ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



show that the irregularities of the mother church of the diocese were hard to 

 correct, and it is only reasonable to presume that the infection of Noncon- 

 formist opinions, so widely spread in the diocese, tainted the loyalty and 

 activity of not a few of the incumbents/*^ But the episcopate left a tradition 

 of care and punctiliousness which those that followed Cosin willingly accepted. 

 A glance at the work of the archdeacon of Durham from 1673 to 1677 

 proves how wholesome, in the main, and how varied was the discipline 

 exercised by this official in his courts.**' In the influence which it exerted 

 the work of Cosin compares very favourably with that of Pilkington, who 

 had a somewhat similar task of restoration before him. 



The view taken in the text is based upon a general survey of the various 

 references to Nonconformity in the diocese that exist for the period. An 

 incomplete return in the Treasury of Durham which survives for forty-six 

 parishes in the archdeaconry of Durham gives, at first sight, a somewhat 

 different impression. It is dated July, 1669, and is made in reply to interro- 

 gatories furnished by the archdeacon. Few active conventicles are 

 acknowledged, but mention is made of the incursion of strangers from 

 outside the district who hold meetings in various places. These are chiefly 

 Quakers, and Norton is their great rallying point. A conventicle raided at 

 Darlington proved to contain about twenty-four persons. It is expressly 

 stated more than once that few of the Nonconformists are of any special rank. 

 The vicar at Washington returns : 



There is not one of the viperous brood sojourning among us, neither is there any person 

 (save a few simple and ignorant people of the Romish persuasion) that are dissenters from the 

 divine service of the Church. From my heart, worthy Sir, I wish that all parishes in this 

 flourishing Kingdom was as free from such noisome contagious vermin as this, and then I'm 

 sure both Church and State were happy. 



It is not possible to reconcile the Durham City (St. Nicholas) return with 

 that given in Surtees Society Publ. vol. Iv, p. 237, and one is inclined to 

 suspect that the return is partial in more than one sense of the word. 



In the preceding paragraphs the view has been taken that it is almost 

 impossible to discriminate between the various religious bodies of the time, 

 since the references to them in contemporary documents are apt to confound 

 the various sects. A few words, however, may be added as to the early days 

 of the Baptist cause.**^ The Baptists never have been a strong body in the 

 county of Durham, yet there are certain periods in which their history comes 

 out into relief The first local Baptist centre was at Muggleswick in or about 

 the year 1653,*** and, during the years that immediately followed. Major 

 Lilburne of Sunderland, then in command of the troops in Scotland, himself a 

 strong Baptist, may have encouraged the spread of the sect.**^ Lady Liddell, 

 a daughter of the Lady Vane who was active at Raby, patronized the 

 struggling church,**^ and aided Ward, who, as far as Durham is concerned, 



'" In 1674 Archdeacon Grenville said to the clergy: 'I have looked on it as a very fateful presage 

 since the restoration of our Church Service that the clergy have expressed no more affection to it, especially 

 in this diocese, after so many admonitions "and injunctions of their several ordinaries.' Surtees Soc. Publ. 

 xlvii, 15. 



*'' Surtees Soc. Publ. xlvii, I ; Introd. pp. xix-xxi. 



**' An excellent summary of early Baptist history is given in Histor'^ of the Northern Baptist Churches, 

 1648-1845, by David Douglas. This rare work was brought to the writer's notice by Mr. H. A. Raine, of 

 Durham. 



"Ubid. 31. '''Ibid. 33. «« Ibid. 64. 



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