The Presbyterians were led by Baxter--an acute metaphysician, a keen debater, subtle and fertile in mind, in character honest, and open as the day--possessing at all times in abundance the silvern gift of speech--rarely, if ever, showing the golden gift of silence. He lacked that sobriety of judgment, that patience under contradiction, that employment of means for attainable results, and that common-sense acquaintance with men and things, which are essential to success in all deliberations. Calamy does not appear as a speaker in the Conference, but he played an active part in Committees. Proofs of his general eminence are afforded by his preaching before Parliament when the King was voted home, by his being one of the deputation sent to wait on His Majesty, and by the offer made to him of a Bishopric. Proofs of his fitness to occupy a place in the Commission are supplied by his reputation for learning, for prudence, for dignity, and for courtier-like bearing. Moreover, as in early life, he had been moderate in his views, and had, therefore, been chosen as one of the Committee in 1641, under the presidency of Williams, so at the Restoration he wished for a comprehensive ecclesiastical scheme, and would have accepted the preferment offered him, had the Worcester Declaration become constitutional law. Bates, a Presbyterian, renowned for candour, is particularly commended by Baxter for solidity, judiciousness, and pertinence in debate, but he lacked the vehemence of the pastor of Kidderminster. Jacomb, Newcomen, and Clarke were active in Committee. [Sidenote: SAVOY CONFERENCE.] Jacomb is described as a man of superior education, of a staid mind, of temperate passions, moderate in his counsels, and in the management of affairs, not vehement and confident, not imposing and overbearing, but receptive of advice, and yielding to reason. Newcomen, like Calamy, belonged to the five Divines who wrote _Smectymnuus_, a circumstance of no favourable omen in the estimation of opponents. Clarke, pious, charitable, laborious, and fond of biography, is still well-known for his _Martyrology_ and for his _Lives_.[210] Frewen, Archbishop of York, opened the proceedings by apologizing for his ignorance of the business, and by stating that he should leave all in the hands of the Bishop of London. That prelate proposed at once that the Presbyterians should reduce their objections to writing, to which they replied that the meeting was intended to be a conference, and that free debate would best prepare for an ultimate agreement. The Bishop adhered to his first proposal, and Baxter falling in with it, prevailed on his brethren to do the same. [Sidenote: 1661.]