By a free
and artful use of _italics_, and an abuse of stops, he altered and
perverted the meaning of quite a multitude of my statements. And when,
after all, he found that the publication damaged him terribly in the
estimation of his friends, he suppressed it altogether.
The conduct of this opponent had a bad effect on my mind, and if
anything short of sound reason could have kept me in the ranks of
infidelity, it would have been the shameless, the outrageous conduct of
such pretenders to Christianity as this bad man. But I thank God, such
horrible and inexcusable inconsistency was not allowed to decide my
fate. Better powers, sweeter and happier influences, were brought into
play to counteract its deadly tendency. And even other opponents, of a
worthier character and of a higher order, came in my way, who, by their
Christian temper, and high culture, and by their regard for my feelings,
and their manifest desire for my welfare, obliterated the bad
impressions produced by the unscrupulous and malignant conduct of Brewin
Grant, and all but won me over to the cause of Christ.
It happened that while I was yet in England, an arrangement was made for
a public discussion between me and Colonel Michael Shaw, of Bourtree
Park, Ayr.
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