as they proposed these amendments, so they did also 1660. offer a liturgy new drawn by Mr. Baxter. They insisted mainly against kneeling at the sacrament of the Lord's supper, chiefly against the imposing it; and moved that the posture might be left free, and that the use of the surplice, of the cross in baptism, of godfathers being the sponsors in baptism, and of the holy days, might be abolished. Sheldon saw well what the effect would be of putting them to make all their demands at once. The number of them raised a mighty outcry against them, as people that could never be satisfied. But nothing gave so great an advantage against them, as their offering a new liturgy. In this they were divided among themselves. Some were for insisting only on a few important things, reckoning that if they were gained, and a union followed upon that, it would be easier to gain other things afterwards. But all this was overthrown by Mr. Baxter, who was a man of great piety; and, if he had not meddled in too many things, would have been esteemed one of the learned men of the age: he writ near two hundred books': of these, three are large folios: he had a very moving and pathetical way of writing, and was his whole life long a man of great zeal and much simplicity; but was most unhappily subtle and metaphysical in every thing. There was a great submission paid to him by the whole party. So he persuaded them, that from the words of the commission they were bound to offer every thing that they thought might 181 1660. conduce to the good or peace of the church, without considering what was like to be obtained, or what effect their demanding so much might have, in irritating the minds of those who were then the superior body in strength and number. All the whole matter was at last reduced to one single point, whether it was lawful to determine the certain use of things indifferent in the worship of God? The bishops held them to that point, and pressed them to shew that any of the things imposed were of themselves unlawful. The presbyterians declined this; but affirmed, that other circumstances might make it become unlawful to settle a peremptory law about things indifferent; which they applied chiefly to kneeling in the sacrament, and stood upon it, that a law, which excluded all that did not kneel from the sacrament, was unlawful, as a limitation in the point of communion put on the laws of Christ, which ought to be the only condition of those who had a right to it. Upon this point there was a free conference, that lasted some days. The two men that had the chief management of the debate, were the most unfit to heal matters, and the fittest to widen them, that could have been found out. Baxter was the opponent, and Gunning was the respondent, who was afterwards advanced, first to Chichester, and then to Ely: he was a man of great reading, and noted for a special subtilty of arguing: all the arts of sophistry were made use of by him on all occasions, in as confident a manner as if they had been sound reasoning: he was a man of an innocent life, unweariedly active to very little purpose: he was much set on the reconciling us with popery in some points and because the charge of idolatry seemed bar to all thoughts of reconciliation with them, he 1660. set himself with very great zeal to clear the church of Rome of idolatry: this made many suspect him as inclining to go over to them: but he was far from it; and was a very honest, sincere man, but of no sound judgment, and of no prudence in affairs: he was for our conforming in all things to the rules of the primitive church, particularly in praying for the dead, in the use of oil, with many other rituals : he formed many in Cambridge upon his own notions, who have carried them perhaps farther than he intended. Baxter and he spent some days in much logical arguing, to the diversion of the town, who thought here were a couple of fencers engaged in disputes, that could never be brought to an end, nor have any good effect. In conclusion, this commission, being limited to such a number of days, came to an end, before any one thing was agreed on. The bishops insisted on the laws that were still in force, to which they would admit of no exception, unless it was proved that the matter of those laws was sinful. They charged the presbyterians with 182 having made a schism, upon a charge against the church for things, which now they themselves could not call sinful. They said there was no reason to gratify such a sort of men in any thing: one demand granted would draw on many more: all authority both in church and state was struck at by the position they had insisted on, that it was not lawful to impose things indifferent, since they seemed to be the only proper matter in which human authority could interpose. So this furnished an occasion to expose them as enemies to all order. Things had been carried at the Savoy with great sharpness, 1660. and many reflections. Baxter said once, such things would offend many good men in the nation. Stearn, the archbishop of York ', upon that took notice, that he would not say kingdom, but nation, because he would not acknowledge a king. Of this great complaints were made, as an indecent return for the zeal they had shewn in the restoration. 1661. The terms ity made harder, The conference broke up without doing any good. It did rather hurt, and heightened the sharpness that was then on people's minds to such a degree, that it needed no addition to raise it higher. The presbyterians laid their complaints before the king: but little regard was had to them. And now all the concern that seemed to employ the bishops' thoughts was, not only to make no alteration on their ac count, but to make the terms of conformity much stricter than they had been before the war, So it was resolved to maintain conformity to the height, and to put lecturers in the same condition with the incumbents, as to oaths and subscriptions; and to oblige all persons to subscribe an unfeigned assent and consent to all and every particular contained and prescribed in the book of common prayer ".. He was then bishop of w In the session of parlia- with a clause added to it, "de"claring the subscription of as"sent and consent, &c. should "be understood only as to "practice and obedience;" but the commons rejected the clause, which the lords not insisting upon, the bill passed without it; when this clause was added by the lords, some of them dissented to it, and entered their protestations against it, in these words; "being destruc Many, who thought it lawful to conform in submis- 1661. sion, yet scrupled at this, as importing a particular approbation of every thing: and great distinction was made between a conformity in practice, and so full and distinct an assent. Yet men got over that, as importing no more but a consent of obedience : for though the words of the subscription, which were also to be publicly pronounced before the congregation, declaring the person's unfeigned assent and consent, seemed to import this, yet the clause of the act that enjoined this carried a clear explanation of it; for it enacted this declaration as an assent and consent to the use of all things contained in the book. Another subscription was enacted, with relation to the league and covenant; by which they were required to declare it unlawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take arms against the king, 183 renouncing the traitorous position of taking arms by his authority against his person, or those commissioned by him, together with a declaration, that no obligation lay on them or any other person, from the league or covenant, to endeavour any change or alteration of government in church and state, and that the covenant was in it self an unlawful oath. This was contrived against all the old men, who had both taken the covenant themselves, and had pressed it upon others. So they were now to own themselves very guilty in that matter. And those who thought it might be lawful upon great and illegal provocation to resist unjust invasions on the laws and liberties of the subjects, excepted to the subscription, "tive to the church of Eng- "land, as some few temporal lords; but |