there is no Lawgiver and Judge before whom men must appear
to give an account of their deeds, but that they are responsible to
themselves alone, and must give account only to their own natures. Thus
Hon. J. B. 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 seance 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 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 the 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