Those，however，ofourcongregation，whoconsideredthemselvesasorthodoxPresbyterians，disapprov’dhisdoctrine，andwerejoin’dbymostoftheoldclergy，whoarraign’dhimofheterodoxybeforethesynod，inordertohavehimsilenc’d。Ibecamehiszealouspartisan，andcontributedallIcouldtoraiseapartyinhisfavour，andwecombatedforhimawhilewithsomehopesofsuccess。Therewasmuchscribblingproandconupontheoccasion；andfindingthat，tho’
anelegantpreacher，hewasbutapoorwriter，Ilenthimmypenandwroteforhimtwoorthreepamphlets，andonepieceintheGazetteofApril，1735。Thosepamphlets，asisgenerallythecasewithcontroversialwritings，tho’eagerlyreadatthetime，weresoonoutofvogue，andIquestionwhetherasinglecopyofthemnowexists。
Duringthecontestanunluckyoccurrencehurthiscauseexceedingly。
Oneofouradversarieshavingheardhimpreachasermonthatwasmuchadmired，thoughthehadsomewherereadthesermonbefore，oratleastapartofit。Onsearchhefoundthatpartquotedatlength，inoneoftheBritishReviews，fromadiscourseofDr。Foster’s。Thisdetectiongavemanyofourpartydisgust，whoaccordinglyabandonedhiscause，andoccasion’dourmorespeedydiscomfitureinthesynod。Istuckbyhim，however，asIratherapprov’dhisgivingusgoodsermonscompos’dbyothers，thanbadonesofhisownmanufacture，tho’thelatterwasthepracticeofourcommonteachers。Heafterwardacknowledg’dtomethatnoneofthosehepreach’dwerehisown；adding，thathismemorywassuchasenabledhimtoretainandrepeatanysermonafteronereadingonly。
Onourdefeat，heleftusinsearchelsewhereofbetterfortune，andIquittedthecongregation，neverjoiningitafter，tho’Icontinu’dmanyyearsmysubscriptionforthesupportofitsministers。