reported that I refused to tell my Name at the Meeting here is a Testimony under the Hands of these Honest Friends that were there present FOrasmuch as there hath gone various Reports relating to a meeting appointed by Samuel Cater together with the knowledge and consent of Francis Bugg and others of us the People called Quakers held at Lakenheath in the County of Suffolk at the House of one George Freind in or about the Year 1675 which Report goes abroad as if some Person or Persons who came to that meeting with an intent to give Information against the said People then and there met as did afterwards appear did demand of S. C. to tell his Name and that the said S. C. did not declare his Name when so demanded This is therefore to certifie all into whose Hands this may come for the preventing such false Reports to pass for true as much as in us lies as also to clear S. C. of the above recited charge against him We whose Names are hereunto subscribed being Eye and Ear Witnesses to what past at the Meeting do testifie that no Person in the aforesaid Meeting did ask S. C. hi◠Name but one did ask another Man in the aforesaid Meeting what the Speakers Name was And he said he did not know and a Woman Friend answered his Name was written in the Book of Life where he could not read then it was asked F. Bugg what is your Speakers Name and F. B. answered in the hearing of the Officers and Informers HIS NAME IS SAMUEL CATER then those that came in as aforesaid went out and came into the Meeting no more leaving S. C. declaring the Truth as he was before they came and so continued the time they were there and also a considerable time after they were gone after which he concluded the Meeting and we departed in peace having good unity with S. C. being sensible he was enabled by the Power of God to declare his Truth with an undaunted Spirit in the Face of its Enemies Witness our Hands this 9th Month 1682. William Handship William Swaits Iohn Mason Iames Burges Robert Hibble Iohn Burges George Freind Katherine Handslip Frances Fincham Mary Hogans Henry Hogans Now after this it appears that the Priests with some others that came with them to the Meeting Informed against the meeting to the Magistrates who Convicted the meeting and fined F. B. as he sayes himself Fifteen Pound for me as a Speaker whose Name and Habitation was not known whenas F. B. had told them my Name and I have cause to believe that the Priests and they which Informed against the meeting were not without Knowledge of the Place of my Habitations if F. B. did not tell them that also the Town where I dwell being but about 10 or 12 computed miles from the place where the meeting was kept But they having fined F. B. for it as he sayes they issued out their Warrants and the Offices distrained him for the Fifteen Pound and he not being willing to lose his Goods laid down so much mony and kept his Goods by way of an Appeal as he pretended but never went to Tryal but gave them his mony for his Fne being afraid to try his cause lest he should be Cast and lose more Mony to it as he told me himself Now mark this F. B's proceedings in this matter he was Fined and Distrained and paid his mony to redeem his Goods but never told me of it nor spake a word to me about it until Five or Six Months after although he had Opportunities enough to have done it in that time Then after I being at London at the Yearly Meeting F. B. came to me to Westminster meeting I seeing him there asked him to go with me to the Friends House were I lodged that Night which he did and when we were in Bed together he told me he suffered a Fine of 15 Pound for me then I asked him how it was his Answer was the Magistrates had fined him Fifteen Pound and the Officers took away much Goods for it so he laid down the mony by way of an Appeal and redeemed his Goods again and before the time of Tryal he was advised by Counsel not to go to Tryal for there was danger in being Cast and that would cost him more Mony so he did not go on but desired the Justices that he might withdraw his Appeal and that they might keep the Mony for his Fine whereby said he I lost Fifteen Pound but I expect thou shouldest pay me it again whereat I was strangly surprized to hear his demand to see what a strange Temptation had entred the man then I told him I see no reason for that why he should expect it of me seeing he was Fined for his own Testimony for his being at the Meeting which he also encouraged and 2dly he paid this mony to save his own Goods and not mine 3dly he paid it without my consent or knowledge neither could I have done it if it had been my own cause and had been Fine my self Neither did I ever pay mony to Priest nor other Persecutors to save my self from sufferings whatever I suffered for my Testimony And also I did look upon this Demand of his to be unjust and unreasonable and therefore I could not in Conscience pay it And besides I then told him he being far before me as to an Outward Esta e there was nothing of Charity in the case to obliege me thereunto and therefore I see no just or reasonable cause why he should demand any thing of me upon this account for I was no wayes the cause of his being Fined more then any other faithfull Friends must have been that ministers if they had been there then he said he suffered for my not telling my Name my self I told him for that he was to blame and not I ☞ for being so forward to tell my Name he prevented the Officers of asking me whereby I had not an opportunity to tell them for after he had told them they went away and never asked me for if they had I am sure I had told them for it was ever my practice both before and after that in the like cause which is well known both to him and other Friends where I have travelled since this Act hath been in force Then he told me if I counted his Demand to be unreasonable he would put it to some Friends to judge whether I ought not to make him satisfaction for that Fine I told him if he was not satisfied he might then he began to mention who to have to hear the cause and by whose judgment we might sit down I told him he might chuse whom he pleased himself so be they were Honest Faithful Friends and had a good sence of Truth I would freely give up my cause to them for my part and stand by their judgment Then after some time he told me Giles Barnardiston he knew was my
