hast again therein abused us and wrote Lies to exuse thy self about the old concern which is not a way to stop controversie but to increase it and further if thou hadest been minded that it should not have been revived again why didest thou send thy mallicious Letter to Geo. Whitehead and to the 2d days Meeting in London who see and are satified it was to revive the controversie again and again why didest thou send the same Letter or a Copy of it to Ann Dockwra letting her know thou hadest sent that Letter to Me and that I had sent it back to thee again without opening of it and She says that thou wert minded to make it Publick only She accompted She had perswaded thee to the contrary by something Shee had wrote to thee and withall Shee said that I had done well in that I did not look into thy Letter and thereby have been stirred up to enter into further controversie again with thee so that She as well as others that have come to the sight of thy Letter do see that the tendency thereof was and is for controversie but thou sayest thou Intends to Manifest Me to be a reviver of the Old contreversy because thou believes I have spoke of it and that thou mayest have wherewith to accuse Me thou like one of the Officers in th Star-Chamber when in force Queries of Me in thy Letter whether at one time or other I have not spoke of it since the agreement was made between the Quarterly Meeting and thee for sayest thou if Sam. Cater have spoke of it then the agreement of the Quarterly Meeting is broaken yet also sayest thou knowest not that ever thou Covenanted or promised not to write a Letter to Me about it to that I answer if thou that wert at the Quarterly Meeting and there made an agreement with the Meeting and promised to cease from all Controversie and that all the writings thou hadst writ about the Old Controversie in general should be by thee brought to Ely Prison in the 11th Month following and there be burnt which thou saidst thou didst even all that were in thy Hand and what was in thy other Friends Hands thou saidst thou wouldest send to them to do the like Now say I if thou wert at the Quarterly Meeting and made the promise and agreement with them thy self doest not look upon they self at bound by that Order or agreement from writing to Me and others about the same Controversie again how comes it to pass that I who was not at the Meeting could be bound by that Order and agreement not to speak of it For of Sam. Cater hath spoken of it sayest thou the Order of the Quarterly Meeting is broaken on his part but I never saw any such agreement this is strange Logick yea Confusion indeed it s like the rest of thy proceedings about and concerning this matter and thou wilt have as hard work to prove this as thou hast to prove that I refused to tell my Name in Laken-Heath Meeting which is false and may be proved so Thou also speaks as if the report of this Controversie was in London Bristol Hartford Lincoln c. whereby thou wert abused and mispresented what then if it were so that this business follows thee and thy malicious Book if thou hast done well in it thou needs not be ashamed of it but if thou hast done evil why doest thou not make satisfaction seeing thou pretends so much to be a Christian Quaker But Francis I am apt to believe that not any have abused thee therein for who can speak worse of thee then thou deserves And besides if it be spoken of in those places aforesaid must it needs follow that it was through my speaking of it was it not publick to the Nation does not many Hundreds know how unjustly thou demanded that Mony of Me and how restless thou wert to obtain it when thou hadst got it in that deceitful manner of thy Cosin G. S. did not he give accompt thereof to the Monthly Meeting and were not Friends satisfied that thou went beyond him and gave it as their judgment that his simplicity was betrayed and that he ought to have his Mony again and did not he give the same accompt again to the Quarterly Meeting before Friends of five several Counties and could this be a private business to be kept from being spoken of by Me but I suppose thou thinks I may have spoke of it to some body or other that might ask Me if F. B. had paid Me or G. S. the 15 l. 3 Shillings he got so unjustly into his Hands which the Meeting expected he would have returned again as well as burn his writings As to that let Me know when thou writes again what thou wouldest have me to say about it when I am asked since I have not Freedom to tell a Lie to cover thy deceit and whereas thou offers in thine to return Me 7 Pounds to Shillings if I will accept it as Token of thy condescention which thou sayest thou hast told some Friends of and that thou wouldest give Me so much Mony as a Free Gift To that I answer I have neither need nor Freedome to receive such Gifts of thee But that which I do expect and desire of thee is to return to Me or thy Cosin G. S. that 15 Pounds 3 Shilling which thou so unjustly obtained from him and whereunto I have just right and thou mayest keep thy Gifts for them that will accept of them form I desire nothing of thee but my own neither