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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 35
It is Opposed to all Law; is Destructive of the Distinction Between Right and Wrong; and, as a Consequence, Destroys Moral Character
It is Opposed to all Law; is Destructive of the Distinction Between Right and Wrong; and, as a Consequence, Destroys Moral Character.
"Thus thy body needs no laws, having been in its creation supplied with all that could be necessary for its government. Thy spirit is above all laws and above all essences which flow therein. God created thy spirit from within his own, and surely the Creator of law is above it; the Creator of essences must be above all essence created. And if thou hast what may be, or might be termed laws, they are always subservient unto thy spirit."—p. 163.
"Good men need no law, and laws will do bad or ignorant men no good."
"If a man be above the law, he should never be governed by it. If he be below, what good can dead, dry words do him."
"True knowledge removeth all laws from power by placing the spirit of man above it."—p. 164.
destroyed. In "Flashes of Light," page 151, a spirit, calling himself" Lorenzo Dow," says:—
"I believe that the judge of every intelligent being is within themselves, and I believe they are accountable only to that judge."
"No, none whatever, save those standards that are erected in every human soul. Each one has a standard for themselves, and no one can borrow of another."
"Our conscience is the only judge, and to it alone are we responsible; that moment that conscience pronounces sentence, the moment of judgment is passed."
In these quotations the statement is again boldy made, that the only judge to whom man is responsible is himself; that there is no standard of right or law, but that which man makes for himself; and that there is no day of judgment, at which time man will need to give account of his deeds. The full consequences of principles such as these are enough to appal the stoutest heart. A man who loves gold, the law to himself, and accountable to none higher than himself! then what is to hinder him from stealing, or murdering if needs be, to get gold, or from resorting to all kinds of business frauds, in order to gain his ends? If a man delights in blood, and has a fiendish pleasure in taking human life, what is there in such principles to restrain him from the most diabolical deeds, and like the Thugs of India, who have systematised murder and made it a part of their service to their goddess, hurrying hundreds of their fellows to premature deaths? There is no crime that is conceivable to the mind, however diabolical or dastardly it may be, but may be justified by such principles; and were they generally accepted, a scene would be re-enacted, before which the bloody deeds of the French Revolution would pale their horrors. May God preserve the world from the spread of so great a pestilence.
From the American Banner of Light the following is taken:—
"Within the bosom of every man and woman there is a judgment seat, a Throne of God; and before that, and that alone, should men bow down and worship. By that alone they are to be guided. He is to be judged by himself as a spirit, he is to come before no other tribunal. If by the law of self he is condemned, he must suffer according to the condemnation; if acquitted by self, he is indeed acquitted."—Quoted from "Spiritualism Unveiled," p. 45.
"When man became a living soul he became a god. All living souls are gods. They die not. S0, living soul, rejoice in thy wisdom ... be a king, a Jehovah. You are all gods every one of you. Look within yourself and behold yourself a god, responsible for every act. Head the inscription there, and thou shalt learn that thou art a god in thyself, and thine own judge."
"What a horrible phantom, what a soul crushing superstition is this idea of an overruling, omnipresent, all-powerful God. . . . Belief in a God is degrading, whatever the character ascribed to him. Where is your God? I can stand up and look him in the face, and affirm that I have a right to 'life, and liberty, and happiness,' whether it is his pleasure that I shall enjoy them or not. It is perfectly plain, then, that his Godhead or my manhood must succumb! If I can beat him even at one point, he is no God. But, if I can make a case once, I can a thousand times, in the case of every single right; and if I maintain my manhood in spite of Him, so may every other human being, and so the God is nowhere—utterly routed."
"Society held Prof. Webster responsible for his delinquency, or murderous deed. Is this exact justice? I hear a protesting voice,—'Prof. Webster should have more properly instituted a suit for individual damages against society. Because the crime in this case was the legitimate effect of a social relation between debtor and creditor; of which antagonistic relations the distinguished indivi- page 53
duals were the most unfortunate victims. The precise thought here intended can be much easier misunderstood than apprehended. It is quite a manifest departure from the popular definitions of justice; and like a traveller in a strange country, the reader may unintentionally wander astray. You exclaim, 'Oh! it is all a plea for vice—relieving the individual of moral responsibility, and encouraging transgression by charging all upon society!' Error could not be more remote from truth than this conclusion from the author's meaning. Every individual is surely doing a blamable wrong when he acts inconsistently with the indwelling law of right. But who shall say what that law is? Who shall sit in judgment against his brother?"
