Homer.

— We have been in contact for a long time with two mediums of Sens, as distinguished by their faculties as they are commendable for their modesty, devotion, and purity of intentions. We would avoid saying so if we did not know them to be inaccessible to pride, that stumbling block of so many mediums, against which so many happy dispositions have come to break. It is a rather rare quality, which merits being pointed out. We were able to assure ourselves personally of the sympathies which they enjoy among the good Spirits; but, far from availing themselves of it, far from judging themselves the only interpreters of the truth, without letting themselves be dazzled by imposing names, they accept with all humility and with prudent reserve the communications which they receive, always submitting them to the control of reason. It is the only means of discouraging the deceiving Spirits, ever on the watch for persons disposed to believe, on their word, everything that comes from the world of Spirits, provided it bears the signature of a respectable name. Moreover, they have never received frivolous, trivial, coarse, or ridiculous communications, and no Spirit has ever tried to inculcate in them eccentric ideas or to impose itself as an absolute regulator. And what proves all this still more in favor of the Spirits who assist them are the sentiments of real benevolence and true Christian charity which these Spirits inspire in their protégés. Such is the impression which remained with us from what we saw, and which we feel happy to proclaim. In the interest of the preservation and the perfecting of their faculty, we make vows that they may never fall into the error of the mediums who judge themselves infallible. There is not a single one who can boast of having never been deceived. The best intentions do not always guarantee, and, very often, they are a trial to exercise the judgment and the perspicacity. But, with regard to those who have the misfortune to judge themselves infallible, the deceiving Spirits are very skillful in taking advantage of them; they do what men do: they exploit all weaknesses. Among the communications which these gentlemen sent us, the following, signed by Homer, although it presents nothing exceptional as to the ideas, seemed to us to merit particular attention, by virtue of a notable fact which can, to a certain point, be considered as a proof of identity. This communication was obtained spontaneously and without the medium in any way thinking of the Greek poet. It provoked various questions which we also judged we ought to reproduce.

— One day the medium wrote what follows, without knowing who was dictating it to him:

“My God! how profound are your designs and impenetrable your views! In all ages men have sought the solution of a multitude of problems which are not yet resolved. I too sought it all my life and was incapable of resolving what seems to all the most simple: evil, the goad of which you make use to impel man to do good out of love. While still very young, I knew the ill-treatment which men make one another suffer, without premeditation, as though for them evil were a natural element; yet it is not so, since all tend toward the same end, which is good. They slaughter one another and, upon awakening, recognize that they have wounded a brother! But these are your decrees, and it does not belong to us to change them; we have only the merit or the demerit of having resisted temptation more or less and, as the sanction of all this, punishment or reward. “I passed my youth in the marshes of Mélèr; [2] I bathed and rocked myself many times in their waters. That is why, in my youth, I was called Melesigenes.”

This name being unknown, we begged the Spirit to deign to explain it in a precise manner.

Answer. – My youth was rocked in the waters; poetry gave me white hairs. I am he whom you call Homer.

Observation. – Great was our surprise, for we had no idea of the surname of Homer; afterward we found it in the mythological dictionary. We continued the questions.

Could you tell us to what we owe the happiness of your spontaneous visit? We were absolutely not thinking of you, at this moment, for which we beg your pardon.

Answer. – It is because I come to your meetings, as one always goes to the brothers who have in view the doing of good.

If it is not too bold, we would like you to speak of the last moments of your life on Earth.

Answer. – Oh! my friends, may God grant that you do not die as unhappy as I! My body withered away in the last of human miseries; the soul is greatly disturbed in such a state; the awakening is more difficult, but it is also more beautiful. Oh! how great is God! may he bless you! I ask it from the bottom of my heart.

The poems of the Iliad and the Odyssey, which we have, are they exactly those which you composed?

Answer. – No; they were modified.

Several cities disputed the honor of having been your cradle. Could you enlighten us on the matter?

Answer. – Seek the city of Greece which possesses the house of the courtier Clénax. It was he who expelled my mother from the place of my birth, because she would not be his mistress; thus, you will know in which city I was born. Yes, they disputed this supposed honor, but they did not dispute over having given me hospitality. Oh! behold the poor humans; ever trifles; good thoughts, never!

Observation. – The most important fact of this communication is the revelation of the surname of Homer;

and it is all the more notable in that the two mediums, who deplore the insufficiency of their instruction—which obliges them to live by manual labor—could not have had the least idea about it. And it can all the less be attributed to any reflection whatever of the thought, considering that at the moment they were alone.

In this regard, we will make another observation: It is proved, for every Spiritist, even for the least experienced, that if someone knew the surname of Homer and, in an evocation, as proof of identity, asked him to reveal it, he would obtain nothing. If the communications were nothing but a reflection of the thought, how is it that the Spirit would not say that which we know, while he himself says that which we are ignorant of? It is that he too has his dignity and his susceptibility and wishes to prove that he is not at the orders of the first curious person who appears. Let us suppose that the one who protests most against what he calls the caprice or ill will of the Spirit should present himself at a house declining his name. What would he do, if they received him and asked him point-blank to prove that he was indeed himself? He would turn his back. It is what the Spirits do. This does not mean that one should believe on their word; but when one wants proofs of identity, it is necessary that we treat them with the same consideration which we extend to men. The proofs of identity furnished spontaneously by the Spirits are always the best. If we have dwelt so long on a subject which did not seem to warrant so many considerations, it is that it appears to me useful not to neglect any occasion to draw attention to the practical part of a science surrounded by more difficulties than is generally thought, and which many persons judge themselves to possess because they know how to make a table rap or a pencil move. Moreover, we address ourselves to those who still judge themselves to need some counsels, and not to those who, after a few months of study, think they no longer need them. If the counsels, which we judge we ought to give, are lost for some, we know that they will not be lost for all and that many persons will receive them with pleasure… [1]

[v. Homer.]

[2] Translator's note: Emphasis ours – roseaux du Mélèr – In the context it corresponds to a marshy region where there flourish aquatic plants similar to the rattan cane.