shall I receive it but as my own and as to thy comparing Me to the Pharisees who lay Heavy Burdens upon the People c. it s but one of thâ— Slanders and hard and ungodly Speeches whicâ— thou must give an account to the Lord for so it s known to the Lord and to Faithful Friends my Innocency both in that and other things whereof thou hast unjustly accused Me and otheâ— Friends who truly fears God and are clear and innocent in the sight of God of those things thoâ— chargest them with for which thou hast a bittâ—â— Cup to Drink at the Lords Hand who will nâ—â— acquit the workers of iniquity who sin against tâ—â— light in their own Consciences as thou hast doâ—â— for several years This is â—ll at present from him who desires Repentance before Mercy be hid from thy Eyes Samuel Cateâ— Ely Prison the 25th of the 10th Month 1682. Sam. Cater's Letter to F. Bugg the 26th of the 10th Month 1682. THis is to let thee know that if thou wilt not make thy Cosin G. Smith and my self satisfaction for the wrong thou hast done us both by word and deed and also call in thy wicked Book which thou hast caused to be Printed in which thou hast belied abused and misrepresented Friends to the World then we shall make thy ungodly Accounts and fraudulent proceedings more Manifest then ever we thought to have
Judgment that all Friends that Ministers in the Name and Power of the Lord are to be left to do in that as in their Faith and Freedom they shall see Meet they will answer it to God and are not to be Limited by F. Bugg nor any other what to say nor what answer to make when Informers and Persecuters come into a Meeting where they are Ministring Thirdly I do believe that this new invented Order of Fran. Bugg's tends to the exercising Rule and Lordship over the Faith and Consciences of our Bretheren and therefore I cannot set my Hand to it Fourthly I do account it a low and base thing of Fran. Bugg to make such a Law and to proffer Me 15 Pound to make Me his Proselite or to be an Abettor of his evill Inventions a thing altogether out of truth and contrary to the Antient practice thereof for Friends to make or to be made Proselites for the love of Money and I should Sin if I should condescend to his desires therein and therefore I deny to do it Fifthly I do know the 15 Pound that Fran. Bugg pretends so freely to give Me if I will signe his new Invented Order he hath wrongfully by defraud got into his Hand of my Mony for which he prepares this new Order and Imposes upon Me to Sign to keep Me out of the Mony as it appears if I did not Sign it And if I did Signe it to make a Deceitful cover for this his unjust Practice and Deceitful Dealing with his Cosin Geo. Smith which I have not freedom to do although he keeps Me still without my Mony And now I Query of F. Bugg and his Abetters if any he have seeing he is against new Orders and all Impositions as he pretends which have no Footing in the Scriptures Why I should not have my 15. Pound and 3. Shillings again seeing I cannot for Conscience sake Subscribe this his new Invented Order that he hath prescribed for Me to Signe and which I do say as before I have not freedom to do for the aforementioned reasons And whether Fran. Bugg does not appear a Persecuter of tender Consciences contrary to what He pretends if he keeps my Mony because I have not freedom to Subscribe to this his new Rule And thou saiest if this be not a condescention sufficient that is either to Sign this Order of thine or a new Arbitration thou then askest Me what will Please Me but that which will be well Pleaseing to God that is for thee to Truly Repent of thy Lies and Deceitful Dealings and acknowledg thy infaithfulness both to God and Man and make Satisfaction for the wrong thou hast done This is that which I expect and thou must do it before thou can'st come to have Peace with God and true Unity with his People run whether thou wilt and climbe as High as thou can'st the Hand of the Lord will find thee out and His Power will bring thee down as he did the Angels of Old who kept not their first Estate but lost their own Habitations which the Lord hath reserved in everlasting Chains of darkness unto the Judgment of the great day such the Apostle calls raging Waves of the Sea Foaming out their own shame wandering Starrs unto whom is reserved blackness and darkness for ever Now Fran. notwithstanding all thy Malice that thou hast shewn against Me and wrong thou hast done Me both by word and deed I could be glad I could perceive that there were so much regard by thee to the Light of Christ Jesus that thou mightest come thereby to see how near thou dwells to these fallen Angels and how much thy state and condition now resembles theirs for thou hast left thy Peaceable Habitation in the truth which the People of God injoys and thy Life is now in strife and contention as appears by the Fruit thou brings forth Thou art gone from the Love that thinks no evil into hatred and strife in which thou makest and inventest all the evil thou canst against the Servants of the Lord as is manifest by the Fruits thou hast brought forth How hast thou been Inventing Lies and Slanders