Though Laud was wrong in the importance which he attached to this mixed conclave, he was right enough in concluding that it would meddle with doctrines as well as ceremonies. This appeared very early; for it is alleged in the memoranda prepared for the Committee that there were some ministers who preached justification by works, the efficacy of penance, confession, and absolution, and the sacrificial character of the Lord's supper; that prayers for the dead were used, and monastic vows defended; also, "that the whole gross substance of Arminianism was avowed, and original sin absolutely denied:" and together with these notices of Romanist tendencies on the one hand, there appear references to Socinianism on the other. The introduction of these charges could not but lead to doctrinal controversy, and rumours soon got abroad that changes in the theological standards of the Church were under consideration.[156] [Sidenote: _Lords' Committee on Innovations._] The ceremonial innovations complained of were more numerous than the doctrinal. They included turning the holy table altar-wise; bowing to the east; the use of candlesticks upon the altar, so called; the construction of a canopy over it, with curtains on each side; the display of crucifixes and images upon the parafront or altar-cloth; reading some parts of the morning service at the table, when the communion is not celebrated; the employment of credence tables; the introduction of an offertory distinct from giving alms to the poor; and "singing the 'Te Deum' in prose, after a cathedral church way, in divers parochial churches where the people have no skill in such music." The last of the practices here enumerated might seem to occasion censure only on the ground of unfitness and want of taste, such as High Churchmen would disapprove; but all the other particulars in the paper, of which we have given only specimens, demonstrate that Puritan, if not Presbyterian pens were employed in drawing it up. Another proof of this circumstance is found in the reference to "standing up at the hymns in the church, and always at 'Gloria Patri.'" The finding fault with that shews the extreme length to which the Puritans went in their objections; and it is curious to observe, that standing up to sing, which was in the seventeenth century complained of as an innovation upon the reformed discipline of the Church, is now an almost universal practice in all communities of English Christians.[157] A memorandum follows--which might have proceeded from the Episcopal portion of the Committee--to the effect that two sermons should be preached in all cathedral and collegiate churches on Sundays and holydays, and that there should be at least one lecture a week; but, again, Puritan influence appears in the expression of a desire that music should be arranged with less curiosity, and that no "ditties" should be "framed by private men." [Sidenote: 1641, March.]