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The Reverend White was extremely flattered by this letter and was delighted that he had found someone of such piety who held him in such high esteem. He showed the letter to his friends in Irvine and they agreed that he should invite her to come and stay with him for a while. Elspeth promptly agreed and received a very warm welcome and she conducted herself with consummate adroitness. The fame of her piety and her ability to interpret difficult passages of scripture spread all over the town.

To give his congregation and the people of the town the opportunity of hearing her speak the Reverend White held special diets of examination. At these meetings she encouraged questions on prophetic and mystical subjects which she answered with the confidence of an infallible oracle. Sometimes her answers were a bit too extreme and Mr White would tone them down a bit with judicious qualifications.

A few of the more sober minded began to doubt the soundness of her faith and also that of Mr White and they insisted that she leave Irvine at once. Things had gone far enough for the present and she prudently agreed. She had been in Irvine for three weeks but before going she wrote another letter to Mr White and this letter gives some indication of her oracular style and the progress of the deceit in which she and White were clearly active partners.

“I have been witness concerning you of what has been written of Jeremiah, that he was sanctified from the womb. God your Heavenly Father, knoweth my birth pains of heavenly love have been far surpassing the love of women. But oh, come and behold a wonder now! I am bigger than ever! God, for Christ’s sake, will keep me pregnant with his own glory and your everlasting happiness till that thrice happy day ,when those who sow in tears shall  reap in joy……….The Lord now comforts my soul with these words “My servant deals prudently, and shall be very high in righteousness” Arise my child! This mantle belongeth unto thee! We also shall be with thee. Be of good faith and do it; there shall be a performance of all that is promised.
        Now my dearly beloved, I hope you will let no one see this while you live, but keep it as a pledge of love, not from me, but from your God and my God, whose will is even your sanctification. I believe in the strength of your faith, the increase of your hope, the inflammation of your love.
                                                                                                Elspeth Simpson.

This letter was found by Andrew Innes among papers left by White at Auchengibbert when he renounced Buchanism and returned to America.

During her visit to Irvine she had made known her views on the law of marriage, and this was probably the main source of hostility towards her. She believed she could release her disciples from the bondage of law: in this happy state they could commit no sin. Private possessions and wives were also to be abolished and all things were to be common to all members of the new order. At this point time these views were not common knowledge, but after her return to Glasgow things became difficult for Mr White. A deputation of fellow clergy and lay people went to see him to ask him to renounce Mrs Buchan, to which he declared he would sooner cut off his right arm, he would sooner resign.

Things came to a head very quickly and Mr White was charged with Heresy. A paper was drawn up containing what could be verified of Mrs Buchan’s views. Mr White immediately admitted that these were the views he also shared. A formal Libel was then served containing the following counts.

1 That sin does not adhere to believers
2 That Christ tasted death for every man, and
3 That while the bodies of the saints under the New Testament are temples of the Holy Ghost, the saints under the Old Testament were not.

These are questions of theology which require expert explanation. The first count however seems fairly self explanatory considering the facts so far, and the other two counts seem to be beyond the average person’s understanding of theology. Mr White did not put in an appearance at the trial and he was summarily ejected from the Relief Church after a Pastorate of seventeen months. Mrs Buchan congratulated him on the result in her usual extravagant style but others were concerned for his future, since he had a wife and two children to support. After the trial Mrs Buchan returned with him to Irvine and meetings were held in his house in Seagate, where the meetings became so popular that a large tent had to be erected in the garden.