by William Penn
Abridged by Anna Brinton
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #30, 1944

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This pamphlet, an abridgment of William Penn’s No Cross No Crown, was published in October, 1944, in commemoration of the tercentenary of Penn’s birth. It is a companion to Barclay in Brief, by Eleanore Price Mather, Pendle Hill Historical Study Number Three, and The Inward Journey of Isaac Penington, by Robert J. Leach, Historical Study Number Six. These three texts are issued to make available in handy form the thought of three early leaders of the Society of Friends whose writings are too lengthy for the present mood. As Penn himself puts it, large books “especially in these days grow burdensome both to the pockets and minds of too many.”

Barclay deals with belief, Penington with experience, and Penn with practice. No Cross No Crown began as a tract for the times of the extravagant Stuart kings and ended as Penn’s religious legacy to his country and to the world of Christians.