Synopsis
The pacifist principle, so cogently expressed in the Declaration to Charles II, has led succeeding generations of Quakers to consider the application of this principle to international affairs. This Swarthmore Lecture is based on the assumption that the tradition of Quaker political thinking which William Penn initiated remains a living and vital one, to whose cultivation and renewal Friends can rightly devote a measure of their time, their energy, and their concern. This requires that Friends think deeply about the nature of the present struggle for world power and the measures that can be taken to abate it; about the direction which existing international institutions should take in order to promote the present and the future peace of the world; and about the role of a religious society both within and without the realm of politics. Of necessity and intention, the lecture asks more questions than it can answer.