not only against Me but many more of the Servants of the Lord whereby thou Foamest out thy Shame for its a Shame for a man to tell Lies and break Promises from time to time as thou hast done both before God and honest Men. And he that lives in the feare of God dare not do it but they who departs from the true fear and awe of God what will they not dare to do as appears by this wicked Work of thine and also by thy Book by which thy scoffing Rude Spirit is Manifest and thy hard Heartedness against the People of God whom now in thy Envy thou Endeavours to render them to be like the worst of Men even such as formerly thou accounted good Men and truly serviceable in the Church of Christ who are he same still But Envy hath blinded thy Eye so that thou canst not see them in their Places because thou hast lost the knowledg of thy own place which thou shoulded have continued in even in low humility before the Lord to have still waited upon him for his Wisdom to have Guided thee and to have felt his Power through the daily Cross to Crucifie that Earthly wise comprehending part in which thou comprehended the Truth in thy Head but never came to enjoy the life of Truth in thy Heart and Soul through the Death to thy own will in which unruly will thou speaks and Acts like an evil unruly Beast whose Mouth God will stop in his own time to thy sorrow without unfeigned Repentance And Francis thou tells Me of giving Me 15 Pound to Sign this Paper of thine but where is the Liberty of Conscience thou Treats so much of in thy Book Dedicated to Hen. North. Knight Wherein thou pretendest that all ought to be left free to the Liberty of their Conscience and not to be compel'd to any thing that they have not Freedom in themselves to do But in this Paper thou art far otherwise minded for thou speakest nothing of leaving Me to my Freedom in that matter of the 15 Pound But I must either contrary to my Freedom set my Hand to that Paper that thou hast contrived or else condescend to have another Arbitration about it which I cannot do for the Reasons aforesaid otherwise I must unavoidably lose my Mony which is far from leaving Me to my Freedom which in the aforesaid Book thou pretendest all ought to be left unto But Francis tell us when thou makest answer was the Dedicating of thy Book according to our Ancient principles which thou pretends to own or did Friends in the beginning Dedicate their Books in that manner or is it not rather the making of a Man that hath lost his Habitation in the power of Truth and now is creeping and Flattering with Men of the World and admiting Mens persons because of
advantage as is spoken of in Jude of them that fell from their first Habitation and which thou hast given just cause to believe thou hast done For although thou never wert so much in Truth as thou would have People believe by thy assuming to take upon thee to Treat about the Principles of Truth as received by us in the beginning whith thou never experimentally wert a witness of yet thou hast known more of Truth then thou hast obeyed or lived in And thou complainest to H. N. of the mischief of imposition amongst the Quakers what Redress thou expected by complaining to him is best known to thy self but what plainer imposition could ever be invented by a Man then this new Order of thine is which thou hath sent to Me to have Me set my Hand to and with as much severity imposest it upon Me as thy Capacity will afford thee to do Whereby it doth and will appear to H. N. Knight and others when they come to see what thou hast done both before and also since thou wrote thy Book that thou hast dissembled with them and endeavoured to delude the World to make them believe thou art against imposing new Orders and Prescriptions upon tender Consciences when it s no such matter as appears by thy Practice But a Liberty to thy self to Lie and Dissemble and abuse Honest Men as is plainly Manifested both by thy Book and thy aforesaid new prescription and thou art got to thy old accustomed Work of thine in abusing Me with Suggesting that since I was a Preacher and a Sufferer through receiving Gifts and Rewards I am become Rich but I never was counted a Rich Man by thee until thou turned Informer against Me and demanded 15 Pounds of Me unjustly for thy work And I not having Freedom to satisfie thy unjust demand and Friends blameing thee for desiring it thou then began to change thy Tale concerning Me that whereas thou used to speak of to whom thou pleased of my outward Condition below what it was so now ever since hast spoke of it at a large Rate and what end canst thou have in it but to be get a belief in People that S. C. is a Rich Man that thereby thy Offence may seem the less in that thou hast gotten 15 l. 3 s. of mine for that which neither the Law of God nor Man allows thee one penny But Fran. what I have as to the outward I came Honestly by and I wish that thou hadest no more in thy possession then thou camest as truly and as justly by as I have come by what I have and then it would be better for Me and mine by near 20 Pounds And as to what I have is best known to my self and I never