his heresy trial, copy of the charges, the heresy sermon, the scene at the conference, Austin's full address defending his views on spiritualism at the London annual Conference at Windsor, June First 1899". In any event Dr Austin's call for a more scientific view of spiritualism and the bible was not received well. Only one vote kept his expulsion from being unanimous. Spiritualism Spiritualism, the religious system that Austin supported, and under whose banner he later worked in Rochester and Los Angeles, was a religious movement with its modern roots in the mid-1840s. The movement continues to this day and the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (which is the modern continuation of an organisation with which Austin had contact) lists the following as its guiding principles. 1. We believe in Infinite Intelligence. 2. We believe that the phenomena of Nature, both physical and spiritual, are the expression of Infinite Intelligence. 3. We affirm that a correct understanding of such expression and living in accordance therewith, constitute true religion. 4. We affirm that the existence and personal identity of the individual continue after the change called death. 5. We affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a fact, scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism. 6. We believe that the highest morality is contained in the Golden Rule: "Whatsoever ye would that others should do unto you, do ye also unto them." 7. We affirm the moral responsibility of individuals, and that we make our own happiness or unhappiness as we obey or disobey Nature's physical and spiritual laws. 8. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any human soul here or hereafter. 9. We affirm that the precepts of Prophecy and Healing are Divine attributes proven through Mediumship. The movement was formed primarily from the well-educated classes and contained many formerly Christian theologians. Many were driven away from Christianity by that faith's, as they saw it, overly strict application of doctrine and its denial of certain phenomena such as astral projection. It was a large movement and in 1878 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boston estimated the total number of Spiritualists in the United States to be over 10 million. The exact number was hard to pinpoint, however, there were many levels of Spiritualist belief. Some Spiritualists still saw themselves as devoted Christians while others denounced their former faith in public. All estimates at their