Upon the 2nd of May the election of London members for the Lower House of Convocation took place in Christ Church. The metropolitan ministers, who were not yet ejected, proved a majority against the diocesan party, and when Baxter expressed his intention of being present, they sent to their busy friend not to come, and also begged Calamy to absent himself; the object being to secure the election of these two Presbyters, who were accordingly chosen by a majority of three. The Bishop of London, however, as Baxter remarks, "having the power of choosing two out of four, or four out of six, that are chosen by the ministers in a certain circuit, did give us the great use of being both left out, and so we were excused, and the City of London had no clerk in the Convocation."[213] Sheldon naturally preferred men of his own way of thinking, and selected out of the names presented to him, those of Dr. Haywood and Mr. Thorndike; the latter eminent Divine being removed as far as possible from all sympathy with Puritans. Hence arose the result that the Presbyterian portion of the City clergy at the time holding parish livings, and being therefore, in fact, members of the Establishment, had no one to represent them in Convocation; and the passing over by Sheldon of the two Presbyterian Divines, although not at all surprising under the circumstances, should be borne in mind, in connection with the meeting held at the Savoy only two days afterwards. The circumstance would not be forgotten on either side, but would be regarded by the two parties with very different feelings, when Sheldon at his lodgings met those who were discarded candidates.
SAVOY CONFERENCE.
Upon the 4th of May the exceptions were presented. The principal persons employed in drawing them up were Calamy, Newcomen, Bates, Clarke, Wallis, and Jacomb, and—which will surprise many readers—Dr. Reynolds; so that the Bishop of Norwich must be regarded as sharing in the responsibility of preparing these Presbyterian objections to the Prayer Book.[214] Baxter, though not at first assisting in this division of labour, afterwards helped in the work. His objections were more minute than his brethren approved, but he wished them to understand he did not, like some, charge the Common Prayer with idolatry or false worship, he only took its faults to be "disorder and defectivenesss;" this, he thought, was the mind of all the Presbyterian Commissioners except one. They pleaded in their paper that as the first Reformers composed the Liturgy with a view to win over Papists, the Liturgy ought now to be revised so as to gain upon the judgments and affections of all substantial Protestants. They suggested that repetitions, responses, and an alternate reading of psalms and hymns, which "cause a confused murmur in the congregation," should be omitted; that the Litany, a great part of which was uttered only by the people, should be formed into one prayer, to be offered by the minister, who according to Scripture is the mouth of the people to God—a very remarkable objection, it may be noticed by the way, coming as it did from men who professed to hold unpriestly views of worship. They further requested that neither Lent nor saints' days should be any longer observed; that free prayer should be allowed; that it should be permissible for the minister to omit part of the Liturgy as occasion might require; that King James' translation should alone be used at Church; that only the Old and New Testament might be read in the daily lessons; that no part of the Communion Service should take place at the communion table, except at the administration of the Lord's Supper; that the word "minister" should be employed instead of "priest," and the "Lord's Day" instead of "Sunday;" that the version of the psalter should be amended; that obsolete words should be altered into others generally received; and that phrases presuming the congregation to be regenerated and in a state of grace should be revised. These Commissioners further said, that the Liturgy was defective in praise and thanksgiving; that the confession and catechism were imperfect; and that the surplice, the signing of the cross, and kneeling at the Lord's Supper, were unwarrantable. The objectors took special exception to certain expressions in the daily service, and to the rubrics. But their objections related mainly to the forms for the ordinance of baptism; the celebration of matrimony; the visitation of the sick; and the burial of the dead.[215]
1661.
Parallels may be noticed between the exceptions taken on this occasion, and those taken in William's Committee of 1641.[216]
The Presbyterians requested that instead of the words in the prayer before baptism, "May receive remission of sins by spiritual regeneration," the form might run thus: "May be regenerated and receive the remission of sins." In reference to the words afterwards, "That it hath pleased Thee to regenerate this infant by Thy Holy Spirit," it is remarkable, that the objection is couched in cautious terms. "We cannot in faith say that every child that is baptized is 'regenerated by God's Holy Spirit,' at least, it is a disputable point, and therefore we desire it may be otherwise expressed." Confirmation is not condemned, but it is urged, that for children to repeat memoriter the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and to answer some questions of the catechism, is not a sufficient preparation for the rite; and that it ought, according to His Majesty's declaration, to be "solemnly performed by the information, and with the consent of the minister of the place." In relation to the words "who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these Thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them the forgiveness of all their sins," the objectors remark, "This supposeth that all the children who are brought to be confirmed have the Spirit of Christ and the forgiveness of all their sins; whereas a great number of children at that age, having committed many sins since their baptism, do show no evidence of serious repentance, or of any special saving grace; and therefore this confirmation (if administered to such) would be a perilous and gross abuse."[217] It should be added, that the Presbyterians disapproved of confirmation being made necessary for preparing communicants. With regard to the solemnization of matrimony, they objected to the use of the ring, and of the word "worship," and to the rubric which enjoins receiving the communion; and with respect to the visitation of the sick, the same persons wished that a form of absolution might be omitted at the minister's option, or that if used, it might be framed on a declarative and conditional form. The exceptions taken to the burial service were the same as those which have been current ever since.
CONVOCATION.
On the 8th of May, four days after the Presbyterians had put in their exceptions, Convocation met for the first time since the year 1640;[218] the Northern Synod assembling at York, the Southern at London.
Sheldon, Bishop of London, with other Bishops of the province of Canterbury, together with Deans, Archdeacons, and Priests, also the Dean of the Arches, with his Advocates and Proctors, repaired to the house of Dr. Barwick, a physician, in St. Paul's Churchyard. In that house, during the Civil Wars, he had entertained his brother John, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's, and allowed him the use of an oratory—some Gothic chamber, perhaps, with quaint oriel, destroyed in the London fire. Arrayed in their vestments, the Bishops and clergy entered in procession through the "little south gate," into the ancient Gothic edifice, for the restoring of which a deep and wide-spread zeal had begun to show itself—the Cathedral being, it is said, "a princely ornament of the Royal city," where was a confluence of foreign princes' ambassadors, the structure being "injured by the iniquity of the late times," and its repair being necessary to prevent the dishonour of its neglect falling upon the whole city.[219]
1661.