Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, officiated there as Dean.

As soon as he began to read the Declaration, murmurs and the noise of people crowding out of the choir drowned his voice.

He trembled so violently that men saw the paper shake in his hand.

Long before he had finished, the place was deserted by all but those whose situation made it necessary for them to remain.

[368] Never had the Church been so dear to the nation as on the afternoon of that day.