Criminal would O. S. make me to be for but desiring or requesting the same And why was not the Complaint read in the said Meeting And ought it not of right to have been read there and in the Audience and hearing of them to whom directed and intended And are they not set up and held to that end and purpose But O. S. you may see is for no such just and impartial Methods whereby each all and every Member may be made partakers of the like liberty and priviledge And again do say that the Quarterly Meeting could not appoint them a Work that they neither knew nor understood themselves as more at large in pag. 3. of the Cry And what Justice do you think in Reason may be expected from O. S. and such as he in case it should be granted as the Meeting 's Act that so accounteth of an Appeal and that in a Religious and Conscious concern and that to the most Antient and Reputable of the Society And further out of pag. 6. of the Cry viz. That I did not refer the matter to the said Seven c. without a Conditional Reserve Which is true and I own it so but yet but the same and no other reserve than what I had told and signified unto Friends at the said Meeting both over and over again and therefore if a Reserve not a private or secret one but such as was not only sincere but honest and reasonable too if it be either Honesty or Sincerity for a Man to look for and expect Justice and Impartiallity from you in his case especially when he made Request for Justice against Offenders and therefore how so prone to Contention and Quarrelling in it he idlely charges me with for telling the Meeting and continuing in the same mind that if not ended fairly and impartially c. yet I intended to make my Appeal And what Sincerity can Men reasonably think is in the Minds and Breasts of such as would put a limit and lay a Bar to hinder an Appeal for Justice which is permitted by the Laws and the priviledge of every English-man and allowed of in all the Courts of Judicature in England and by those agreed on good Orders too acknowledged and allowed of by themselves And when I as before signified my said Intention of Appeal did not John May one of the said Meeting both second and allow it by saying at the same time and Meeting viz. or that I might bring it back to them again therefore it 's to be thought that O. S. wanted Matter to help make his Book bulky else would never have been thus found as the Proverb is Building Castles in the Air And had I not good cause given to suspect their Sincerity viz. the Seven who have since proved themselves so Treacherous And again so fraudulent and falacious is he in his still continuing doting and dreaming about the Authority of their Wicked and Unjust Judgment as in p. 20. to use his own Phrase That he runs himself a Ground most shamefully by not making any manner of distinction between Doing and Acting a thing with Judgment that is discretion and passing pronouncing or giving of a Judgment Sentence I think that sober People should be very cautious of being over credulous to the Words of any that dare use such Sophestry and Craft lest they hazard putting out of their own Eyes and then made to grind at their Mill and then scoffingly draws the like crafty Conclusion from it viz. That it is a sign he is a Man of small Judgment himself and if have a mind to have Business done without Judgment they may send for him c. To the latter part And if any of Treachery and Craft I know not the Man under the like Circumstances that can exceed him at that work And again in the same page To what purpose do Persons hear Differences but to end them I say so too and the only Point in Differance betwixt us for had thou O. S. and the rest of thy Companions done that you had done all the whole and the Controversie had soon been ended but you did not Rightly hear as fore-hinted nor at all or in the least end it and therefore with a twofold witness you are found Guilty and Condemned by your selves even out of your own Mouthes And then further tells his Reader that A. B. hath another exception against them meaning of the Seaven and is angry that we gave any Judgment at all alledging that we were not appointed for Judges but Reconcilers Answ And if he were angry shall appeal to the Reader if not cause for it seeing what he alledges is both true owned and acknowledged confest yea and signed to by themselves as in pag. 15. of his Reviler and therefore as in his to me whether O. S. doth not shew his own Folly it being as cited so granted as both the former and the latter doth his falseness But enough of this it being as I may say in a manner the subject of the whole and every part of this his Work viz. The Treacherous taken in his Treachery And therefore may I not further add and that justly too and return upon him and all the rest in his to me viz. What a Contrivance hath he and they made through such there Partiality by respect to Persons more then either Justice or Truth to both continue and perpetuate Discord and Strife c. that as confest as before hinted were chosen to make Peace and put an end to the difference as also to be observed there 's as little occasion except to swell his Book for his so telling of flying off or one on either hand by one or the other of the party concern'd seeing the thing as proposed and the matter assigned was never done nor never endeavoured in a true and Christian method in order thereunto But to O. S. one thing more for it's pity but he should have his due seeing he so much deserves it and that is in such his Falseness and Treachery in his quoting or citing out of mine which at present take only these two following Instances the first of them out of pag. 6. of the Cry and inserted in pag. 5. of his A Reviler c. where he thus words it viz. That it seems that the difference was but flenderly grounded alluding to my charge against W. L. if it wanted to be made out by Remarks made upon his Person and Qualification Whereas as forehinted my words were these viz. Remarks made upon both his Charges Person and Qualification where it 's to be noted that the principal and most material Branch or part is wholly left out and omitted by him as the like in what he has cited out of pag. 13. of the Cry where he words thus viz. A Meeting intended for Judgment and Sentence c. though I question not that he and the rest of them intended oâ— denied it for any other as their Actions make appear whatever they
therein recites is my exclaiming so extreamly against it as in pag. 15 and 16. which I doubt not but the Reader will conclude with me that if I did I had cause enough given me for it But a Word further this being as said the Hinge or main of your All therefore again do not I say so mistake if should be so Charitable as to count it so for that your Work was neither to determine or give Judgment or do any thing more further or otherways than only and alone as signed under your own Hands the ending or putting an end to the Difference for of this side or short of it ye did nothing as in the true sence of doing for as you know it s so and true so a Word as common and phrase frequent amongst men chosen to the like end when asked by any What have ye done Is the matter ended between such and such Which if not their answer is usually We met so and so c. but could do nothing And that what they meant by doing nothing was because that they did not or could not end the Difference make Peace the alone work or business they were to do chosen and appointed for is clear for here 's no room at all for determining c. or any thing more or less than only ending the Difference And therefore what further alledg'd as with respect to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of either the one or the other of the Persons or Parties concern'd is foolish frivolous and impertinent to be offer'd or made use of in the Case they all and every one of them being things and matters only depending the others being the main and sum and substance of