Bishops going to the right hand of the throne, the Prolocutor and the rest to the left. A loyal address was presented, and a gracious reply returned. The tug of war, of which there had been omens before that pleasant excursion, began in earnest soon afterwards. [Sidenote: CONVOCATION.] The Lower House asserted its claim to independent action, to adjourn itself when and where it pleased, to originate and transact any business whatsoever and howsoever it pleased; always, it should be distinctly stated, choosing its time of sitting according to the time fixed by his Grace of Canterbury’s schedule. To accomplish what was designed, committees of the whole House were appointed, who claimed a right to sit, in this form at least, upon intermediate days, when many did so assemble under cover of a strict adherence to admitted rules; but others would not, counting it a breach of law in substance, if not in form. A matter of business, originating in the Lower House, without consultation with the Upper, and in known opposition to its wishes, was the examination of a certain heretical book--namely, Toland’s _Christianity not Mysterious_--the object of which is explained on the title page, “A Treatise showing that there is nothing in the Gospel contrary to Reason, nor above it, and that no Christian Doctrine can be called a Mystery.” It should be stated, that at the same time another book, entitled, _Essays on the Balance of Power_, in which the author asserted, that men had been promoted in the Church who were remarkable for nothing but their disbelief in the Divinity of Christ--a statement intended to bring certain Bishops into disrepute--attracted the attention of the Upper House; upon which their Lordships caused to be affixed to the Abbey doors a paper calling upon the author, whoever he might be, to make good his assertions or to submit to punishment for so base and public a scandal. This was an extraordinary plan, reminding one--chiefly, however, by contrast as to importance--of Luther’s doctrinal theses affixed to the church gates at Wittenberg; and also recalling--more in the way of resemblance--how Archbishop Arundel’s citation of Lord Cobham was stuck on the entrance to Rochester Cathedral, to be defied by him to whom it was addressed. [Sidenote: 1701.] When Toland’s book was sent up from the Lower House to the Bishops for judgment, they felt that it was a serious matter to enter upon the business, as by condemning certain published opinions, and approving others, they might be altering the recognized doctrines of the Church. Legal objections had on a similar occasion been alleged against such proceedings, because of the consequences they might involve; now they were urged afresh. The Bishops, therefore, came to the conclusion, in accordance with the advice of eminent lawyers, that they could not censure the books without license from the King, lest they should incur certain penalties.