Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-11-07
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am sure, he had seen before,) proposed 10 MI MI;
he p ,b,r ,h. lille Girl should be produced, ana
the bandace be applied 10 her eyes with such au.
Jions as Or. Warner would apply 10 shu, ON.
ihe leh, (as in the case OF Mr.. Peake,) ana .nal
/ The exhibition should proceed. This proposal ne
rejected, saying, lha, his bandase was enouS ~
and that by the Printed Directions, WIN any ue.
narure from what they prescribed, the exninilioh
must cease. ~ =
Nov 81, 1875
RICHMOND. Oct, 30, 1914.
Dear SiI-Tn compliance with your ieques',
proceed 10 stale all that occurred, as Tar a. nov
recollert il. al the TWO exhibitions BY Mr: anu
, MADAME DE Bonneville and The li,le girl Mar
lha Ann on Thursday and Friday nights, lne
10Th and 9Th of October, at Odd Fellows tia'i'
went 10 the Hall on Thursday. night, IRON
simple curiosity, in consequence OF The marvel
lous accounts which had heard oil inc Po"e,s'
in Mesmcrsm, OF Mr.. and Mad. DE bonDeViNe,
with their lule ClaiIvoyante girl. When mere
| was constituted by the audience one OF Inc
Committee of Investigation, and went upon The
platform -Messrs. Caske, Myers ana on ,ra
were the other members oil The Conmiuee. nc
bandage OF Mr.. De Bonneville was ploouccu'
and examined by The Committee, ana lounu 10
be made of round buckskin, and found 10 be I'M
lace i, fitted II was then placed over The eyes 0,
the little Girl, and drawn as tight as she wou'd
permi, il without complaint, but still thought she
could see through the channels formed oy inc
sides Of the nose; and filled those channels with
plsdgcls OF linen or cotton rag; and then SUD-
,ni,ted 10 her several prints, which had been
brought by Mr. Myers and she described them
accurately. | was very much aslonished, ihouSn
always firm in my disbelief OF Mesmerism, ana
especially of Clairvoyancc; but wished !air,
though critical and skillul, experiment made
determined, il convinced oil my error, 10 con-
TESS il. or TO detect the imposition II there was
une i then stated 10 the audience what had
passed and my establishment at II, because
,bouobi The handage secure and asked that Dr
Warner might lie allowed 10 come upon Inc
stand. because | knew that he was prac'isea 10
bandapipp was a man oil much mental acuteness,
and scientific attainment, and had been watching
Mesmerism very closely
MIR. De Bonneville and many OF his friends,
objected 10 DR.. Warmers taking The s'aEd Iea-
nlained nv reasons Tor wishing hun. ana me au-
dience determined he should come ! lc CAM ana
examined the bandase, thought ii defective and
remedied The defects as he and thought, 80 that
we bo,h supposed The child could hot see ] then
submitted other prints 10 her (bcinS r. only per
son placed in communication as II vas SAID,
with her and she described them ali accurately,
with one execution, and especially Striking was
she in describing what Mr.. Ca>kic brought, all
o! which was explained 10 The meeting. Inc
Committee was then called for for their Opinions.
| stated that the exhibition had as'onlshed me,
and shaken my disbelief more than supposed II
could have been because could not detect The de-
feel in the bandage; but still, as the power was
miraculous, il il existed, could mol believe
withou, farther proof and proposed that Mr.. DE
r. ia, IN hp lIUlf
child in the dark, as il would not make Inc room
more dark TO her, il, indeed the handage was
tight. while il would make that darkness visible
10 ms. and so remove all doubt. Mr.. DE Bonne-
VILE became excited al the proposal, and rejected
il saving he had never tried her IN inc DARK;
which told him was the very reason wished
her tried al once The trial was not made, and
the audience dispersed. On Friday night
went. Messrs Caskie, Myers and Snead, de-
clarcd that they we're satisfied with The EVIL
dcnce of Clarvoyancc, though Mr.. Caskle
said he thought there ought 10 De another trial.