the whole But it may be that O. S. and his Companions in this Work were in such a Popish Dream that they imagin'd themselves so Divinely qualify'd though thus short of and below the Common Justice of Men and in such a station as ought to be both taken and believed for Apostolical and that whatsoever they do or act as unaccountable or being questioned any further about it I am afraid I say that they are for a thorough fixing of what they imagine and that for no less than a divine and irrevocable Church Censure or Decree And as to the power or disposing Power that rest's and resides as his imports with Reflection on the Quarterly Meeting in such Matters and Cases I matter not how little I know nor how much I am wanting in my Judgment concerning them or any at all if you propose or intend not Justice more than Method Truth than matter of Form therefore shall not trouble my self to dispute Prerogatives or the Power either of the one or of the other till I find a better management And again if O. S. do account it such a starting aside because I at first refused to refer it to their hearing yet one would think he might have been more sparing since as 't is granted by him I have so strated in again And as to that part quoted by him out of page the 4th of the Cry relating to my refusing the committing of it to the said Seven where he alledgeth as if there were nothing in it of Reason or that looks like Reason And a little further so far is he saith O. S. from Offering of Reason that it rather shows his resolute Will than Reason And further saying let Him assign any Sentence out of it if he can c. therefore shall only Cite what have there alledged and propos'd for such in page the 5th of the Cry c. viz. As I am herewith alluding to the foregoing very much dissatisfy'd so I cannot with a clear Conscience be free to the bringing in such an evil President for time to come without Witnessing against it The President dissatisfied with was a Condescention to have the matter thus gone upon or prosecuted until first publickly Read and Communicated to their said Meeting to whom it was directed and intended and the Reason for it I being denyed of that which I conceive common Justice amongst Men leadeth and teacheth to do according to both the Law of Nature and the Law of God and which likewise common Charity obligeth all sorts of People of whatever Nation or Profession of Religion unto which is to give at least the hearing of any ones Petition or Complaint if they do not care or think fit to take any further notice of it Now if there be nothing of Reason in all this nor that looks like Reason when as in the first place I have assign'd common Justice in the Second my dissatisfaction c. in the Third my Scruple as with respect to Conscience in the Fourth the Law of Nature in in the Fifth the Law of God in the Sixth the Law of Charity then indeed I must be forc'd to give up the Case and acknowledge that I know not what is Reason neither can I believe that there is such a thing as it in the World And as to the other part of the page or pages he is so at in and out to and fro ramble and round about that it 's hard for a Man to trace or follow him in such his Crooked and uncertain Paths and to what he further spends time and wastes Paper upon by telling his Reader that sometimes I call my Paper of Complaint a Complaint and anon a Petition and Complaint c. it s not worth the further nothing than only to denote the humility of his and their Supplicant who in hopes to be prevalent was willing to put himself under the Circumstance of the meanest and lowest State he could think of or find out And further to this saith he He adds a Postscript as in page the 6th in which he says are two weighty Reasons for a Publick hearing of the Petition first because the Grievances therein contained relate to the Monthly Meeting so not a private nor personal Concern and if this be true saith he it makes against him for its evident that the Monthly Meeting did not imploy nor impower him to make a Complaint To which do return that both my self and the rest were free Men and could do it without either Power or a License from either O. S. or them and further that it might relate both to the Monthly and Quarterly too notwithstanding not imploy'd either by the one or the other of them and also both can and still dare to Exhibit a Complaint without either the leave or knowledge of any or either of the aforesaid when Managed after this Rate and manner for that we are Men and not born Slaves as he and some would make us but perceive he is still upon the mistake for I never nor no where have said that it was the aggrievance or Complaint of the Monthly Meeting but of Friends belonging unto it and what if it had come but only from one Man or a single Person must it therefore have been denyed to have been
Father it upon the Lord or your Sence in your Waitings c. which is a Lye and a Divination of your own Brain for that God neither giveth Sence nor excites Men to pervert Justice or do wickedly or to either act do father or otherways than as before since Peace Ending the Difference was the matter proposed and both the Subject and Substance of your Business and Work and which no doubt might have proved as effectual in our case as well as in others had they been in sincere reality and earnest to have done it in its right and due Method And farther as to their false and malicious Aspersion as inform'd by charging me to act or behave my self like one or a Man distracted though there was cause of temptation enough given me for it by that days work of yours I mean when you pronounced or gave it had not the Lord stood by me and been my support and help by that days work I say as I then told you and do the same again That it shall stand and will stand in charge and witness against thee O. S. and you all and that for ever unless you return and repent for it was a Day and an Hour of the strength and power of Darkness yea and a work of Cruelty Force and of sore Oppression as my Soul can say of it that bore the burthen and felt the heavy weight of your Merciless Hard-heartedness c. And which in addition to the rest of your works brought as may be supposed Thomas Gilping a Man of like temper with your selves who neither belong'd to the Meeting nor yet of the County neither had any thing to do or to meddle or make with those Concerns amongst us to so proudly insult and domineer over me and as if one appointed as Head and Master of the Meeting and Work ye intended that day to be at viz. Judgment Sentence c. who first discover'd himself by Preaching through Mercy not my Funeral though my Sentence and Judgment-Sermon and such a one too as I think in relation to the nature and subject of it as was never yet preached by any Quaker before which I leave to the just Judge of all to reckon with him for when and where such his Flams and Idle Fables will not stand or pass for Apostolick or Divine Authority being far short of the Priests or Ministers of the Church of England in the like Case for they Preaching before the Judge when ready to ascend the Bench or Judgment-sear who generally rather excite to Mercy with Justice than Judgment Condemnation c. But T. G. for neither of them but for you I mean the seven to be one and to stand and hold together and not to be daunted but to resolve and fix the matter viz. Judgment notwithstanding as the Reader may observe was neither of the Meeting nor County to the shame and reproof of his Gray-Hairs be it spoken and stand in Record against him and I could say more both with respect to this and other matters particularly relating to himself as he knows I can and of his scornful and insulting Temper All which have been observed and he spoken to about it as have been inform'd by Friends of his own County and farther observe that a Friend that was at the aforesaid Meeting gave in his Testimony against their such unjust and evil Proceedings saying That he had