complained to thee nor any other of want neither have thee or others ever heard Me Boast of what I had in this World but am well contented with such things as I have I praise the Lord for it and If than couldest have been so thou wouldest never have troubled Me and others so much as thou hast done for that which is none of thy own And again Fran. thou Suggests in the aforesaid Malicious Paper of thine as if since I was a Preacher and a sufferer I am become Rich thereby to that I answer I have been a Preacher of Truth according to my Measure and a sufferer for the same before thou knewest any thing of the Truth or Me either in all which time it s well known to God and to faithful Friends both at Home and Abroad my Conversation hath been without coveting any thing that was other Mens but have from time to time taken an Honest care for Me and mine that we might not be Burdensome to any its known to the Lord and all Honest Friends who hath known my Conversation longer then thou hast done who can witness to the Truth of what I say in this matter and therefore what such railing Rabshecahs as thou sayest is little to Me who hast forsaken the Truth and art turned aside to Lies And now in answer to thy unjust charge and Slander in this kind I do say that I was never inriched as to the things of this World either by Preaching or Suffering in that manner as is by thee Suggested and I do say thy charge is false and Scandalous and proceeds from a Lying Spirits clear thy self as well as thou canst and if thou thinkest thou canst prove the contrary by Honester Men then thy self thou mayest go about it I ask no Favour at thy Hand as thou knowest I have told thee before now for I have Truth and the witness of a good Conscience on my side in these things whereof thou falsly accuses Me wherein I have true Peace And now whereas thou askes if thou hadst no colour of right to the Mony before mentioned which thou defrauded thy Cosin G. S. in the Gaining of Answer that will appear by the Narrative whether thou hadest or not to all that desire to know the certainty of that business when they come to know the Truth as it is and then I shall leave it to the witness of God in all their Consciences to judge who hath done and acted like a Christian Quaker or like an Honest Man whether thee or I in this matter wherein thou hast been so long troublesome to Me. Which is all at present but to let thee know that I have given a full and true Narrative from the beginning From him who is a Sufferer by thee as I am under the Envious Priests for the Testimony of a good Conscience in which I have true Peace Samuel Cater Ely Prison the 3d. of the 8th Month 1682. POSTSCRIPT FRan Bugg thou hast falsly insinuated as if thy Cosin G. Smith had hard work to get his Mony again of Me notwithstanding adds thou thy Wife sent him as thou told Me thy self Which insinuation of thine is false and thy Cosin G. S. will prove it so and for thee to say I told thee my Wife sent him is a lie of thy own making which thou hast put in to make out thy matter as thou wouldest have it an evil thou art too much accustomed unto for I never told thee so but do well remember still what I said which was that I know nothing of G. S's treating with thee but my Wife did as I understood after thou hadest got the Mony as will appear in the Narrative c. S. C. S. Caters Letter to F. Bugg Thine I have received Dated the 8th of the 10th Month 1682. Wherein thou sayest thou didst not send thy other Letter before this for controversie not to revive the old one But Fran. that is false and thy Letter and the use thou makes thereof proves the contrary to any that have seen or may see the same for thou hast not therein written to Me and thy Cosin Geo. Smith in order to make us satisfaction for the wrong thou hast formerly done us but thou
done whereof we have a Narrative ready for the Press but if thou wilt call in thy Book an as Publickly own thy Condemnation as thou hast given the offence and thereby clear Friends of the Reproches thou hast cast upon them then we shall stop any further proceedings against thee in this matter To this I desire thy speedy answer From him who hath long been much wronged and Abused by thee Samuel Cater F. B. this Sam. Cater desired should be given thee desiring thy present answer J. B. Samuel Cater THis day I received thine Dated the 26th of the 10th Month and am not sensible (a) Not sensible No for deceitfulness of Sin Lying and Falshood do produce Hardness and Blindness that I have wronged thee or my Cosin G. S. neither hast thou therein said wherein I have so that in answer I dare say if either of you can make it appear wherein I have wronged either of you I will readily make you or either of you satisfaction but if thou mean the Mony that my Cosin G. Smith paid me as thy Wifes Messenger (b) G. S. had no Message from her to pay the 15 Pounds or Ambassador in satisfaction for the Fine I suffered for thee Anno. 1675. And art not willing to stand by the Agreement made at Quarterly Meeting in Hadenham the first of the 10th Month 1680. and then Recorded in their Quarterly Book that All Controversie