The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-01-29

common. He put a sudden end to the
solemn "deaconing out" and droninr
Of psalm tunes and grated on to his
form Of worship lively. singing. '4,nd
marching. accompanied by clapping OF
hands and whirling in circles. during
the progress OF which the most .hys.
terical converts or the most fully
"Cochranized" would swoon upon the
floor. or. in obeying their leaders in
structions to become as little chill,
dren," would sometimes go through the
most extraordinary and unmeaning
antics. "'"'|
1t was not until he had converted
hundreds to the new. faith that he
added more startling revelations 10 his
gospel. He was in turn bold. mystical.
eloquent. aldacious. persuasive. auto
cratic, and even when his self styled
communications from the Almighty
~cOntroverted all that his hearers had
formerly held to be right. he still mag
netized or hypnotized them into an un-
willing assent to his beliefs. There
was finally a proclamation to the effect
that marriage vow were to be annnl-
led 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.
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 COchrAnc'S original power to con
vert sinners and ave them from the
wrath of God. Storm clouds began t.
gether in the sky. however, as the de
fusion spread. month 10y month. ana
local ministers everywhere sought to
minimize the influence of the danger.
GUS orator. who rose superior to every
attack and carried himself like some
magnificent martyr ut will among the
crowds that now criticised him here
or there in private and in public.
what Il picture Of splendid audacity
he must have been" wrote Ivory,
when he entered the orthodox meet
ing house at Il huge gathering where
he knew that the speakers were to de
nOunce his teachings. Old ParsOn BuZ,
Zell gave out his text from the high
pulpit. Mark xiii. 81. And what l say
unto you l say unto all. watch Just
here Cochrane stepped in at the open
dOor Of the church and heard the
warning, meant. he knew. for himself.
and seizing the moment Of silence fol
lowing the reading of the text. he cried
in his splendid sonorous voice, without
SO much as stirring from his place
within the door frame: Behold. l
stand at the door and knock. II any
man ear my voice l will come in to
him and will sup with him. l come to
preach the everlasting gospel to every
one that heareth. and all that l wan,
here ls my bigness on the floor
Il canno find" continued Ivory on
another page, that my father or moth
er over engaged in any Of the foolish
and childish practices which disgraced
the meetings Of some Of COchrane's
most fanatical followers and converts.
BY my mothers conversations (some
Of which I have repeated to you. but
which may be full Of errors, because Of
her confusion of mind) I believe she
must have had a difference Of opinion
with my father on some of these
views, but l have no means Of know
ing this to u certainty. nor do l know
that the question of Choosing spiritual
c]onsorts' ever zane between or divided
them. This part Of the delusion al
ways fills M with such ~unspeakable
disgust that l have never liked to seek
additional light from any of the older
men and women who might revel in
giving it. That my mother did not
sympathize with my fathers going out
to preach Cochrane's gospel through
the country, this l know. and she was
so truly religious, so burning with zeal
that had she fully believed in my ia
theirs mission she would have spurred
him on instead of ~endeavoring to de-.
tain him.
"You know the r%etribution that over
took COchrane at last wrote Ivory |
again. when he had shown the mans
early victories and his enormous influ-
ence. 'There began to be, indignant
protests against his doctrines by law
yers and doctors. as well as by minis
ters; not from all sides, however, for
remember. in eXtenuation Of my faith
er's and my mothers espousal of this
strange belief. that many of the strong
est and wisest men. rs we'll as the
purest and finest women in York coun-
ty. came under this mans spell for a
time and believed in him implicitly,
some of them even unto the end.
"Finally there was Cochrane's arrest
and examination. the order for him to
appear at the supreme court, his fail
ure to do so, his %recapture and trial and
his sentence of four years imprison.
ment on several counts. in all Of which
he was proved guilty. COchrane had all
along said that the Amounted of the
Lord would never be allowed to remain
in Jail. but he was mistaken, for he
stayed in the states prison at Charles
tnu,n Mass fn,. tho P,,ll 1,,ro<iop Df