been at several Meetings in his time and no doubt but he had for he was both Antient and a Man of Gray-Hairs but that he had never seen or had been where the like as with respect to Arbitrariness Injustice Force c. had been done before and therefore may be the better excused if like the Prophet of Old my Face was made as of Brass and my Brow as a Flint to withstand testifie against such great and notorious Wickedness so publickly done and acted in the Gate and such gross Oppression amongst the Men of Age and to be plain in it the very strength of my Loins was as unloosed and the substance of my Life as dissolv'd within me and in the cry of my Soul and the woundings of my Life was it uttered forth unto him though your Hearts and Ears were hardned and shut against it but in fine as I then told you as before so again that that Case of yours and mine will yet have and come to another hearing and that before the great Tribunal of the great God and Lord of Heaven and Earth where my Cause shall be heard and determined in Justice Righteousness and Truth for unto him and his Righteous Court of Heaven I both have and do appeal And therefore Christian Reader if I had indeed tho' false and a Lye seem'd as a Man or one distracted as these envious Men have accounted me for my true and sincere Love and holy Zeal unto my God Justice and the Truth yet considering that such their Injustice and Oppression was none of the least when only for and on the ground and score of Religion if as Solomon said That Oppression maketh a wise Man mad I say the better to be born and allow'd of in me that he counteth such for a silly one though whether he or they that thus wronged and abused me therein let others judge that tho' both spoke and acted like a sober Man and a Christian as others were Witnesses also as well as they and it was a hard thing to be thus risen up against as it were of all especially by them that should and ought to have done me Justice and yet for no Mouth or Tongue to move or speak on my behalf Justice c. except the forementioned that wholly unknown to me and meerly as accidentally happen'd to be there Of which and the whole of it let me add and further say A Wo a Wo this Plant of Pride that 's risen and grown so high Yet tho' so tall it wither shall Root Branch and all must dye For he the Lord will Pride rebuke and break their Iron Bands And ransom the Afflicted Ones out of such Cruel Hands Yea he he 'll bring Mens honour down and hide their Pride in the Dust That Lord it and do thus oppress to satisfie their Lust And now in the next place as with respect to the Title of his Book entituled A Reviler rebuked c. I think that all that know O. S. and are Impartial in their Judgment cannot but know and conclude that his said Title is fittest for and most proper true upon himself for I know not a Man that have practis'd it more But if I had said nothing the very Fruits of his Tongue and Pen doth apparently manifest it for that moreover and besides his so foul and notorious Reflections Flouts Jeers Scoffs Scorns and Deridings both frequent and common throughout his whole Work I shall yet add more to his Account to fill up the sum and make good my Charge against him both out of his
heard or Justice done him in his Case therefore let me further say as in pag. 13. of the Cry c. I pray God break the Bands of all such Oppression and deliver every honest Man c. from having need or coming under their Hands in expectation of either Justice or Relief And than again saith he It s worth the Reader 's noting how falsly he dealt with the Monthly Meeting c. But in what or wherein he is short and sparing for want of Ground for his Charge and which after a great round about the chief Ground of the accusation from no other Cause but only because that I did not immediately or at the next Quarterly Meeting at Ore bring forth my Charges against W. L. J. B. yet did the Paper of Complaint containing the grievances of several others beside myself as most proper to be first though no Limitation given or time set me by them nor either set or propos'd by my self therefore better worth the Reader 's noting how strange and at what a venture rate this Man acts and runs in his Stigmatizing and Calumniating for how could I deal falsly by them or any when under neither Promise or Obligation as in the foresighted And then goeth on and makes as if that the only alone Cause and Reason of Friends refusing to record their said Paper of wicked and unjust Judgment at the ensuing Quarterly Meeting held at Newbery was partly or only because of my troublesome Behaviour there and partly because some Friends were willing to try what might be done as with respect to my Repentance and Recovery As to the first I was it may be a trouble and a troubler unto him for so asserting and undauntedly constant to the Truth and my Principles and could not by any means be prevail'd upon to submit or truckle under his and other the Seven such wicked and corrupt Designs and crying against their Oppression and telling of my appealing to the Yearly Meeting in case I could not have Justice there which its most probable did so startle and awaken him that he even he himself did then and there and at that very time offer for another Meeting and proposed both the Method and Manner of it and mention'd the Names of some of them he thought most fitting and capable to be assistant in it as occasionally is elsewhere hinted though left wholly out in his Narrative and which makes good and fixeth the Truth of my Title upon him The Treacherous taken in his Treachery c. And as to the other part of some being disatisfy'd with the Reading of the aforesaid and the whole against the Recording of it is nothing but the Truth and truely and really so and if not seeing he is such an Artist at it why did he not procure a Certificate from the Friends of the said Meeting to testifie to the contrary as was procured by him from them of Charlow of which you may hear more hereafter and yet for all this he goes on and tells the Reader That he had given a plain and true Account c. So hardy and void of Shame is he that although he pretends to tell of A. B's shifting Tricks yet in the mean thus apparently laying open and discovering his own And yet after all this to so confidently outface and deny it viz. As being the Proposer of the said Appeal and what value hath such a one of his Credit that 's so void of Truth with his Tongue And this further what if through his subtilty and craft the Writer to the Meeting was so prevailed upon as not to Record it he being one of the Seven also which whether as he hath said remains still as a Question seeing he can so say and unsay to serve himself and ends and the which he useth as a trick to invalid the force and truth of my Narration yet if not Recorded and should grant it so there 's a Record of the Truth and Verity of it in his own Heart and Conscience that will not be blotted nor never can be razed out neither in Time nor Eternity except he be humbled and repent how short soever he doth or may pretend as with respect to his Memory but treacherous and false as in one so in all for neither was Stephen Crisp or George Whitehead either mentioned or proposed by me or any one else but wholly and alone by himself as can and do appeal to the Friends that were there for my Witness And what if by my Letter afterward I mention'd a necessity to appeal doth it at all invalid the Truth of what I have asserted as with respect to the proposing of it at the Quarterly Meeting at Newberry surely no and but an Insinuation and Imposing upon his Reader and whether as my words were if he had honestly cited them viz. necessitated as it were to appeal from time to time both plain and apparent that the Appeal was not new but old and depending Again He hath saith he represented things in his Book for otherways than in truth they were but he is hobled in the doing it that from his own Book his falshood