Thus, murder is here openly shielded on the ground that the murderer had acted in harmony with the indwelling law of right, set up by and for himself, and that no other person had a right to sit in judgment upon him. On the same principle, every crime is justifiable, whether fratricide, matricide, regicide, suicide, pillage, fraud, oppression, seduction, adultery, and the whole long and horrible list of crimes that have stained the history of the race in the past.
"As has been shown in other portions of this volume, there are no elements in the soul which can be proved to be intrinsically evil—no affections which entertain any real sympathy for unrighteous things! This position I know to be invulnerable. Hence all the evil and corruption in this world are referable to a misdirection and a wrong application of intrinsically good and divine elements or impulses which reside in the human spiritual constitution. I am consequently constrained to assert, that man is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost is in man. Moreover, it is positively unrighteous to term misdirection "evil"—because, the latter word is immersed in unphilosophical and erroneous associations.
"Since it is incontestably demonstrated that there are no intrinsically evil or fiendish principles, passions, or impulses in man's interior nature, we are constrained to conclude that it is impossible page 54
that there should be evil spirits existing in any of the great realms of the spiritual universe.
"Thus, sentence might be added to sentence in amplifying the philosophy that all evil is but imperfection tending to its ultimate perfection."
"Yes, it is right to those who exercise it, but to those who see the dark, deformed side of revenge, it is not right. It surely is not the better way. The soul that exercises revenge does so because it is ignorant of the better way always."
"Resolved—That 'evil,' so-called, is not a transgression of any law, either physical or moral; but that evil (and sin) arise from internal conditions and from external circumstances over which individuals have no absolute control."
"The spirit of condemnation—this practice of giving one man credit as 'good.' and denouncing another as 'evil'—condemning the 'warrior' and praising the 'peaceman'—condemning the soul of the 'Spanish Inquisitor,' and holding up the beautiful character of 'William Penn'—will vanish when men come to apprehend and comprehend that the human spirit is compelled to act out its character. It is beautiful to contemplate the character of the peaceful William Penn; but the inmost spirit of the Spanish Inquisitor is just as peace-loving and beautiful!"
devoted his life to ameliorating his condition! According to this dictum, all national, municipal, and family government is a huge mistake and blunder; the incarceration of the prisoners in the gaols, a grave crime; correction by a parent of his child an unwarrantable and unjustifiable act. Verily the world has been in great error in making laws, :and arrangements, such as now exist! But, we will pardon it, and will say—Go on old world; make and continue to observe your laws; for we would much rather submit to your great error, than be cursed by the spiritualists' right. Roll on, old world, and may thy law-abiders long remain as a mighty bulwark against the wicked devices of the lovers of the spirits that love "to peep and mutter." In a lecture on the "Philosophy of Reform" given in New York, Mr. Davis again says:
"Reformers need to understand that war is as natural to one stage of human development as peace is natural to another. My brother has the spirit of revenge. Shall I call him a demon? Is not his spirit natural to his condition? War is not evil or repulsive except to a man of peace. Who made the warrior? Who made the non-resistant? Polygamy is as natural to one stage of development as oranges are natural to the South. Shall I grow indignant, and because I am a monogamist, condemn my kinsman of yore? Who made him? Who made me? We both came up under the confluence of social and political circumstances; and we both represent our conditions and our teachers. The doctrine of blame and praise is natural only to an unphilosophical condition of mind. The spirit of complaint—of attributing 'evil' to this and that plane of society—is natural; but is natural only to undeveloped minds. It is a profanation—a sort of atheism of which I would not be guilty. And all our religions, all our schemes of reformation, operating on this superficial plane, need the very elements which are necessary to reform."
Thus revenge, war, polygamy, and every violation of the principles of morality are not to be blamed. In the opinion of spiritists, it is impossible to do wrong. To call crime by its true name is a sort of "atheism," a "profanation" of which this great light of the spiritual philosophy will not be guilty.
"I will not contend about how Pope or anybody else viewed the axiom, or into what departments of God's universe they give it page 56
entrance; I believe that 'Whatever is, is Right,' in its fullest and broadest sense, covering every act in the past, present, or future."
