eaten and drank abundantly of the best, I gave each one a shilling to take home.
I have already said that the French had received me with much kindness, and I may say the same of the people generally. The Corporation of Cork, as a mark of their esteem, presented me with the freedom of the City.[1]
This state of things was altogether too good to last; my cup of happiness was now full to overflowing, and like all the enjoyments of this world, it proved very transitory.
Great numbers of zealous, pious, and upright persons had joined our communion; but it could not be expected that all should be of this class. Unfortunately, there were some in the flock whose conduct was not regulated by the principles of our holy religion.
A man named Isaac de la Croix, originally a merchant in Calais, had caused dissension in the Church there before its condemnation, and had then settled in Dover, where he also made dissension in the Church. It must have been to punish us for our sins, that he came from there to join our Church, and he had not been with us more than eighteen months, when he was the occasion of discord amongst us also. The history of it is as follows: he had a son of about twenty-five years of age, who was in the habit of doing business on his own account. This young man chartered a vessel of about thirty tons, for Ostend, which he loaded with butter and tallow, promising payment in ready money. On a certain Saturday afternoon, he weighed anchor and dropped down to Cove,
- ↑ It is a remarkable coincidence that my father, James Maury, the great-grandson of James Fontaine, was also settled in a foreign land, and was so highly esteemed by the community amongst whom he lived, that the Corporation of Liverpool did by him, as that of Cork by his ancestor, voted to him the freedom of the Borough.