appears c. Answ But shows not either how or wherein and further makes the ground of my refusing to stand Tryal before the said Seven whom the Quarterly Meeting upon my Complaint had refer'd it to because my Complaint was not openly read c. To the first part O S. is still as always besides the matter to so tell talk of Tryal Trying c. for I was no Criminal then no need of tryal but the Plantiff or Accuser nor a Prisoner for Sentence Judgment but the matter as rightly stated is truly and only thus viz. Two or three Friends are at a difference and they chuse Arbitrators of their Neighbours to make up the Breach and set them at Friendship again in the which case as thus truly stated there 's no need of either Judge or Judges Jury or Tryal but Wisdom and Honesty in the Persons so chosen for to both do and answer the end of their Choice viz. to set the Offended at one again which had the same been found and that in the least degree in you the said Seven the matter had been no doubt made up and the Difference between us ended long ago but O. S. and the rest are so much for Oyer in their own Case and more for Terminer in anothers that they have mist the Point and lost the Case again And as to the other a word more you being only such viz. Arbitrators or Peace-makers why may not a Person so concern'd especially when can give a good and sufficient Reason for it as in pag. 45. of the Cry and part of which is also cited by him viz. If dissatisfaction with the first Choice the said Seven be permitted the priviledge of a Second before a great number And is it not common and frequent among Men both to allow and do it and yet what a
did my Signing the said Paper at all or in the least bespeak the aforesaid to be Innocents for if Innocent their was neither Ground-room for cause or occasion to either desire or advice to pass by or forgive if they had but so much as imagined or thought that their was no offence committed and therefore the more apparent that O. S. as his Phrase is entered thus into a Rage himself to see that neither Policy Subtilty nor Craft could abate my true and sincere Zeal nor weaken the Stroak of due Judgment and Reproof that is I say come upon and that hath thus Surrounded him and that on all and every Hand for his thus temporizing and playing the Hypocrite And as to what I have said in respect to G. W. if I have missed the Truth in it so much as in one Jot or Tittle I should be sorry for it but if not have no cause to Repent though as a Nathan to a David the said Paper of his being as followeth viz. Having heard some of A. B's Complaints c. Then it seems there were some and seeing but some of them heard it naturally imports that there were remaining c. and for all this without any further Hearing or Notice taken whether those heard or those unheard were true or no A. B. in the first place is to be advised as in pag. 23 of the Cry to behave himself Peaceably and as a Man of Christian Charity Note Though the aggrieved and complianant and that against others for their Unpeaceableness and Incivility to as well as Uncharitableness and that in Deportment Words and Actions both in Meetings for Worship and others as at large in pag. 3.4 5 6. of the Cry where it s plainly made appear that they and they only were the Cause the Ground and Occasion of the said Difference But again And as he approves himself a Man of Peace to own him and record him as such Which to me is in a degree an apparent assent to and an approbation of their so Wicked and Unjustdoings in casting out or Excommunicating me and upon as unfair and unreasonable Terms as rightly considered to receive and to take me in again and which would be and prove no other at all then to give my Heart my Conscience and my Testimony to the lye that the Lord has raised up and concerned to stand and to bear against such gross Impiety and Wickedness neither was it accounted Unchristian or want of Christian Charity in the Antients in the beginning of the Reformation nor in times past among our selves to Testifie and Witness against the Pride and Lording of the Prelates and this we know whoever shut their Eyes and will not see that it is not Profession altereth Quality nor Name the Nature of things c. Yet notwithstanding Stephen Cripes was quite of another mind and Apprehension concerning me and them who only advised me to Patience in the exercise and management of it towards them and then said he Thou wilt come to Reign over them viz the aforesaid and then Seconded it Isay again thou wilt come to Reign over them who had both the sight of my Paper and the hearing of my Complaints as well as G. W. And my said Paper as hinted was in the Custody of the aforesaid when he Dyed and through which means the perfectest Copy came again to be lost And as to what I further said as with respect to the fixing of Judgment I do still stand by and affirm with this Proviso viz. when appointed and intended for Judges or Judgment that then it ought and of right it should be fixed upon the Head of the Transgressors though as it is most evident and apparent the aforegoing have Wittingly and Wilfully spared the Transgressors and affixed it on the Head of the Innocent And as to what he hath fondly surmised at the latter end of pag. 24. of his viz. As if my affixing of Judgment in my own case were not upon what was wrong but upon what I called wrong To which do return viz. That if what I have alledged and proved as well as charged be not wrong then may the truly impartial conclude with my Self that their is nothing that is true or right in the whole World but Pride Insulting Over-ruling Lording over others yea and even Blasphemy it self are not at all as in the least Vicious or Vices but the choisest and highest degree of Vertue Perfections neither is or has it been my drift or end in the least as insinuated by him to make my self Judge in this or any other Case of Difference but to evidence and prove what I have or do alledge both from the Rules of Justice Truth yea and in the accounted order and method of it to and when have done all if that will not prevail to commend it to the Witness of God in the Consciences of all both of Friends and Enemies thinking and believing it to be nothing less then Impiety and Persecution to affrighten any with Threats for if there is nothing that shall hurt c. I am sure no Punishment there And again in pag. 25. A Reviler c. to his old story and continue in still doting about their Wicked and Unjust Judgment and insinuating as if commissionated by the Quarterly Meeting to do what they did To which there is no need toretnrn any other Answer to them then their own Paper which plainly shows and proves the contrary and that they had neither Order nor Commission to do as they did if you can or dare believe themselves but I have been both large and particular in the foregoing though can hardly meet with such their Ignorant Dotage but to place a reproof upon it pray read their Paper and then judge of their Commission and whether O. S. to use his own words as in pag. 24. Hath not broke his own Head by so contradicting himself And further as to his and their pretended Beseeching Bowels c. as in the foresighted page they are only words of Fraud Craft and Deceit as their Fruits makes appear and that as if on purpose to deceive and beguile the unwary Reader for how a more favourable Comparison or Construction but that to like to the Crocodile that after he hath Ravened upon and Devoured the Body is observed as it s said to shed Tears and weep over the Head nor indeed used to no other nor better end than as in pag. 25. of the Cry than for me to deny my Testimony rack my Conscience sin against God and hazard my Soul seeing I had so often told them that I was so concern'd and if any thing more or besides this no doubt but for me to fall down Beg Beseech Pray and Intreat them that have so used and abused me to be reconciled c. and although have so done as may say in too large a Degree in my so far condescending in order unto it yet have they nevertheless Refused and Denyed as