"We say, as we have said a thousand times before, there is no such thing as sin, no such thing as evil. . . . Now, then, if there is sin anywhere, God made that sin—he is the author of it. The foundation of your religion is fast fading away. Soon we shall find you shaking hands with these new things. This must be so. .... Jesus of Nazareth, if he were here to-day, would tell you as we tell you."
"Spiritually and divinely considered, there is no sin. Full well we know the book you call the Bible teaches of sin; full well we know the whole Christian world recognises such a condition; but, to us, there is no sin."
"At the Rhode Island State Spiritualists' Convention, held at Providence in 1866, Mr. Wheeler said—'Drunkenness is just as good as soberness; vice is just as good as virtue; the devil is the equal of God, and hell is just as sweet as Heaven. Hell itself, if you raise it high enough, becomes the golden floor of Heaven. As Spiritualists, we have not acknowledged that there is such a thing as moral obligation."
"At the same Convention, Mr. Perry said—'As a Spiritualist, I have yet to learn that we hold anything as sacred."
"The above extracts are quoted from 'C. Standard,' for October 20th, 1866, and speak for themselves. They were uttered by prominent Spiritualists, in a State Convention, and, so far as I know, have never been repudiated by any of the leading journalists or lecturers of the fraternity, though they have often been quoted by their opposers.
'As quoted by McDonald, Dr. Hare, a distinguished Spiritualist, says—'The prodigious diversity between virtue and vice is the consequence of contingencies which are no more under the control of the individual affected than the colour of his hair or the number of cubits in his stature.' Again, 'There is no evil that can be avoided.'
"The plain meaning of all this is, that the drunkard, prostitute, murderer, etc., is no more blamable for his crimes than for the colour of his hair. This sentiment accords with the following prayer, found in the 'Banner of Light' for December 3rd, 1862—'We thank thee for all conditions of men, for drunkards, for prostitutes, for the dissolute of every description.' In the same paper for Februarys, 1862, a writer says—'I cannot think that liber- page 57
tinism injures the immortal soul.' In the same paper, October 19, 1850, in a reported discussion in convention, Dr. Child says—'In Fenelon there is no merit; in Herod there is no demerit.' Mr; Newton, in the same discussion, endorses the above sentiment; so does Mr. Gardner; so does Mr. Wilson, of N.Y., in these words—'Moral distinction, I cannot recognise as an essential quality of the soul.' Miss Lizzie Doten endorsed the former speakers. In short, the above sentiment is in accordance with the general tenor of Spiritualists' arguments, and is the legitimate conclusion from their pantheistic premises.
"A. J. Davis, in 'Nat. Div. Rev.,' p. 392, says—'Man is not accountable, in the manner in which this supposition would imply, for the original or present imperfection; for these sprang necessarily from his uncultivated social and moral situation. Indeed it is only by the aid of these imperfections that man can properly know and appreciate purity and perfection.'
"The Healing of the Nations,' p. 169, says—'Unto God there is no error; all is comparative good.'
"A. J. Davis, 'at. Div. Rev.,' p. 521, says—'Sin, in the common acceptation of that term, does not really exist.'
"The 'Banner of Light,' for January 30, 1860, says—'There are greater uses in sin than in holiness.'
"The 'Banner of Light,' for September 19, 1869, says—'I do not believe in the possibility of loving our enemies.' Again in the same issue—'This having the "blues" because you are not as good as somebody else, I don't believe in.'
"Same paper for September 26, 1867, says—'Do men ever deteriorate in the next world? I do not believe they ever do, neither here nor there. Then we are to infer that men may do whatever they please? Yes; I believe that all wrongs, all the lesser rights, will finally become the highest and best good. . . . Then no deed, no life that creates the deed, can be evil, except to the individual who judges both. . . . The soul loses nothing of its high estate, its pure life by descending into the valley.' (of sin.)
"The 'Present Age,' for October 10, 1868, says—'We soon learn that evil has only an indefinite signification.'
