as they were
delivered ... in the meeting houses of the people called Quakers."

Though Stephen Crisp's letters, sermons, and journal promptly appeared
in print and were widely circulated, the "Short History" remained
after his death in the bundle of his papers in Colchester. John
Bunyan's famous book "The Pilgrim's Progress" had appeared with its
primitive woodcuts in 1678. It received immediate recognition and
in due time was acclaimed the greatest religious book produced in
England. Stephen Crisp's allegory is minimal besides it (some 30 pages
as against 207), but the "Long Travel" retains significance because of
its more modern point of view.

This tiny tract usually printed in pocket size (2" x 3") sometimes
with a passage from the author's journal included, was reprinted
more than twenty times. I happened upon it in the Friends Historical
Library at Swarthmore College twenty years ago. They then had four
copies. Today they have more than a dozen.

How does Stephen Crisp's theology differ from that of Bunyan's? In
the first place, while Crisp's pilgrim starts off with a pack on his
back of luggage for his journey, Bunyan's pilgrim had as his pack the
burden of guilt which is original sin. Second, Crisp's pilgrim soon
gives up confidence in human leadership having discovered a measure of
the Light. Third, he crosses the river early on his journey, whereas
for Bunyan's pilgrim the river is at the end, the river of death.
Fourth, Crisp's pilgrim reaches the House of God in this life. He
finds a satisfied multitude in the outer court. They invite him to
stay with them in easy circumstances but catching sight of his guide,
the Light, as it passes through a narrow door (compare Bunyan's wicket
gate) he presses on, divests himself of his travel-worn garments and
enters the House of God. Here, like the Friends with whom Stephen
Crisp had found Peace after his own period of seeking, he first rests
from struggle, then finds his calling which is to supply the needs
of the young, and finally aspires to bring his good tidings to the
Babylon from which he had set out.

"The Pilgrim's Progress" is incomparably more exciting with raging
beasts, Giant Despair, and Apollyon with all his hosts. The people
Bunyan's pilgrim meets are more vivid, portrayed with cruel detail and
lusty humor. Theologically the Quaker tract is of a different age,
not less exacting, but less pictorial. The medieval detail is gone but
intense inwardness