had I been there I should not have been permitted to have either heard or seen what was done or who blamed But if O. S. be no better at Accounts then in this it s a question whether instead of three c. it was heard so much as once or indeed by any at all For how to use his own Phrase this his confused nonsensical Noise and heap of words can in any Sence be true or hold together for my part I cannot tell where he says viz. that before I had published chose false Charges c. I knew they had been heard three times and then proceeding to the proof of it saith he first at a Monthly meeting and afterwards at a Quarterly meeting Answer and what doth a Monthly and a Quarterly-meeting make three yet observe any thing will serve with one that neither cares nor fears what he saith and therefore shall return upon himself in his own style as in pag. 4. of his Reviler viz. and wherein he stumbles falls and foils himself most shamefully as also in the foregoing where he also falls into three untruths and apparent errors all at once but if it should be alledged that he meant a hearing three times a piece at each meeting viz. Monthly and Quarterly which instead of mending would marr it the more and instead of his pretended three would make it apparent six though in pag. 38. he makes his three but two again And in the next as if I had incourag'd Hall in his clamours against him his proof for it cited out of pag. 36. of the Cry And because I there said that I had received near a dozen Letters from Hall c. but he doth not tell saith he how many I had sent unto them To the first if I had incourag'd Hall in his clamours how came it to pass that I moved for a hearing as own'd and acknowledg'd and to what end but to understand whether clamours or truths And as to the other about the said Letters to the best of my Memory I rather advised him to forbear them for that I thought I knew as much of O. S. as he could tell me and the which may likewise serve in answer to his Comparison of the foul humours in the Body gathering together since I took the best method according to Truth in order to disperse them And which also may shew O. S's mistake in supposing I had occasion to fish out of them as he chargeth in pag. 36. of his Reviler And in pag. 33. he seems to have done having given an Answer as would have it thought to all those Charges and Alligations of mine in particular against or relating unto W. L. J. B. c. though I have skipt over several both weighty and material ones but more of that hereafter Proceedings I now come saith he to that part of his Book which is level'd more directly and particularly at me beginning at pag. 33. of the Cry where he saith seeing that O. S. one of the seven unjust Judges hath taken a fresh occasion thus to run out against me through some offence he hath taken at my late Book of Queries it hath come into my thoughts further to discover and manifest him and that in his plain and naked shape not only from the evidence and proof from his own Mouth and Pen but also from the Allegation reports and accounts of others concerning him and in pag. 35. doth hint again at the cause or occasion thereof and that was for my altering with my Pen saith he the Title of his former Book from plain and honest Dealing to false and treacherous c. Answ To the first of manifesting him in his plain and naked Shape as I thought so to have done and have been as good as my Word and also do believe that nakeder was he never strip'd nor his nakedness made appear for why should his Sheeps Cloathing be a means to deceive or beguile the simple And as to the other part of proving him to be as charg'd and that from the Evidence of his Mouth and Pen. I think there 's no occasion to add further proof to the manifesting the Truth of it then what is spoken written contain'd and publish'd of him in this and my other two Books The first forecited by him viz. Hidden things reveal'd and brought to Light or plain and honest Dealing with W. L. and J. B. the other The Cry of the Oppressed in Sion and if I have been too remiss or short therein I intend to mend it in the next And as to the other part of it taken from the Allegations Reports and Accounts of others I have given him both my Authors and Evidence and neither of which hath he refuted that I observ'd or proved for a falshood or lye And as I told him before in an other case of the Scripture he Cites out of mine of the Cry viz. Report and we will report It chiefly relates to such and the like groundless Lyes and Falshoods too much in use with him and other of his Associates And a Word further that if it should be thought that I have not been so large as is Judg'd or thought proper and needful concerning the said Alligation s of N.H. c. I do give the Reader thus further to understand that N. H. doth follow the said O. S. and that from Meeting to Meeting up and down those parts of the County in order to make good his said Charge and to prove it to his Face and besides I do understand by a Letter I have seen of his dated no longer ago than the 12th of the 7th Month 1697. that he hath new and fresh Matters to alledge in charge against him and another also of a latter date and some of them for his wilfull and downright Lyes he hath put in Print meaning in his A Reviler c. and therefore what ever he hath further to say of or concerning the aforesaid unless it be in those Matters or Things that more immediately relate unto my self I think neither to Answer or take any further notice of them But to refer both the Reader and himself for their proof and truth that as said attends it and would be glad of the opportunity to do it And again saith he in pag. 37. speaking of me He beginneth his inquiry in a high and lofty Stile viz. First I shall demand of him to Answer for himself in the case of D. and N. H. in the Vale of White Horse c. and how well this becometh him saith he meaning by my being so bold c. Answ And had I not cause to begin my inquiery as I did in the case and cases alledged I having as said received near a dozen Letter from the aforesaid as in pag. 37. of the Cry and all of them cheifly and principally relating to O. S. Falsness Unjustice and Treacherous Dealing towards the aforesaid as he cited for Oppression with crys for Justice is the Tenor of the whole
and as reported the same infect throughout the whole County But at Farington more especially the place of his former aboad where I have seen with my own Eyes and heard with my own Ears the mournful Complaints of some towards whom through such his moross Carriage and Conversation he had given so great an offence as that they had left both the Societies and Assemblies of Friends and which caused some of Abington no doubt to precaution of the like towards them when he came to inhabit there as hinted in the Cry But how lofty and imperious himself when I have told all I shall leave the Reader to judge seeing that in the first place as by his own Confession he thus Metamorphized and abused my Book by scratching out of my Title to it Plain and Honest Dealing and putting in of his own False and Treacherous instead of Plain and Honest as in pag. 37. of the Cry the which I account as both Fraudulent and Imperious and no doubt punishable by the Law and though he hath so frequently charged me with Malice Envy Quarrelsom c. yet who can at all or in the least account or think otherways of this I say to thus marr metamorphize and confuse my Title or Book and then to send or return it back again unto me that I might see what he had done and not at all better in them that first tore one of my said Books into pieces at John Buys and after committed it to the Flames as cited in the Cry and in which O.S. is likewise mute and silent nor it in the fore-named or those others that advised the Friends of Windsor for to follow their evil Example which all comes