Only forty-four proctors were elected by the eight thousand parish priests of the twenty-two dioceses.

These forty-four proctors, however, were almost all of one mind.

The elections had in former times been conducted in the most quiet and decorous manner.

But on this occasion the canvassing was eager: the contests were sharp: Rochester, the leader of the party which in the House of Lords had opposed the Comprehension-Bill, and his brother Clarendon, who had refused to take the oaths, had gone to Oxford, the head quarters of that party, for the purpose of animating and organizing the opposition, [502] The representatives of the parochial clergy must have been men whose chief distinction was their zeal: for in the whole list can be found not a single illustrious name, and very few names which are now known even to curious students, [503] The official members of the Lower House, among whom were many distinguished scholars and preachers, seem to have been not very unequally divided.
During the summer of 1689 several high ecclesiastical dignities became vacant, and were bestowed on divines who were sitting in the Jerusalem Chamber.

It has already been mentioned that Thomas, Bishop of Worcester, died just before the day fixed for taking the oaths.