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have lit the match which set it alight.'
    'Then
I would just as gladly have arrested you for the crime.'
    'Where
is the crime in driving out sin?'
    Jesus-Died-To-Save-Me
Thorpe was a short, slim man in his fifties with a cadaverous face out of which
two large eyes shone like beacons. He was dressed in the black garb of the
Quakers and wore a high-crowned black hat whose wide brim had been singed by
fire. His voice had the natural power of an orator and Jonathan had heard it
raised in denunciation many times. The constable enjoyed an uneasy
relationship with his neighbour, admiring him for his courage but deploring the
extremes to which Thorpe sometimes went. Slight and innocuous in repose, the
man could be highly volatile when moved by the Holy Spirit.
    'Your
attire is too eloquent, Mr Thorpe,' he observed.
    'I
am not ashamed to be seen for what I am.'
    'Take
care it does not lead to a beating. There are still mad fools abroad who
believe that the fire may have been started by Quakers and who take revenge on
any of your sect they encounter.'
    'Violence
holds no fears for me,' said the other bravely. 'Jesus himself endured many
blows in defence of his beliefs. I have done the same before and will do so
again.'
    Jonathan
heaved a sigh and glanced back at St Peter's.
    'Whatever
you say, it was a fine old church. It will be a great loss.'
    'Not
to me, Mr Bale. I have a long memory.'
    'Too
long, I fear. It is time to look forward and not back.'
    'Yes,'
said the other, 'thou wouldst say that. Thou art a parish constable now with
duties and responsibilities. Mr Jonathan Bale upholds the laws of this corrupt
Parliament. It pains him to recall that he was once as true a Christian as
myself.'
    'I
still am.'
    'No,
sir. Thou hast betrayed us and betrayed thyself.'
    'That
is a matter of opinion.'
    'Thou
art familiar with mine.'
    'It
has not been kept hidden from me, Mr Thorpe,' said Jonathan with a wry smile.
'I hold fast to the beliefs which I have always held. Where you and I differ is
in how they are best expressed.'
    'Openly
and defiantly.'
    'That
is the shortest route to the prison cell.'
    'Why
should we suffer punishment that others escaped?' said Thorpe, a bony finger
raised in anger. 'Think back, Mr Bale. When this country was ruled by
Parliament under the leadership of Lord Protector Cromwell, a due severity was
introduced into church services. Not that we could accept the new liturgy
ourselves,' he stressed. 'We wait in the grace and the truth that comes by
Jesus. We need no liturgy and no priest to act as an intermediary between us
and our God. And we were ready to suffer for those beliefs. But what of the
congregation of St Peter's?' he demanded. 'Did they obey the law? No, Mr Bale.
This church continued the hateful practice of dispensing the sacraments.
    So
many members of the nobility flocked here that they hung the galleries with
turkey carpets for the accommodation of those titled sinners. The Lord
Protector should have torn the place down.'
    'He
was not given to defiling consecrated ground,' said Jonathan. 'But I am
surprised to hear you speaking with some respect of him. If we must look to the
past, let me remind you that the same Lord Protector treated the Society of
Friends with great harshness. Hundreds were imprisoned at his command. You were
one of them.'
    'I
wore my ordeal as a badge of honour.'
    'What
of your wife and children, Mr Thorpe? I venture to suggest that they might have
preferred to have you at home with them instead of languishing in a cell with
your badge of honour.'
    'My
family and I are all of one mind.'
    Jonathan
bit back his rejoinder. There was no point in arguing with a man like
Jesus-Died-To-Save-Me Thorpe. He was a combative Christian who thrived on
debate. Mocking the established religion was a serious offence, committed by a
headstrong man who refused to swear the appropriate oaths and who declined to
pay tithes for the maintenance of the Church he despised. A printer by trade,
Thorpe was also