from one and the self-same ground and cause viz. the Spirit of Persecution and is no other than the Seed and Ground of it notwithstanding in p. 35. he seems to so wipe his Mouth and say of it viz. That there is nothing that we are more against viz. Persecution To which I do Answer That it may happily be so in Words Say-So's but his Practice above all others hath too apparently shewed and proved it by his Deeds And in the second by his so wickedly and visely charging sentencing or condemning me for a Murderer and to add Authority to his said Wickedness to make as if the Apostle John had done it or accounted me as such c. And in the next place in his so threatning or affrighting me with his Corporal or Bodily punishment and by which the Reader may observe how one wicked Deed or Action makes way for and ushers in another I say as first so Enviously to alter the true and proper Title of my Book which both he and they were afraid to medle with and ashamed to Answer neither is it Answered to this Day though the matter contained therein was only Queries And in the next so to Judge Sentence me as before And in the third to so endeavour to affrighten me with the punishing of my Body and yet for all this to so Insinuate as before viz. which there is nothing that we are more against but I pray what after the Burning of Hereticks Books or such they account as such but in the next place to take hold of the Body where power and is grown to that degree of Cruelty as to do it as are many and frequent Instances in the case and what more Hardy or Cruel then for him or others to so account his or their Brother for a Murderer a Devil a Dog a Wolf a Swine yea and no less than one too for whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness forever c. And are not these the Seeds yea and the grown Seeds too of it viz. Persecution and which although it appears at first but as a Grain of Mustard-seed the least of all Seeds but at length into a Root and a Blade and then into a tall and flourishing Tree I say these with the aforesaid account out of the Vale of the same or like nature towards them that I had met with from him towards my self made me take the Boldness or the Impudence as he elsewhere calls it for to thus demand and inquire of him as I think well I might and had cause enough for it and to understand of his Conversation as well as of his Power that had so taken and assumed unto himself such an unaccountable Authority and Prerogative yea and more then barely this too as in pag. 36. of the Cry and the which I have also alledged as part of the Reason of my so demanding and enquiring and that was for his so thundring forth and that like so many Curses the Wrath and Vengenance of God against me the which with a great deal more of the like nature and tendency O. S. slips over and hides in Silence being either afraid or ashamed or both to either recite or transcribe And again To back the Business saith O. S. meaning of me for my only endeavouring for a hearing in order for Justice to be done the poor man N. H. in his case he infers how that I had sent a Letter to the Counsellor viz. Counsellor Mallet at the same time and by the same Bearer c. And what 's my offence I pray in it if so And of which having obtained a Copy saith he I inserted it here that the Reader may see how much this envious Man busieth himself in that which did not concern him Unto which I do return that if Equity and the craving of crying or standidg for Justice makes me appear to be so envious then let it be so or on the other hand that if it be nor is to be none of O. S's concern yet I do look upon and think it to be mine and that under a double Consideration in this present case and not only mine in what is or ought to be the common concern I mean as with respect to Justice towards all but the like of all other true hearted and sincere Christians with me And what have I moved for or endeavoured to be done by the Counsellor in the case of the aforesaid or on their behalf farther or other than barely it I shall leave the Impartial to judge my Words in the aforesaid to him being these I therefore intreat thee to do the poor Man justice Observe Intreat for that it 's to be feared that it hath been hard for him to obtain it hitherto Observe again that it appears it seems as Envy and Envious in O. S's thoughts though if it be but so much as to either desire cry intreat or request for Justice c. either in my own or anothers case And then again in p. 39. so wickedly to insinuate and to place an Observation upon it too as if I had reflected upon the Monthly and Quarterly Meeting whenas I have told him before that I did not hear that the matter had been brought before or heard by any or either of them and if I
the case when either one or both of the parties differing be obstinate and refuse to be reconciled Answer though have spoken to it before all that the Referies have to do or can do further in it is only to endeavour and perswade them to Condescention and Compliance and if they cannot or that will not prevail they should ought and must still patiently wait till either they or one of them be of a better mind and as often seen that although not presently done or at first yet not so wholly ineffectual so the aforesaid do their parts but obtain'd and accomplisht at last But thee even thee O. S. and the rest of the Seven c. were not truely so exercised as they ought and the state of the case required whatever have said or pretended or at all as men truely using the right way and means in order thereunto as more at large and in particular in pag. 27. of my said Book the Cry c. And then further at the lower end of the said page saith he speaking of me He grants at length thus viz. That if the Parties or Referies to whom the matter in difference is refer'd be in good earnest and do use their utmost indeavour for Peace and Reconciliation yet if any one of the Persons or Parties concern'd do stand out and be refractory c. all the rest are clear and to be excused and the blame wholly and alone to be placed upon the obstinate or refusing Person or Party in case that partiality and injustice be not the cause of his averness Answer To which do again return and say as before viz. that in Justice and Partiality and that yet and it only and alone was the cause and occasion of my non-compliance and besides I was the Plantiff or Accuser although to be observed and noted as often and frequently hinted that those viz. the said seven were not chosen or intended for either Judges or Judgment but Reconcilers c. and besides there 's a great deal of difference too between a Person being blamed and the passing and giving of Judgment and Sentence against him and then proceeds on and saith O. S. This I like well and am so fully assured that we whom he unjustly calls the seven unjust Judges to whom the matter in defference betwixt W. L. J. B. and himself were refer'd were in very good earnest and did use our utmost indeavour for Peace and Reconciliation Answer A meer Conceit and vain Ostentation for if were so chosen why did you not do it and answer the end of your choice what hinder'd except partiality partiship and interest nor his fully assurance worthy the taking any notice of or serveth more or otherways than only for himself and in their and his own case else the contrary both plain and apparent to all that have Eyes of their own and will not be bound to make use of or see by his or theirs as appears and that from first to last by both Words and Actions c. And then again proceeds faining and insinuating to his Reader viz. with what a great Satisfaction and Peace of mind he can and do leave and submit it to the Judgment of God's holy Witness in the Hearts of his People here and to the Judgment Seat of Christ hereafter c. Answer And therefore let me say oh how can this confident and hardy Man thus dally dare and jest with God his holy Spirit and Eternity as thinking or believing him