Prudently avoiding the disagreeable question of his giving himself, both
in this state of existence and in his spiritual circle, a name to which
he never had any pretensions whatever, and likewise prudently suppressing
any reference to his amiable weakness as a swindler and an infamous
trafficker in his own wife, the guileless Mr. Balsamo delivered, in a
“distinct voice”, this distinct celestial utterance—unquestionably
punctuated in a supernatural manner: “My power was that of a mesmerist,
but all-misunderstood by those about me, my biographers have even done me
injustice, but I care not for the untruths of earth”.