very good Friend and so he was his and if he would he should have the hearing of the cause and if the said G. B. did not judge his Demand to be reasonable he would desist and proceed no further in it so I was contented and we appointed where to meet next Day about it which accordingly we did and when we came together F. B. laid his cause before him who when he had heard he seemed much grieved at F. B. and told him he see no cause why S. C. should pay his Demand for it was unjust c. But F. B. broke his promise made to me the day before and would not stand by G. B's judgment Then he said he would lay it before the Yearly Meeting I told him if he did it would not make to his honour He said he would propose a Question about it I told him if he did state his Question fairly as the thing was I would be silent and not only hear the Meetings judgment but would sit down by their judgment But if his Question or Words tended to that purpose as if I would not tell my Name then I would give the Meeting account how the matter was for I knew my self clear so when he came into the Meeting he proposed his Question according to his own mind but not according to the true state of our cause about which he differed with me then I told them plainly how the matter was and the next day at Horsly-down I offered to stand by the judgment of the meeting and desired F. B. to do the like and that what the meetings judgment was we might both agree to it this was the second time I gave it up but F. B. stood silent at the time and would not say either that he would or would not so the meeting could give no positive judgment in the case Then some time after I was gone into the Low Countries in which time he sent a Letter to my House to meet him at our monthly meeting so after I was come home I met him at a monthly meeting at Chakes the 4th of the 8th month 1676. where he complained to the meeting that he had suffered a Fine of Fifteen Pound for me and I refused to make him satisfaction and he told the meeting that the cause he was fined was for my not telling my Name so when the meeting had heard us both they gave their judgment and made a Record thereof in the Monthly Book that I was not Guilty in not declaring my Name it not being of me demanded and told by another which was himself viz F. B. as I made it appear there and which he did not deny after which the meeting accounted he would have been at quiet then at a Quarterly meeting at Hadenham in the isle of Eley held in the 10th month 1676 F B. complained to the quarterly meeting then some in that meeting said that buÌ„siness was ended before by the monthly meeting therefore it ought not to be spoken of at the quarterly meeting then F. B. alledged that it was not ended for he did not give it up to the meeting to end it whereupon I asked him if he would give it up to this quarterly meeting to be ended by them and would stand by the end they made he said he would then the meeting heard us both concerning the matter which we had to propound and then desired us to go out of the meeting untill they called for us which we did and when they were agreed we were called and the meetings judgment was they saw no cause of blame in me for that which F. B. accused me neither could they award me to give him any mony But desired we should be Lovers and Friends as we had formerly been and if I had freedom in my self to give him any thing I might if not he ought to be content Then after this the next Yearly Meeting following he went to London again and complained to W. Penn telling him he could not have a fair hearing by Friends in the Country concerning the difference between him and me S. C. about the Fine so William appointed him and I to come to Edward Man's where Geo. Fox with other Friends would be which accordingly we did and there he was heard by G. F. and many other antient Friends what he had to say and I also where I again offered to give up my cause to G. F. or to all the Friends there or to any part of them in order to decide the difference depending between F. B. and my self and to stand to their Judgment and desired him to do the like that the business might be ended he said no he would not give it up to them but it shall be ended at our own Quarterly Meeting and he would put it to â—0 or 12 Friends that should be chosen neither by him nor me but by the meeting and them he would commit his cause unto and would stand by their Judgment then Friends desired an Agreement should be drawn up and we should set our Hands to it and they would witness it that so it might be performed that there might be no more difference about this business and one Friend began to write then F. B said let me write the Order my self for I know my own mind best so he took the Pen and Paper and with his own Hand drew this Order following and set his hand to it and so did I and Nine Friends were witnesses to this our agreement viz MEmorandum that upon condition that Friends in the Quarterly Meeting in the Isle of Eley do chuse and elect 10 or 12 Friends to hear and determine the Controversie betwixt Francis Bugg and Samuel Cater relating to the Fine which the said F. B. was fined for the Speaker at a Meeting in Lakenheath and all other Controversies they the said Francis Bugg and Samuel Cater do hereby promise to stand to this final determination under their Hands and for the future to cease from all Controversie touching any matter now depending between them Witness their Hands this 9th of the 4th mo 1677. Fran. Bugg Sam. Cater Witnesses to it Giles Barnardiston John Burnyeat John Whitehead Ambrose Rigge Leonard Fell William Whaley To the Friends at the Quarterly Meeting in the Isle of Eley Dear Friends We desire you that when this business comes before you that there may be a final end put unto it that there may be no more trouble about it George Whitehead Stephen Crisp Then the aforesaid Agreement was delivered into a Friends hand by both our consents to keep and for him to deliver it to the Quarterly meeting and F. B. there himself took a Copy of it which he kept Then at the Quarterly meeting the Order was produced and Friends discoursed the matter about chusing the men and would have had us to chuse them our selves that is 6 Friends each of us but I told them I was not free so to do lest F. B.
