern The leaves of a book. With Ilin-
dage over her eyes, through which. when
applied 10 mine, could not ascertain the
difference between noon and midnight. |
saw the same young lady determine ac-
| curately the colors of cloth, rihbauds,
glass, and other substances, and also pc
ruse writing and printed books. All these
unaccountable feats saw with astonish-
meut, and recorded with fidelity but il
certainly does not follow, as matter of
| course, that because could not compre-
bend how they We're in reality effected, |
must necessarily believe they were the re-
| suits Of touch.
My doubts, which assure you. are as
sincere as believe your own faith TO be,
are not as you fancy, founded upon the
| opinion of any one. am free indeed 10
| confess, that the accounts given by 9TH
ers of the results of their interviews with
| Miss MAvoy, have had no snail share in
confirming the suspicious l uniformly en-
'eriained after my first or second visit
Before proceed briefly to record the
Suspicious symptoms To which | have
before alluded, it may be proper 10 notice
what strikes me as most palpable incon-
Sistency, between the theory Of the young
lady herself, at one time, and her prac-
lice at another.
| 1t is well known TO those who have been
in the habit of visiting her, that the inter
position otany obstacle between her face
and the object of her research, entirely
deprives her of the faculty TO which she
| lays claim. 1t was necessary 10 explain
circumstance, so likely 10 excite suspi-
cion that she derived her knowledge from
the sight. rather than the touch and it
was accordingly given out, by herself,
! that tree and uninterrupted commumi-
cation between her hands and her breath
was absolutely Indispensable
| Soon after this convenient arrange
ment, she began, however, to assume
powers completely at variance with this
condition; and either effectedor affected
wonders, which, III my former letter, /
took the liberty TO characterize as truly
preposterous. Ii will be sufficient 10 nv
present purpose, 10 select the following
specimens from your own narrative, page
6S and rs.
With her hands placed behind her,
upon the window opposite TO the commu-
mon end OF the church, she told the fig
'TySs OF different people passing and
sometimes named the color OF the clothes,
&c" Page 90.
! She soon afterwards told purple
flower behind her /; a light yellow, a ma
Fygold, aud small pn-cusfion of red
| cloth under white handkerchief, laying
upon her knee" Page 70.
In these marvellous feats, unparalleled
| IN Tie history OF the world, there could be
| no communication between her hands
and her breath which before, according
TO her own reiterated assertion, was To-
calliy indispensable 10 her successful per-
Torrance a sine qua non, in default of
| winch the " faculty uniformly left her..
II there he not most palpable incOnsiSt-
ency IN tins circumstance, | must have
mistaken the meaning of consistency.
now proceed briefly TO narrate few,
out OF many instances of entire failure on
| the part OF Miss M'Avoy. which contain
very strong presumptive, IS not direct evil
dence, that the eye is i'm some way or
other concerned in these mysteries"
relate the following fact upon the We
ry best authority, which is that of Doctor
Taylor himself, whose presence Won no
tlce along with that of the Rev. John
Yates, the Rev. Thomas Relsbam and
| others when the following experiment
was tried, which expect TO sec in your
second edition DIR. Taylor borrowed,
from oAe OF the gentlemen present, walk
ing cane, upon the silver top of which
was large letter, Cor cypher) deeply en-
graved. lie presented tliis cane to Miss
NJ AvOy, III an horizontal position. with
the ierule towards her, and course the
top from her, III such way, that bad she
possessed sight, she could not have seen
the aforementioned letter. Upon being
required tO describe this cane, she imme-
diately decided upon its cOlor-and, with
as little hesitation discovered that fine
metal which surrounded the upper end
was silver; she could make nothing. how
ever, of the piece but soon after
| the same cane was presented to her i'm an
upright position, when she instantly de-
clared that there was a large b engraved
| upon the top which was as true as that
3 is the first letter of BeIsham
MIR. e. whose name is at your service
whenever required, from his first inter
view with Miss M'AvOy, which was in
company with me, suspected that she
could see, Notwithstanding tie bandapes.
through which he could not discern auv
thing, and prev allied upona very iute Iligent
Tread to accompany him OH his next vi
SIT, III order that his conJeciures might be
confirmed or removed. This friend was
MIR. Bradbury, author Of The rccentlv
| published travels IN America a nlau of
sober Judgment, and philosophic mind as
any with whom have ever had the plea
sure 10 be acquainted. After the Young
lady had gone through lie usual routine
OF performances with the goggles, size
was asked to name the color of q piece of
clotii, placed behind her, which she at