Sentence:  He purſued "Andrew Houſtoun" upon his promiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in ab<!-- page break at this point in source -->ſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and <WSD>Decerned</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Decree a person etc. "to be" or "to do" something by judicial sentence. To (mulct) in by decree of (court).