Although Episcopacy was liked by the magistrates and [A.D. 1641.] wealthy classes, Presbyterian opinions preponderated on the whole, and decidedly so in the middle and lower classes. The zealous and well-attended sermons, in which religious exhortation bore also a political character, contributed greatly to this. How great must have been the confusion when the deviations from Anglican usage which had been introduced under the protection of Parliament, were pronounced invalid, and had to be abandoned[291]. It is very intelligible that the declaration of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in favour of the bishops should have been met by counter manifestations on the part of the commonalty. At the beginning of December a petition was prepared in the city, and accepted in spite of the opposition of the Lord Mayor, in which the city adhered to the views of the majority in the Lower House, and fully adopted as its own the idea already prevalent there, of excluding the popish lords and the bishops from the Upper House. The great contest on the relations of Church and State which divided the nation was first fought out in the city of London. A considerable part of the public authority was here in the hands of the Common Council: those elected to a seat there had come to enjoy almost a personal life-long right, and it was the first step to the magisterial bench. Hitherto men of moderate opinions, such as had been expressed on the occasion of the King’s return, had had the upper hand there: now however the city populace found them not zealous enough for religion, and too much inclined to make terms with the court. Their chief crime was intending to petition in favour of Episcopacy and the Book of Common Prayer. At the new elections, which took place at this time in the various parishes and wards, a sudden change was made. The adherents of the government and of the bishops, such as Benyon and Drake, were rejected, and zealous Presbyterians were elected instead, though they might be less wealthy: many belonged to the class of artisans[292]. The King had originally intended, since he did not fully [A.D. 1641.] trust the temper of London, to spend the winter at Hampton Court: he was induced by the good reception he met with at the city, and by the assurances of the authorities, to promise that he would spend Christmas at Westminster[293]. Thus he was very closely affected by this change.