ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



he was strong in his own convictions. It is possible that this disposition 

 recommended him for promotion to Durham at a moment when recent 

 events must have left behind them a strong sense of irritation. He took 

 pains to try to bring into the diocese men in whom he felt confidence.^^* 

 In this way Dr. Naylor was promoted to the rectory of Sedgefield, with a 

 prebend in the cathedral ; Johnson, an excellent preacher, to Bishopwear- 

 mouth ; Dr. Feme, later master of Trinity, Cambridge, and dean of Ely, to 

 the rectory of Stanhope and archdeaconry of Northumberland ; and last, but 

 not least. Dr. Isaac Basire to the same two preferments as Dr. Feme held 

 before him, Morton scattered over the diocese copies of the church 

 catechism, and insisted strongly on the duty of catechising.'" His extreme 

 liberality, his care in ordinations, his promotion of real learning, his per- 

 suasive influence with recusants (amongst others he brought back, one of the 

 Swinburnes to the Church of England), are points over and above his own 

 steadfast character to which his biographer draws special attention.'*" He 

 was, however, firm as well as amiable, and made a stand for Palatinate rights 

 stronger than any predecessor had made since the spoliation of the episcopal 

 prerogative under Henry VIII.'" He displayed greater activity than his 

 immediate predecessors in regard to the train-bands. A writer of a strange 

 little tract which belongs to 1629 had stated that the train-bands were very 

 rarely called together even for the sake of practice; but in 1635, owing to 

 the threatening aspect of Scottish affairs, Morton summoned the train-bands 

 to appear before him at Durham, both horse and foot completely furnished 

 and exercised. The various gentlemen of the county were bidden to provide 

 themselves with fit arms, and the clergy in like manner to be answerable to 

 their abilities.'*'* But before this gloomy cloud presaged the storm that was 

 soon to fall upon the north, one of his most pleasant, if most exhausting, 

 experiences came to the bishop. In 1633 Charles announced his intention 

 of making a progress into Scotland. Great preparations were made in the 

 bishopric, the various parishes contributing to the mending of roads and 

 repairing of bridges, and other expenses of the journey, as different parish 

 books attest.'*' An extremely interesting account of the event written in 

 Latin by Cosin still survives, from which it is easy to picture the manner of 

 the king's reception at the cathedral and the castle.'** It is a tradition that 

 his entertainer, the bishop, was impoverished by the great expense of the 

 function, which cost him ^1,500 a day. Charles, who was destined to 

 return to Durham under very different circumstances, seems to have shown 

 much interest in the cathedral. At the instigation of Laud, probably, he 

 gave directions for the removal of some unsightly buildings annexed to the 

 church,'*^ and by his presence virtually endorsed the changes that had been 

 wrought in services and furniture. A letter from Arundel to Windebank 

 written at Durham '*' testifies to the king's satisfaction with the cathedral. A 



>" Barwick. Life, 83. "» Ibid. 89. »«' Ibid. 93, 95, 97, &c. 



»»' S. P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 302, No. 6. »«' Ibid. vol. 296, No. 20 ; vol. 398, No. 46. 



'"'Ibid. vol. 134, No. 16. Entries in Gateshead parish books. See also Surtees Soc. Publ. 

 Ixxxiv, 95 «. 



*** Surtees Soc. Publ. Hi, 212. For the expense, Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 618. 



''^ S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 240, No. 10. 



'"This must be remembered as explaining the flight of the prebendaries in 1 640 on the approach of 

 the Scots. 



47 