and them to be such another or others as himself but let me return back upon him the conclusive Words of his own Book in pag. 46. viz. that he must certainly for all this be rewarded according to his doings for fair Words and Sayings will not then and at that day excuse him nor stand him in any stead nor yet wipe of the guilt either from his or any such evil corrupt and defiled Heart and Consciences And then proceeds But seeing saith he it is so plainly proved by positive Evidence and most clear demonstration which cannot be deny'd but pray observe whether and how far this man leaves it and with what limitation and injunction viz. that A. B. is deeply guilty of doing him great Wrong Answ But if so I pray wherein and by what for I know not neither is it apparent or proved except by thus discovering and laying open his Craft False-heartedness and Deceit as thus acted under the guise and notion of Truth Sanactity Divine Sence and Religion And this farther That as in my said Book and Books it 's truly alone on my part in holy Zeal for the truth of God and the Answering of a good Conscience in his sight and not for Name Praise Interest or Profit though do much question as have cause so to do whether O. S. be not guilty of them all has been was and is the Principal cause that have thus concern'd and ingag'd me with him c. And then proceeds And therefore saith he God's holy witness in the Hearts of his People which is just and true must needs Judge and Condemn him Answer I say again as I did before pray see and observe how this man leaves it to the witness of God c. and how he also mocks and as we use to say makes a meer Nose of Wax of the Holy Witness of God to be thus bowed both any and every way to serve his Ends and Interest for though he pretends to so leave and commit it viz. to God's Holy Witness as twice or thrice over and over again in the aforesaid page and yet at last see how he prescribes directs and dictates unto it and tells what it ought and must needs do and be done and that is for to both Judge and Condemn A. B. so it may be still and it further observ'd that though he so mockingly and in such deceit commiteth it c. that yet notwithstanding doth at last deprive and exclude them both in it viz. both the Judgment-Seat of Christ and Witness of God c. and entereth upon the Judgment and Determination of the matter himself and in a manner to let them both-know like a Judge on the Bench especially when pretend like himself to such a prerogative to the Jury in what they are and ought to do and which is viz. that they cannot avoid but must needs and ought to both Judge give Sentence against and Condemn A. B. And as to the rest of his Fallacies and Hypocritical and feigned Insinuations as if all this and such his evil Works Treachery and evil Treatment towards me were in love and for the good of my Soul To which I shall say little more at present rather leaving and commending the impartial Reader for his better Satisfaction to the Reading of my former Books so often and frequently cited and then for to make his own Observation upon the aforesaid Actions for his Words prove little and his Inconsistency less and withal in his comparing to
had occasion to speak and write of their's viz. as Divil Dogg Lyon Swine Vulter Bear base Abortive Illigetimate Brat who have made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and whose Conscience is sear'd as with a hot Iron and for whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness forever betraying Judas's c. As more at large in pag. 20. of the Cry Oh how can or dare this hardned Man or any of the rest thus charge or criminate other for Contention Reflection c. that are found thus idlely evil foul outragious themselves and that beyond the bounds of all Mortality or Civility as amongst Men Oh be astonished and blush for shame ye men of falsehood and pride Again in the close of this Article meaning of me Then he cometh saith he to the other three viz. W. Spikeman and the two Women for no other cause so far as I see saith O. S. but that he might thence take occasion to throw some of his Dirt upon them Answ From whence it may be observed that he counteth them both clear and clean enough as with respect to themselves The First of which hath been charged and that by his own Children as before with Barbarous Severity towards his Wife and them and not by A. B. or any invention of his The Second of being with Child before she was Married the last as a professed Quaker and that for nigh this twenty Years and permitted for a Preacher amongst them too that is so unfaithful even in the beginning part of our visible Profession viz. the plain and single Language therefore think there 's no occasion for my casting of more Dirt where so much and to much before and I hope the Reader will place his Remarks and also observe how ready and dextrous O. S. is to personate and espouse their case without the least Sentence Censure or Crimination of wrong Spirit or out of Unity surely men of Sobriety will blush to hear or see them though O. S. is so double-eyed and dark-sighted that he cannot And then goes on and tells of E. B's Blameless Conversation though a Person under the aforesaid foul and evil Circumstances notwithstanding permitted and allowed to so oppose and interrupt and praised too for it I do not question the which I charge upon her as a second matter of fact if she hath owned and repented of the first And to that of Ann Moore thus further If any saith O. S. after so long profession of Truth is not come so far as to speak Plain Language such a one is greatly to be blamed But yet A. B. is more to blamed who after a longer time of profession is so far gone from it if ever he was come to Plain-dealing as to deal abusively and falsly by others as his late Book makes appear And that is all his Answer to it Is not this both an Honest and Ingenious proof and sufficient do you think in so large and so great a Charge wherein I am concerned both as a Man and a Christian for to only tell as his late Book makes appear Surely he has cause enough to be ashamed if he had any in him And yet to tell that Generals serve best to Slanderers to hide under But that general of his is but such a scrap of one if may account it so much as that it rather discovereth then any ways hides or obscures him and if A. B's late Book hath so discovered him how lavish is O. S. of others Purses to run up his Reader to six pence charges upon his And as to my Dealing that it hath been plain and honest I can and do appeal to all and every one that is honest and impartial that I have had to do withal as a Man or Christian And so dare not he and to mention but one case instead of many let him remember himself of the subtil Wiles and cunning Craft that he used towards the Friends of Newberry he elsewhere mentions to his defence when he removed from Boxford thither under pretence of a Call But what should I mention or enter into particulars in a case so obvious and manifestly known by Friends of that place save in one only and that as with respect to the House that they had taken for him And how his Actions if not pretended Call went out like the Snuff of a Candle that leaves a stink behind it If he desire more he may have it in the next otherways but to plain both in Heart Tongue and Dealing to be fit for your turn and use as more at large in my Book Hidden things revealed c. And by which the Reader to use his own to me may judge of the rest viz. At what an easie rate both as with respect to Religion as well as Civils men are and may be thus exposed by such silly and reasonless Arguments and yet for all this J. B. a Man as ready and quick-sighted as himself especially at judging at heart and inward part discerning told J. W. a Friend of London of that excepting in that which related to the difference None could say Black was my Eye or to this effect and how black in the other he that runs may read seeing that I