"Dr. Potter summarises numerous quotations from Spiritualists thus—' We are taught that those who act the worst will progress the fastest; that 'we must go through hell to reach Heaven;' that a certain drunken woman of ill fame, 'will become more, noble than she otherwise could,' that 'sin is a lesser degree of righteousness,' that' there is no high, no low, no good or bad,' that 'murder is right, lying is right, adultery is right,' that 'whatever is, is right,' that 'it is wrong to blame anybody, that 'none should be punished.'"
reap the whirlwind. We cannot sow darnel and expect to reap wheat. Neither can we expect moral and upright lives from sowing immoral principles. That intercourse with spirits will injure, is clear from the character of the spirits given in preceding pages. I add a few more testimonies. In "The Spirits' Book," by Kardec, in Intro, pages 16 and 19, is the following:—
"Spirits are incessantly in relation with men. The good try to lead us into the right road . . . the bad ones tempt us to evil; it is a pleasure for them to see us fall, and to make us like themselves."
"Why do inferior spirits take pleasure in inducing us to do wrong? From jealousy. Not having earned a place among the good, their desire is to prevent, as far as in them lies, other spirits, as yet inexperienced, from attaining to the happiness from which they are excluded. They desire to make others suffer what they suffer themselves."—Ibid. 129, 130.
"Can spirits in the other world exercise their power to make people do wrong? They certainly can, and do exercise that power very largely."
"Many people erroneously imagine that directly the spirit departs from the body it leaves its old characteristics behind it, but it does not; it takes them with it. . . . Take, for illustration, a man who is going to be hanged for murder. Instantly the life or spirit is jerked out of him the world laughs, because they have sent him out of the world. Ay, fools! that spirit can back and be in their midst, and no one knows how many more he prompts to do the same deed."—"Holy Truth," pages 160, 161.
"I sicken at the black list of abuses which have weighed to earth the Divine Philosophy. . . . When an immoral agent steps into the domestic circle, bearing the upas branch of enmity between husband and wife, insincerity, instability, and social anarchy are at once inaugurated. A large class of spiritualists have-allowed this to occur."
"I am told by prominent spiritualists, that the ablest and most influential spiritualist in Boston has long been the worst libertine in the whole city; that the most prominent and influential page 59
spiritualist in New York has been guilty of more cases of crim con. than any other man in the United States; that I am told in Detroit they have organised and put the most licentious man in their ranks into office. In Chicago, I am told, the most wealthy and influential Spiritualist has a wife, lives with a mistress, and patronizes affinities. Of spiritual editors, no less than six are Free-lovers. Spiritualists tell me that a large house is kept in Boston by a prominent spiritualist, often honored with office, to accommodate affinity hunters. Mrs. Spence said in a public lecture in Worcester, that spirits compelled her to leave a husband with whom she was very happy. She said that nearly all mediums had like commands from spirits. An enthusiastic spiritualist who had long boarded speakers that came to Boston, told me that she never had a trance, speaker in her house that she thought capable of taking care of herself."
"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 travelled over several different countries, proclaiming the new gospel. I now regret that so much excellent breath was wasted, and that my health of mind and body was well-nigh ruined. I have 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.
"A.J. Davis and his clique of Harmonialists say there are no evil spirits. I emphatically deny the statement. Fine of my friends destroyed themselves, and I attempted it, by direct spiritual influences. Every crime in the calendar has been committed by mortals moved by viewless beings. Adultery, fornication, suicides, desertions, unjust divorces, prostitution, abortion, insanity, are not evils, I suppose! I charge all these to this scientific spiritualism. It has also broken up families, squandered fortunes, tempted and destroyed the weak. It has banished peace from happy families, separated husbands and wives, and shattered the intellect of thousands."—"Nature and Tendency of Modern Spiritualism," pages 77, 78.
"Now, after a long and constant watchfulness, seeing for months and for years its progress and its practical workings upon its devotees, its believers, and its mediums, we are compelled to page 60
speak our honest conviction, which is, that the manifestations coming through the acknowledged mediums, who are designated as rapping, tipping, writing, and entranced mediums, have a baneful influence upon believers, and create discord and confusion; that the generality of these teachings inculcate false ideas, approve of selfish, individual acts, and indorse theories and principles which, when carried out, debase and make men little better than the brute. These are among the fruits of Modern Spiritualism, and we do not hesitate to say that we believe if these manifestations are continued to be received, and to be as little understood as they are, and have been since they made their appearance at Rochester, and mortals are to be deceived by their false, fascinating, and snake-like charming powers which go with them, the day will come when the world will require the appearance of another Saviour to redeem the world from its departing from Christ's warnings.