should not stand to what they did if they went contrary to the Agreement whereunto he had set his hand So the meeting desired us to go out so we withdrew and then they chose the 12 Friends out of the meeting in manner following viz. the Meeting chose one Friend and agreed that he should chuse whom he pleased next and so the last man chosen was to chuse the next until the 12 were all chosen and when they had chosen the 12 they sent for us into the meeting and told us how they had chosen them and read their Names unto us then I told them I was well satisfied with the Choise and what they did in the matter wherein they were to be concerned between F. B. and my self I would be contented to stand-by their Judgments and F. Bugg promised he would do the like then they withdrew to a Friends house to draw up their Award and F. B. asked me if I would not go and open my Cause to them I told him He might do what he pleased in the matter for himself but I see no need for it for it had been spoken of so often before them that they could not be without a Knowledge of it but he went to them and spake what he pleased and so left them to give Judgment so when they had agreed and drawn up their Award they sent for us and read their Award to us the substance thereof was THey found Samuel Cater clear of that Demand of Francis Buggs Therefore Awarded that he was to Pay F. B. Nothing c. And that all Differences that have arisen between them about that and all other things be from this Day fully ended and that they may be Lovers and Friends as they were before the Difference happened These be the Arbitrators Names John Ainsloe Wil. Brazier John Webbe Robert Smith John Prine Peter Watson Rich. Read Sam. Fulbugg Phillip Taylor Edward Firth Jacob Baker Edward Love Now when they read this Award F. B. said they had given away his cause but however he would be quiet and meddle no more But he soon broke his promise again and in a little time after he began to threaten the Arbitrators and wrote to them to that purpose that they had given away his mony and thereby had done him wrong and although that by their Arbitration he had now done with S. C. But now he intended to begin with them for there was a Law in the Nation That if Arbitrators did not do that which is Equal and Just when so Chosen the Party Grieved might recover Damage of them and they should have no more favour then the Law would afford them Then about this for a time he made a great adoe and gave a Lawyer Brevitts ☞ whereby he instructed him how to plead against Friends and of the state of his cause to come to our Quarterly Meeting to plead his cause which said Breviats the Lawyer shewed to William Penn and Thomas Rudyard after which the matter fell and the Lawyer never came to our Meeting then he began again with me and sent to me to have another Arbritation and Quarrelled with me again for the Fifteen Pound But I not having freedom to grant his desire nor to meddle with him any more so that he could not have his will of me Then he Threatened to prefer A Bill in Chaucery against me for his Mony and went to William Penn and shewed him one that he had prepared as I was Informed Then William Penn being grieved that the Enemies of Truth should have such cause given them to rejoyce over us by having such a cause as that brought before them he with another Friend wrote to me that if I could to get an end of this Business it might be well for although they believed that his Demands was very unjust and there was nothing due to him upon that account and that he was much to blame yet for Peace sake if it could be made an end of it might be well then I knowing he had desired another Arbitration I condiscended to it and sent him word that seeing he was yet disquiet about this mony if he knew how to have another Arbitration which would please him amongst Friends I would condiscend to it and put my Innocent cause once more upon Tryal then he seemed to be pleased and came over to my House and pretended all would be ended for whether he had any money or not he would be tcontented so he said he would chuse 6 and I should chuse 6 also and withall he said he would be bound with me to stand to the Award which Bonds were made and sealed But when the Arbitrators came to meet although they were neer to Agreement yet they did not agree for after F. B. understood that they were like to agree and his will not answered he said none should give away his Mony for if it must be given away he would give it away himself And when the Arbitrators were come to an Agreement and were drawing up the Award then F. B. came in amongst them without being desired and called Edward Neal one of the said Arbitrators to speak with him and when he came in again from him he would not stand to what he had Agreed to before then they could go no further for F. B. made the Bonds himself they were made so that if all the 12 or so many of them as there met were all to agree or else their Award was not to stand good whereby it appears although he was willing to be bound to stand to the Award yet he had made such provision that if he had not his will end Answered he would have nothing done for be having provided such a Man as would do what he would have him or nothing as it did plainly appear to all honest Friends that were there present Which thing was as wicked of F. B's part and him that joyned with him in his deceitful practice as it was before when he promised and gave it under his hand to stand to and abide by the Award of the other 12 Friends chose by the Meeting and after they had done it he promised to be quiet and meddle no more in the matter so awarded and so foully and ungodly went from his Word whereby all may see that reads this Narrative of his Words and Actions whether he hath not proved himself a false deceitfull Man both to God and Man and whether he hath not wickedly wronged his own Conscience by Covenant-breaking Lying and Deceit from time to time for the sake of Money whereby all may perceive that have any sense of truth and honesty how unfit he is to take upon him to treat about the Principles of true Religion and to plead for Liberty of Conscience against Imposition who hath thus wilfully abused and defiled his own Conscience for unjust gain Then after they could not end it I was much grieved to see the trouble that Friends and