have witness'd against nothing in him them or the rest but what is so black and to black too if Spiritual Pride Lording Insulting Blasphemy c. can or may be accounted so and by which their Sence Discerning c. may be also observed that censure and judge so apparently contrary one to the other And then proceedeth In the other part of the Charge saith he relating to W. Spikeman he is both envious and unjust c. And yet three or four Lines lower he makes as if but John Veals charge and he the only author and alledger of it and that the aforesaid brought it in a Paper saith O. S. as he finds it by the Monthly-Meeting-Book the 26th of the 5th Month 1692. But how these two can hang together I shall leave the Impartial to judge and upon what an easie rate I am judged for both envious and unjust though acted and done by another as by his own Confession And then goes on and tells how that the said Meeting had ordered Andrew Hall Daniel Bullock John Buy and John Thorne to hear and examine the matter at Daniel Bullocks House and having heard and examined the matter on both sides as fully as they could they made report thereof to the next Monethly Meeting and then annexeth to the foregoing a kind of a Certificate signed by D. Bullock A. Hall and J. Buy and who therein signifie to the like import viz. That upon the best Inquiry that they could make that they did not find W. Spikeman was guilty of the said Complaint To which do return that it may be that they were so just as to ask the Person charged whether he were guilty or no and thought it to be enough too and sufficient in the case But what Inquiry I
pray What hearing and examining the matter on both sides and as fully as could be too when the Witness not there the Witness not heard the Witness not examined Oh how to the ruin of Justice and shame of Religion have these Men done and acted amongst you and that under the notion and pretention of Meeters and Meeting hearing examining and that on both sides and that as fully as you could Oh I say would not some we account as Heathens or Infidels both blush be ashamed and spit and wash their Mouths after it And further say they We understand that J. Veal brought forth this Charge by the Instigation of others And if so happily by such that had less Envy and more love to Truth and Justice then themselves it being evident they had little or none to either And as to the Certificate of E. S. following and annexed concerning her dear Husband the which she begins with a Lye by saying that A.B. in his Book printed 1695. hath charged W. S. her Husband with barbarous Severity towards his Wife and Children For that it 's not so nor none of A. B's Charge but the charge of one of their own Children as in p. 9. of the Cry and O. S. no doubt has seen it so only Ignorance with him in this as in the rest is to be the Mother of Devotion And yet for all this in the conclusion thus insinuates viz. Judge now Reader if A. B. be not a bad Man for thus publishing the aforesaid But before do return any farther in Answer to her I do query of W. L. and J. B. whether the said E. S. be a Woman of such credit with them and amongst her Neighbours as to have her Name inserted thus in publick to a Certificate or indeed to or in any thing else to thus pass as authentick amongst you one I say of so mean and ordinary manner of Life and Conversation for that as charged she is neither true nor just in her way of Trade manner of dealing at home nor much better when abroad For was it not told us as alledged by some of her Neighbours that she stole Corn out of the Cock or Sheaf when in the Field and a Leesing amongst them and the which was testifyed unto us as so and for Truth as you both know at a Meeting appointed as I remember on purpose for the Hearing of a Difference between E. H. and her self and therefore may I not return upon him that seeming serious Man W. L. in his own Language what he formerly had said of another in the like Case I believe less blameable in Life as well as nearer related which was that those the aforesaid pleaded for or belonged unto would not so much as touch the said party with a pair of Tongs W. L. knoweth who I mean but to serve their ends and interest by them But again if her Husband now so dear the worst that I wish them that it may continue for if true as her own Child have told and affirmed she was not so dear to him if she was the more unworthy Man he But to return by all what I have said the Reader may see what Tools and Instruments they are forc'd to make use of to sign Certificates when put to it and thus at a Streight c. And no doubt but there was several more of the like sort amongst her Husbands nameless One and Twenty he signs in the behalf of as in p. 14. of his A Reviler c. But more of this and such their Paper and Certificate signing when I come to that of Charlon given on the behalf of O.S. and signed by Relations only I could say much more of W. S. and his Wife and the Disorderliness of his Family as observed and taken notice of by his Neighbours and a great deal too but I think it not worth my while to spend time and foul my Fingers and Paper about it And one thing more about their Certificate signing as in p. 9. and the 14. of his A Reviler c. in the case of W. L. which intended to have spoke to afore how it may be also observ'd what a Work and a Bussel they made with what fencing and defence they beforehand prepared in order to the managing of the matter and carrying on their Clandestine and under-hand designs in order to bespeak his Innocency whom both Truth and Justice doth condemn for had it not been time and time enough for him and them if they had been void of beguiling Crafts to have given in their temporizing Testimony or sign'd Certificates on W. L's behalf when they saw that in Justice and according to Truth he deserv'd it 8. His Eighth Article saith he as in p. 31. against W. L. and J. B. is there setting up an open Standard of Opposition and Division in our publick Meetings by their sitting and keeping on their Hatts in time of Prayer and the which saith he in p. 19. of the Cry he calls an evil and irreverant Practice but doth herein condemn himself and strike at them through his own Sides for as Evil and Irreverant as he thinks it it was his own Practice formerly towards those Separates with whom he now joyns and therefore he should have published his own Recantation for that before he had fallen so foully upon others and they do not use to sit saith he or keep their Hats on when any is in Prayer whom they have Vnity with c. Answ Though shall undertake and prove and that in particular in the following that they did it to one and he none of the meanest that was out of unity with them notwithstanding their such feigned and pretended sence and discerning and that in the case when one John Anslow was here whom they numbred among the Seperates and a Ringleader too but it 's to be noted that it was before that they knew his Name so likewise to be observed that their discerning is more by Name than any sence of them otherways But of this more hereafter But to the first that it is an open and publick Standard of opposition is not denyed by him but what the occasion or for what that opposition no other Reason is assigned by the tendency of his Argument than as only being one out of Unity and I pray you for what so out of Unity except for testifying against that in him and them which is not only out of Unity with the Spirit of Truth but all honest and sincere Christians viz. their Pride Lording Over-ruling c. And that it is an irreverant Practice in all cases I mean as with respect to our publick and Christian Assemblies is apparent and he hath not offered any thing to the contrary and more especially in this case of mine being only for the Reason aforesaid for if they have any other ought or charge against me than only for testifying against the aforesaid gross and notorious Evils why do they not bring them forth