Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/357

 1570.] THE RIDOLFI CONSPIRACY. 343 tholic saints. But they had not the wisdom of the ser- pent, and certainly not the harmlessness of the dove. Had they been let alone had they been unharassed by perpetual threats of revolution and a return of the persecutions they too were not disinclined to reason and good sense. A remarkable specimen survives, in an account of the Church of Northampton, of what English Protestantism could become under favouring conditions. Under the combined management of the Bishop of Peterborough and the Mayor and Corpora- tion of the city, the laity and clergy of Northampton' shire worked harmoniously together. On Sundays and holydays, the usual services were read from the Prayer- book. In the morning there was a sermon ; in the afternoon, when prayers were over, the ' youth ' were instructed in Calvin's Catechism. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a ' lecture of Scripture * was read, with ex- tracts from the Liturgy, and afterwards there was a gen- eral meeting of the congregation, with the Mayor in the chair, for ' correction of discord, blasphemy, whoredom, drunkenness, or offences against religion.' On Satur- days, the ministers of the different neighbourhoods as- sembled to compare opinions and discuss difficult texts ; and once a quarter all the clergy of the county met for mutual survey of their own general behaviour. Offences given or taken were mentioned, explanations heard, and reproof administered when necessary. Communion was held four times a year. The clergyman of each parish visited from house to house during the preceding fort- night, to prepare his flock. * The table was in the body