He was in turn
bold, mystical, eloquent, audacious, persuasive, autocratic; and
even when his self-styled communications from the Almighty"
controverted all that his hearers had formerly held to be right,
he still magnetized or hypnotized them into an unwilling assent
to his beliefs. There was finally a proclamation to the effect
that marriage vows were to be annulled when advisable and that
complete spiritual liberty was to follow; a liberty in which a
new affinity might be sought, and a spiritual union begun upon
earth, a union as nearly approximate to God's standards as faulty
human beings could manage to attain.
Some of the faithful fell away at this time, being unable to
accept the full doctrine, but retained their faith in Cochrane's
original power to convert sinners and save them from the wrath of
God. Storm-clouds began to gather in the sky however, as the
delusion spread, month by month and local ministers everywhere
sought to minimize the influence of the dangerous orator, who
rose superior to every attack and carried himself like some
magnificent martyr-at-will among the crowds that now criticized
him here or there in private and in public.
"What a picture of splendid audacity he must have been," wrote
Ivory, "when he entered the orthodox meeting-house at a huge
gathering where he knew that the speakers were to denounce his
teachings.
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