A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



Even so, and when further danger was at an end, it was admitted that in the 

 bishopric ' things are far out of order, and there is great alteration in the 

 deportment of the people.'*" So much was this the case that in the spring 

 of 1664 a second attempt was feared, so that it was even desired to fortify 

 Raby Castle as a stronghold against the rebels, and ' associations for peace ' 

 were formed in the county.*" It is almost impossible to distribute the guilt, 

 for party names are so loosely used that we cannot discern the actual 

 delinquents. Anabaptists and Quakers are mentioned frequently in the con- 

 temporary accounts, but it is probable that these appellations were given 

 indiscriminately. Mutterings and discontent attributed to persons so called 

 recur at intervals all through the post-Restoration period. 



The next episode is the working of the Conventicle Acts. The first 

 Act was not so severely pressed as the second. It was passed just before the 

 outbreak of the great plague, which took men's minds off" to other things, and 

 prompted vigilance rather against the entrance of infection than against the 

 gathering of Quakers or Baptists for worship. It called out a stream of charity 

 such as had never yet flowed from the bishopric, every parish more or less 

 sending contributions to the great subscription organized.*^* Whatever 

 proceedings may have been taken under the first Act there is abundant proof of 

 the increase of meetings in the Palatinate. Persons of position were ready to 

 foster them, as at Raby for instance, where Lady Vane aided the fanatical 

 gatherings over which her steward presided.*^' Conventicles multiplied, and 

 admired preachers, such as Blackett the Anabaptist, were eagerly sought.*" 

 So out-of-hand had the Nonconformist cause grown by 1670 that the 

 operation of the more stringent Act was carried out with difficulty. The 

 sectaries were much discouraged by it, but maintained themselves notwith- 

 standing. Indeed it was just at this time that the Durham Quakers were 

 beginning to organize their quarterly meetings over the county.*^' Cosin was 

 not at all inclined to be severe against the Conventiclers, and only pressed the 

 matter at the royal bidding, sending orders through the archdeacons to report 

 all guilty of taking part in conventicles.*" 



It can scarcely be supposed that Cosin was quite successful in the 

 restoration of his diocese. His energy and strong personal influence, how- 

 ever, must have improved the face of the Church very widely, as Archdeacon 

 Basire with forty years' knowledge of the diocese expressly stated in the 

 funeral sermon. **° His four periodic visitations of the cathedral and diocese 



"'Cal. S.P. Dom. 1663, pp. 517, 552. "*Ibid. 646. 



*" The Durham regulations signed by Dean Sudbury and other justices of the peace are given in jlrch. 

 Ael. XV, 18. For the subscriptions see Surtees Soc. Pttbl. Iv, 322-32. 



*" His name was Cocks. Particulars in Cat. S.P. Dom. 1666-7, p. 428. Note the Congregation of 

 Saints in Newcastle, ibid. 1668-9, p. 72. 



"' Letter of H. W. [Wm. Haggett], a spy in the northern counties, Ca/. S.P. Dom. 1668-9, pp. 419- 

 420. For Blackett, see also ibid. 1667-8, p. i 54. His name suggests a connexion with a considerable north- 

 country family. Foxey and Pooley were two other preachers sent over at the time from Germany. 



*"' J. W. Steel, Ear/y FrienJs in the North, 12, gives 1671 as the date of the establishment of the 

 Durham Quarterly Meeting at Lanchester. On the subject of Quakers in Durham see, too, Jrch. Ael. xvi, 191. 



"' The bishop was informed in 1670 that the round number of women recusants in the city of Durham 

 was 700. Surtees Soc. Publ. Iv, 237. He seems to suspect its accuracy, ibid, and 242. At Norton, he 

 hears with regret, there are ' many obstinate men and women . . . that will not yet let down their 

 conventicles,' ibid. 243. 



*™ The sermon was printed in 1673 under the title Ike Dead Man's Real Speech. Text, Heb. xi, 4. 

 Brereton's account of the sumptuous and impressive funeral is worth reading, Cal. S.P. Dom. 167 1—2, 

 pp. 397-8. 



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