But there was not time to form an extensive combination.

The Order in Council was gazetted on the seventh of May.

On the twentieth the Declaration was to be read in all the pulpits of London and the neighbourhood.

By no exertion was it possible in that age to ascertain within a fortnight the intentions of one tenth part of the parochial ministers who were scattered over the kingdom.
It was not easy to collect in so short a time the sense even of the episcopal order.

It might also well be apprehended that, if the clergy refused to read the Declaration, the Protestant Dissenters would misinterpret the refusal, would despair of obtaining any toleration from the members of the Church of England, and would throw their whole weight into the scale of the court.
The clergy therefore hesitated; and this hesitation may well be excused: for some eminent laymen, who possessed a large share of the public confidence, were disposed to recommend submission.