No cross, no crown

by William Penn

I. The third evil effect of pride, is an excessive desire of personal honour and respect.

Pride, therefore loves power, that she might have homage, and that every one may give her honour, and such as are wanting in that, expose themselves to her anger and revenge. And as pride, so this evil effect is more or less diffused through corrupt mankind; and has been the occasion of great animosity, and mischief in the world.

II. We have a pregnant instance in holy writ, what malice and revenge proud man is capable of, when not gratified in this particular. It had almost cost Mordecai his neck, and the whole people of the Jews their lives, because he would not bow himself to Haman, who was a great favourite to king Ahasuerus. And the practice of the world, even in our own age, will tell us, that not striking a flag or sail, and not saluting certain ports or garrisons, yea, less things have given rise to mighty wars between states and kingdoms, to the expense of much treasure, but more blood. The like has followed about the precedency of princes and their ambassadors. Also the envy, quarrels, and mischiefs that have happened among private persons, upon conceit that they have not been respected to their degree or quality among men, without hat, knee, or title: to be sure, duels and murders not a few. I was once myself in France[3] set upon about eleven at night, as I was walking to my lodging, by a person that waylaid me, with his naked sword in his hand, who demanded satisfaction of me for taking no notice of him, at a time when he civilly saluted me with his hat; though the truth was, I saw him not when he did it. I will suppose he had killed me, for he made several passes at me, or I, in my defence, had killed him, when I disarmed him, as the earl of Crawford's servant saw, that was by; I ask any man of understanding or conscience, if the whole ceremony was worth the life of a man, considering the dignity of the nature, and the importance of the life of man, both with respect to God his Creator, himself, and the benefit of civil society.

III. But the truth is, the world, under its degeneracy from God, is as much out of the way as to true honour and respect, as in other things; for mere shows, and those vain ones, too, are much of the honour and respect that are expressed in the world; that a man may say concerning them, as the apostle speaks of science, that is, they are honours and respects falsely so called; having nothing of the nature of true honour and respect in them: but as degenerate men, loving to be honoured, first devised them, so pride only loves and seeks them, and is affronted and angry for want of them. Did men know a true Christian state, and the honour that comes from above, which JESUS teaches, they would not covet these very vanities, much less insist upon them.

IV. And here give me leave to set down the reasons more particularly, why I, and the people with whom I walk in religious society, have declined, as vain and foolish, several worldly customs and fashions of respect, much in request at this time of day: and I beseech thee, reader, to lay aside all prejudice and scorn, and with the meekness and inquiry of a sober and discreet mind, read and weigh what may be here alleged in our defence: and if we are mistaken, rather pity and inform, than despise and abuse our simplicity.

V. The first and most pressing motive upon our spirits, to decline the practice of these present customs, pulling off the hat, bowing the body or knee, and giving people gaudy titles and epithets in our salutations and addresses, was that savour, sight and sense of God, by his light and Spirit given us, of the Christian world's apostacy from God, and the cause and effects of that great and lamentable defection. In the discovery of which the sense of our state came first before us, and we were made to see him whom we pierced, and to mourn for it. A day of humiliation overtook us, and we fainted to that pleasure and delight we once loved. Now our works went beforehand to judgment, and a thorough search was made, and the words of the prophet became well understood by us; "Who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears?" "He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap." (Mal. iii. 2.) And as the apostle said, "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter, iv. 18.) "Wherefore," says the apostle Paul, "knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men:" (2 Cor. v. 11:) what to do? To come out of the nature, spirit, lusts, and customs of this wicked world: remembering that, as Jesus has said, "For every idle word that man shall speak, he shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." (Matt. xii. 36.)

This concern of mind and dejection of spirit was visible to our neighbours; and we are not ashamed to own, that the terrors of the Lord took such hold upon us, because we had long, under a profession of religion, grieved God's Holy Spirit, that reproved us in secret for our disobedience; that as we abhorred to think of continuing in our old sins, so we feared to use lawful things, lest we should use them unlawfully. Our heaven seemed to melt away, and our earth to be removed out of its place; and we were like men, as the apostle said, upon whom the ends of the world were come. God knows it was so in this day; the brightness of his coming to our souls discovered, and the breath of his mouth destroyed every plant he had not planted in us. He was a swift witness against every evil thought and every unfruitful work; and, blessed be his name, we were not offended in him, or at his righteous judgments. Now it was that a grand inquest came upon our whole life: every word, thought, and deed was brought to judgment, the root examined, and its tendency considered. "The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life," (1 John, ii. 16,) were opened to our view; the mystery of iniquity in us. And by knowing the evil leaven, and its divers evil effects in ourselves, how it had wrought, and what it had done, we came to have a sense and knowledge of the states of others: and what we could not, nay, we dare not let live and continue in ourselves, as being manifested to us to proceed from an evil principle in the time of man's degeneracy, we could not comply with in others. Now this I say, and that in the fear and presence of the all-seeing, just God, the present honours and respect of the world, among other things, became burdensome to us: we saw they had no being in paradise, that they grew in the night-time, and came from an ill root; and that they only delighted a vain and ill mind, and that much pride and folly were in them.

VI. And though we easily foresaw the storms of reproach that would fall upon us for our refusing to practise them; yet we were so far from being shaken in our judgment, that it abundantly confirmed our sense of them. For so exalted a thing is man, and so loving of honour and respect, even from his fellow-creatures, that so soon as in tenderness of conscience towards God we could not perform them as formerly, he became more concerned than for all the rest of our differences, however material to salvation. So that let the honour of God and our own salvation do as it will, it was greater heresy and blasphemy to refuse him the homage of the hat, and his usual titles of honour; to deny to pledge his healths, or play with him at cards and dice, than any other principle we maintained: for being less in his view, it seemed not so much in his way.

VII. And though it be frequently objected that we seek to set up outward forms of preciseness, and that is but as a green riband, the badge of the party, the better to be known: I do declare, in the fear of Almighty God, that these are but the imaginations and vain constructions of insensible men, that have not had that sense which the Lord hath given us, of what arises from the right and the wrong root in man: and when such censurers of our simplicity shall be inwardly touched and awakened by the mighty power of God, and see things as they are in their proper natures and seeds, they will then know their own burden, and easily acquit us, without the imputation of folly or hypocrisy herein.

VIII. To say that we strain at small things, which becomes not people of so fair pretensions to liberty and freedom of spirit: I answer with meekness, truth, and sobriety; first, nothing is small that God makes matter of conscience to do, or leave undone. Next as inconsiderable as they are made, by those that object upon us, they are much set by; so greatly as for our not giving them to be beaten, imprisoned, refused justice, &c. To say nothing of the derision and reproach that hath been frequently flung at us on this account. So that if we had wanted a proof of the truth of our inward belief and judgment, the very practice of them that opposed it would have abundantly confirmed us. But let it suffice to us, that "Wisdom is justified of her children:" (Matt. xi. 19:) we only passively let fall the practice of what we are taught to believe is vain and unchristian: in which we are negative to forms: for we leave off, we do not set up forms.