"We desire to send forth our warning voice, and if our humble position as the head of a public journal, our known advocacy of Spiritualism, our experience, and the conspicuous part we have played among its believers, the honesty and the fearlessness with which we have defended the subject, will weigh anything in our favor, we desire that our opinions may be received, and those who are moving passively down the rushing rapids to destruction should pause ere it be too late, and save themselves from the blasting influence which those manifestations are causing."—"Nature and Tendency of Modern Spiritualism," pages 78, 79.
"Fifteen years of critical study of spiritual literature, an extensive acquaintance with the leading spiritualists, and a patient, systematic, and thorough investigation of the manifestations, for many years, enable us to speak from actual knowledge, definitely an! positively, of 'Spiritualism as it is.' Spiritual literature is full of the most insidious and seductive doctrines, calculated to undermine the very foundations of morality and virtue, and lead to the most unbridled licentiousness.
"We are told that 'we must have charity,' that it is wrong to blame any one, that we must not expose iniquity, as 'it will harden the guilty,' that 'none should be punished,' that 'man is a machine and not to blame for his conduct,' that 'there is no high, no low, no good, no bad,' that 'sin is a lesser degree of righteousness,' that 'nothing we can do can injure the soul or retard its progress,' that those who act the worst will progress the fastest,' that lying is right, slavery is right, murder is right, adultery is right,' that whatever is is right.
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"Hardly can you find a spiritualist book, paper, lecture, or communication, that does not contain some of these pernicious doctrines; in disguise, if not openly. Hundreds of families have been broken up, and many affectionate wives deserted by 'affinity-seeking' husbands. Many once devoted wives have been seduced, and left their husbands and tender, helpless children, to follow some 'higher attraction.' Many well-disposed but simple-minded girls have been deluded by 'affinity' notions, and led off by 'affinity-hunters,' to be deserted in a few months, with blasted reputations, or led to deeds still more dark and criminal to hide their shame."—"Nature and Tendency of Modern Spiritualism," pages 83, 84.
"I bring against this delusion a more fearful indictment: it ruins the soul immortal. First, it makes a man a quarter of an infidel; then it makes him half an infidel; then it makes him whole infidel. The whole system, as I conceive it, is founded on the insufficiency of the Word of God as a revelation. God says the Bible is enough for you to know about the future world. You say it is not enough, and there is where you and the Lord differ. You clear the table, you shove aside the Bible, you put your hand on the table and say:—'Now let spirits of the future world come and tell me something the Bible has not told me.' And although the Scriptures say: 'Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar,' you risk it, and say: 'Come back, spirit of my departed father; come back, spirit of my departed mother, of my companions, of my little child, and tell me some things I don't know about you and about the unseen world.' If God is ever slapped square in the face, it is when a spiritual medium puts down her hand on the table, invoking spirits departed to make a revelation. God has told you all you ought to know, and how dare you be prying into that which page 62
is none of your business? You cannot keep the Bible in one hand and Spiritualism in the other. One or the other will slip out of your grasp, depend upon it. Spiritualism is adverse to the Bible in the fact that it has, in these last days, called from the future world Christian men to testify against Christianity. Its mediums call back Lorenzo Dow, the celebrated evangelist, and Lorenzo Dow testifies that Christians are idolaters. Spiritualism calls back Tom Paine, and he testifies that he is stopping at the same house in heaven with John Bunyan. They call back John Wesley, and he testifies against the Christian religion which he all his life gloriously preached. Andrew Jackson Davis, the greatest of all the spiritualists, comes to the front and declares that the New Testament is but 'the dismal echo of a barbaric age,' and the Bible only 'one of the pen and ink relics of Christianity.' They attempt to substitute the writings of Swedenborg and Andrew Jackson Davis, and other religious balderdash, in the place of this old Bible. I have in ray house a book which was used in this very city in the public service of spiritualists. It is well worn with much service. I open that book and it says :—'What is our baptism? Answer: Frequent ablutions of water. What is our inspiration? Plenty of fresh air and sunlight. What is our prayer? Abundant physical exercise. What is our love-feast? A clear conscience and sound sleep.' And I find from the same book that the chief item in their public worship is gymnastic exercise, and that whenever they want to rouse up their souls to a very high pitch of devotion they sing page sixty-five :—'The night has gathered up her moonlit fringes;' or page sixteen :—Come to the woods, heigho! You say you are not such a fool as that; but you will be if you keep on in the track you have started."—"Talmage's Sermons," pp. 238, 239.
