第29章

Hall, in a lecture reported in the Banner of Light, Feb. 6, 1864, said: -- "I believe that man is amenable to no law not written upon his own nature, no matter by whom given By his own nature he must be tried -- by his own acts he must stand or fall. True, man must give an account to God for all his deeds; but how?-- Solely by giving account to his own nature--to himself." At a séance reported in the Banner of Light, May 28, 1864, the following question was proposed, and the answer was by the communicating spirit: -- " Ques. -- To whom or to what is the soul accountable?

" Ans. -- To no Deity outside the realm of its own being, certainly;to no God which is a creation of fancy; to no Page 102 Deity who dwells in a far-off heaven, and sits upon a white throne; to no Jesus of Nazareth; to no patron saint; to no personality;to no principle outside our own individual selves." The "Healing of the Nations," p. 74, says: -- "Man is his own saviour, his own redeemer. He is his own judge--in his own scales weighed." A little over twenty years after the birth of Spiritualism, Aug. 25, 1868, the Fifth National Convention of Spiritualists was held in Corinthian hall, Rochester, N. Y., at which a formal "Declaration of Principles" was set forth. From time seventh and eighth paragraphs, under principle 20, we quote the following: -- " Seventh, To stimulate the mind to the largest investigation . . . that we may be qualified to judge for ourselves what is right and true: Eighth, To deliver from all bondage to authority whether vested in creed, book or church, except that of received truth." This is the same principle of man's responsibility to no one but himself, authoritatively adopted. What a picture have we now before us! Destroy man's belief in, and reverence for, God and Christ, as they do; lead him to ridicule the atonement, the only remedy for sin; make him disbelieve the Bible; take away from his mind all distinction between right and wrong, and assure him that he is accountable to no one but himself; and how better could one prepare the way to turn men into demons. All this the spirits, by their teaching, seek to do. And can any one fail to foresee the result?

Comparatively a small proportion of the inhabitants of this country Page 103 have committed themselves to these views; consequently but little of the legitimate fruit as yet appears; but take human nature as it is and suppose all the inhabitants of this land to act on these principles, and then what would we have? -- A pandemonium, a scene of anarchy, riot, bloodshed, and all depths of rottenness and corruption -- in short, a world where no place and no human being would be safe.

That this statement is none too strong, will appear as we look a moment at some of the results which have already developed themselves among the friends of such views, and as their inevitable fruit. The tendency can by no possibility be otherwise than to atheism amid all immorality. As has been already remarked, the repulsive features were made much more prominent in the early stages of Spiritualism than at the present time. They are now held in the background. The literature touching these points has been remodeled, and an air of respectability and religion assumed. Most of the quotations therefore date some years back, and would be charitably withheld were there any evidence of reform either present or prospective. But where or when have these principles ever been officially repudiated, and evidence given that the consequent practices had been abandoned? That there are many Spiritualists of upright and moral lives, and honorable members of society, in the best sense of that term, we gladly believe; but is not this because they are living above Page 104 their principles; and due, not to the influence, but rather to the non-influence of real Spiritualism upon their lives? The quotations given are from those who have been prominent among Spiritualists as authors and speakers. If they overdraw the picture, the responsibility is with them. Dr. B. P. Randolph, author of a work "Dealings with the Dead," was eight years a medium, then renounced Spiritualism long enough to expose its character, then returned to it again, unable to break entirely away from the spell it has fastened upon him. He gives his opinion of it in the following scathing words:-- "I enter the arena as the champion of common sense, against what in my soul I believe to be the most tremendous enemy of God, morals, and religion, that ever found foothold on the earth -- the most seductive, hence the most dangerous, form of sensualism that ever cursed a nation, age, or people. I was a medium about eight years. during which time I made three thousand speeches and traveled over several different countries, proclaiming its new gospel. I now regret that so much excellent breath was wasted, and that my health of mind and body was well nigh ruined. Ihave only begun to regain both since I totally abandoned it, and to-day had rather see the cholera in my house, than be a spiritual medium.

"As a trance speaker, I became widely known; and now aver that during the 'entire eight years of my mediumship, I firmly and sacredly confess that I had not the control of my own mind, as I now have, one twentieth of the time; and before man and high heaven I most solemnly declare that I do not now believe that during the whole eight years. I was sane for thirty-six consecutive hours, in consequence of the trance and the susceptibility thereto.