betwixt thee G. S. my self should cease (c) That was probably in hopes of thy amendment and making satisfaction for the wrong done but instead thereof hast not thou begun and renewed the Controversie again against Sam. Cater I say if thou art not willing to stand to the said agreement but find thy self uneasie under it I will as I wrote thee word in my Letter dated the 10th of the 6th Month 1682. very willingly consent and agree that thou shalt have a hearing De Novo by Persons indifferently (d) How oft hast thou shuffled with Arbitrators and evaded their Judgments and determinations in the case will such Flams and Pretences as these excuse thee Chosen by us both viz. each others 4 6 10 or 12 Persons and be bound again to stand to their award c. And as for the calling in my Book this I am willing to let the know That on condition the Orders upon Record in out 7th Book which say that for the time to come no Marriages are to be either suffered or permitted meaning amongst us except the Parties both Man and Woman Publish their intentions twice before Mens Meeting and twice (e) That was that both might be concerned in a Godly care to see things clear and to prevent disorder and Scandal what in them is before the Womens Meeting they being thou knowest distinct and apart each from others and the Record against J.A. (f) Which was because of his Irregular proceeding in Publishing his intention in the Womans absence to the Mens Meeting and that but once and refusing to bring her to the next Meeting as desired by Friends for example and satisfaction as Friends had not Vnion with his Irregularity it seems he had not Vnion with them First in that Orderly Method of both Persons Publishing their Intentions twice before the time of Marriage for not taking Wife according to the advice of Friends be raced out and made void that so those that have Freedome to publish according to the said Orders (g) Why should they then be Raced out if a Freedom be granted to proceed according to them what evil or error is in them simply considered as Reason to Race them out or wouldest thou not have those Records Raced out that thou mayest make new ones and Rule in thy loose conceited Spirit may and those that are otherwise minded may be left to their Freedom and also the Book Intituled The Accuser and others against William Rogers be called in (h) No Reason nor Justice in that proposition we allow no such bargain Those Books against Wil. Rogers were occasioned by his which was first and ought to be called in therefore thou art an unjust Judge and Partial I say on condition that these things may be done I am willing to call in mine and shall be willing to use any Christian means for a thorough Reconciliation and healing of Breaches (i) How canst thou be any fit Instrument for such a Christian-work who art in a Spirit of discord and Enmity thy self But whereas thou seems to threaten me with a further Publication of a Narrative c. It doth not frighten me neither do I think it would have been thus long detained from publishing in Charity or good will to me hadst not thee been Conscious (k) If S. C. were so Conscious by the same reason he would not pulish a Narrative at all therefore his Publication of a Narrative proves thee Guilty of presumptuous and false Judgment in this matter to thy self that Publication thereof would have been a further means to have unmasked thee and such as thee art This is my sence and as speedy an answer as I can well give thee who am thy well-wishing though much abused Friend Francis Bugg Joshua Bangs Letter to F. B. I Sent F. B. a few Lines to let him know that if he had any thing to offer in his own defence c. I gave him time to do it whereupon he returned me a great Letter to which I have given something in answer which is as follows F. B. thy great Letter Received which is in Vindication of thy receiving the 5 l. of Justice Shelly which the Widow Root said was part of the 15 l. thou wert Fined for S. Cater and withal could not believe that thou hadst taken 15 l. of G.S. and that is it Edw. Swanton says that Justices Shelly told him that 5 l. of the 15 l. was returned again to thee forasmuch as but 10 l. could be Levied upon one Person for the offence of any other Person according to the words of the Statute But in thy introduction thou endeavourest to Invalidate what he can say about it by saying he was an Informer yes he was an Informer and had 40 s. for so doing but did not Pocket one penny of it but if being an Informer formerly or violating Obligations excludes a Man being believed in any caused who shall believed F. B. in his own cause for was not F. B. an Informer against S. C. in that Laken-Heath Meeting And hath he not got 5 l. more then what he could be justly Fined for S. C. according to the Statute for the Act says speaking of one Person being Fined for anothers Offence that it shall be at the discretion of the said Justice Justices or chief magistrate respectively so as the same to be Levied on any one Person in case of the Poverty of other offenders amount not in the whole to above the Sum of 10 l. And again provided always