The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-01-17

CATION OF the faithful in the town Of Portsmouth
came up to the house of the Lord with counte-
nances unusually grave and severe, for one of
their own number had fallen into grevious sin,
and, moreover, the arbitrary procc elings Of Gov
ernor Cranfcld weighed h,avily upon their
hearts. Yet CLEAN Of stern JOY liz up more than
one face ct the thought of the quiet yet decided
rebnke conveyed in the conduct of the people the
preceding day and the light of eternal truth which
they did hold, though oftentimes warped and per-
verted by human error, never shOne more bright
ly than that day, darkened as it was by the
shadow Of future trouble.
The service for the day was over when the min
lister proceeded TO lay before the church the case
Of John Denney, a member charged with perjury.
He stated the case in detail but is sufficient for
us to say that this Denney was the owner of a
vessel which had been seized by Randolph on plea
Of detrauding the revenue. Her master, however,
found means to elude the vigilance of his agents,
and one morning she was missing from the harbor'
Her owner protested that he knew nothing of the
affair, but, upon his trial; there appeared abun-
dant testimony to the contrary. File soon found
the means TO compound the matter with the Gov
ernor and Randolph, but the church, of which
he had long been member, were not so cas- ly
satisfied
Mr.. Moody, though he knew he was particular
s ly obnoxious to the Governor and his party, on
account of the plainness and freedom Of his
speech, shrank from no trial in the way Of duty.
He felt that the purity Of his church was AZ sakes
and addressed a respectful note to the Governor
requesting a copy Of the evidence against Den
ney, that he might be tried according to their &C.
clesiastical discipline The Governor had re-
piled, and upon this letter Mr. Moody particular
ly wished for the opinion and counsel of the
brethren. He rose and read it in firm, unial.
tering voice, and with an undisturbed countenance,
.keSgh the faces around bin grew dark with in
dignaton. Thus ran the missve-
"We ourselves have pardoned the man, and
those to whom ne see fit to extend our mercy are
not to be questioned by any selfconstituted au-
thority therefore, modest him at your PERIL
"My brethren resumed the old man, after a
pause Of some seconds, when, in my early man
hood dedicated myself tothe service of God, to
break the bread of life to his scattered and suffer
ing people, cast from me all fear of bodily peril
and have striven to act in all things with
single eye to Gods glory. Therefore, have but
one answer to make to this man whom the Majesty
of England hath set to rule over us. Ye have
heard his words my brethren; aud it is reserved
unto you to say whether this church, gathered
amid suffering and trouble, and nurtured with
so many prayers and tears shall serve God or
man Let such as fear Him, rather than man,
arise ~
. audi ba vfnio-
lister looked down on a crowd of faces-toi. worn,
scanned, and Cured by many battle with both
temporal and spiritual foes, in many cases pale
and haggard from illness, but firm and undsmay-
ed, ready to strengthen his hands, even as Aaron
and Hur strengthened the hands of Moses in the
battle of the Lord
Then followed unanimous vote to notify the
offending brother that his trial would take place
on the ensuing week, and a committee was ap-
pointed TO visit him more, TO urge upon him
the duty of confession
II was the wish of the brethren that the old
minister should prepare n sermon upon false
swearing for the ensuing Sabbath and, while he
was very busy in his study, how sped the time
with his daughter? -- ----.-.--------
Still lighted by hope, although sure by that one
glance of recognition, Frederic Vane had not as
yet manifested a knowledge of her existence Yet
like all her sex, her invention in providing ex-
cuses for the being she loved was inexhaustible
dark tempest was gathering over her own and
her old fathers head, while she, in her unsus-
pecting truth and innocence, lived on in hope and
trust.
Before another Sabbath, J ohm Denney touched
by the earnest prayers and expostulations of his
brethren, came before them and made ample con-
fession of his guilt and, with fitting censure, was
forgiven. 1t would be difficult to describe the an
ger and modification Of the royal Governor when
he heard of these proceedings. His occasional
outbursts were the more frightful from the strong
sef.contro which he was obliged to place upon
himself in the presence of his guests, many of
whom were spending the holydays with him
Randolph, whose interest in the matter was quite
equal to the Governors seemed to forget his own
anger in the malicious pleasure he took in prob
ing that of the latter.
One evening, after the ladies' had Withdrawals
and the gentlemen, some six or eight in number
still fingered around the dinner table, he arose
and, as if in reply to gay remark of his MS
a-vis, cried, jestingly:
Hear oh, noble gentlemen, hear William
de Granville, gentleman, of Sussex, England, hath
fairly won ten guineas of me- Edward Randolph;
a wager between us in the case of the King rersvS
Fanaticism and, certes, gentlemen, his Majesty
may well look grave, when his royal authority,
vested in the person Of our excellent host here, is
thus trampled upon by crop-eared, psalm sing
ing knave, unless, indeed" he added, with a
laugh, "the merre monarch be more inclined to
consider the crestfllen condition Of our puissant
selves, as an especial prOvocation to mirth, which
think the most likely"
"Then, by the Lord that liveth ~ exclaimed
the Governor, in burst of ungovernable anger
"his Majesty will be the only one who will care
10 laugh twice, at least, whore Edward Cranfeld
is concerned As for this old priest, he shall soon
find that he is not in heaven, saint though he claim
to be- will put him where his reasonable exor-
dums will find fewer listeners1
For a moment deep silence followed this speech,
for they felt that his Exceency was in no mood
for Joking Then, one of the eldest of his guests,
whose moderate counsels had often saved him
from rash deeds remarked
"But we must not forget that this Puritan is
also an Engshman. We must prove his treason
before We punish him."
ooh that is easily enough done~ said one Of
the younger guests "Here is Vane, who spent
some months at his house He can give us proof
by the bushel, dare say"
ayes, speak out, Vaue. What reasonable
homilies did old Crop-ear preach to your cried
ooothar launching