DR.. Warner declared his total disbelief, and SAID
he was certain the handagc was imperfect. On
Friday night | went again, and was aga I'm put on
The committee with Drs. Warner, Deane, and
Dove, and Mr. Caskie. The same bandaee was
produced; DR.. Deane objected 10 it-Dr Warner
said lets meet him hali-way-iake his bandase
and use other means 10 make il secure, such as
handkerchie!s aud Dr. - said we must be al
lowed, il we pleased, 10 place the finger upon The
eyelids and DR.. Warner suggested That Mr.. and
Nd'm. De Bonneville and the father OF The child
should be placed on the opposite side Of The room;
and was instructed BY the committee 10 say 10
the audience that if those terms were allowed us,
we would proceed with The experiments. and other
wise we would not Much resistance v as made
to The terms, bu, the audience decided with US,
-. nrnranIod t.1S
mesmerised (proiessedly,) and DR.. Warner and
myself obtained Two pocket haDdkerchieis from
Two ladies, which were folded hy DR.. Warner,
and then the bandaoe was applied. When the
bandaye was tied, The child made various COM
plainls She complained Of her heart OF a pain
in her breast. and OF bad feelings all over, and
said ~ can't see tonight" Mr. De Bonneville
was then called and came TO her. and asked how
she felt, and she repeated what She had said, and
her father said "he will kill the child, she has had
this affection Of the hear once before, and The
child then said she had been walking good deal,
and if let OH until tomorrow night she would stay
in her room and be ready.
The child then said The bandage was too high,
al, covers these eyes" putting her fingers TO her
forehead, 10 which replied that could mol be, be-
cause could see hcrevc brows; but, to avoid any
lust complaint, placed il lower town-she then
complained thai The bandage pressed upon her
noslrs, so that she could not breathe We e1-
amined her nostrs carefully, and found one not
al all compressed, and the other slightly so bat
not so as seriously 10 affect The breathing; but, as
far as | could, relieved that. Mr.. De Bonnie
Vile took hold OF each Of the middle fingers OF
the child between the points OF his fore finger and
thumb, and held them for minute or two, and
then asked her how she felt, and she answered
"be,ter-well." He then asked "can you see
can YOU see me" and she answered "yes-givc
me something and lei Inc see" Before The BAN
dase was applied The child said she was well.
told Mr.. De Bonneville 10 satisfy himself
that she was we'll before he proceeded, and ii he
had any doubt whether she was well ne had BET
ter SO inform the audience, and ask postpone
ment until the next evening. He said no; she is
well now, and you may proceed-ap we dId pro-
coed, BY submitting 10 the child the engraving OF
a skull which Dr. Warner brought and handed
10 me. who alone had been put into communica-
lion Gas il was pretendet) with the child. She
rubbed her hands over il, rubbed il against her
forehead, held ii in every direction, above, below,
aside in front, and finally exclaimed she could
not see, and asked 10 be allowed TO get up, and
ultimately, without waiting TO have "lhe fluid
thrown Off" she bursled the bonds OF Mesmerism,
lore off The handage, jumped out OF The chair, and
left The platform, and the committee unanimous
Is declared the experiment 10 be complete iall-
urc, as il was. On Saturday night was moi pre-
sent. was absent from town. but should not
have been present if in town. because | consider.
ed The explosion complete on Friday.
may add that there was nothing in The ex-
cuse, tina, DR.. Warner had offered "a colored, but
illeeible) engraving OF skull, with which the
child was unacquainted, because Mesmerism as
sumes 10 see all that The person in communca-
lion with the Mesmerizee sees and because on
Thursday night ozark spots" were as easily tod
as co!orcd prints.
With high respect, your serv't.
JAMES LYONS.
RICHMOND Oct. 81, ls45.
Dear Doctor have Just received your note
and statement Of the occurrences which led 10
an exposure of the experiments in Clairvoyance
on Friday evening the 18th Oct. You request
me 10 give my opinion Of The correctness OF your
narrative have perused il carefully, and am