A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



Grenville was the chief force in the diocese at this time, and when he 

 became dean he was successful in bringing the cathedral services up to the 

 standard which he had often desired/"" He proved an excellent preacher 

 and took pains to attract young men of promise to the diocese, guiding them 

 after ordination and promoting monthly meetings of the clergy. At the 

 cathedral he revived the practice of Lenten sermons, and encouraged the 

 mayor and corporation to attend. He drew tight the reins of discipline too, 

 so far as the officers of the church were concerned, but his hospitality was 

 bountiful and well ordered.''"^ It was in the midst of all this activity that the 

 crisis of his life came. The events of the reign of James II were doubtless 

 followed with keen attention in the north. In 1688 the bishop, who had 

 abetted the king so far, came to the diocese to promote the policy of the 

 indulgence.'"^ The dean was in sympathy with his attitude, but had the 

 courage of his convictions, which the bishop ultimately had not. The 

 declaration was read in the cathedral and in Little St. Mary's in Durham, 

 together with nineteen other churches in the county.'"' The rest of the 

 incumbents could not be moved by the solicitation of bishop or dean. The 

 latter was the one conspicuous instance of refusal to take the oath among the 

 clergy of the diocese. He was vigorous in his Jacobitism, raising a subscrip- 

 tion of ^/Tyoo in which some of the prebendaries joined. The dean fled from 

 Durham when a troop of horse entered it to proclaim William, and refused 

 consistently in his exile to take the oath which was often pressed upon him.'"* 

 No successor was appointed until 1691. 



Durham was not a non-juring county.'"' Despite the earnest endeavours 

 of the dean to persuade the clergy in his archdeaconry to refuse the oath they 

 were steadfast almost to a man and resisted the pathetic appeal of written 

 leaflets, of sermons in the cathedral, and of visitation charges.'"^ Only eight 

 clergymen in addition to the dean are known to have stood firm against the 

 oath, and of these two saw fit to forgo their scruples.'"^ Some effort was 

 used to propagate disaffection in the county, and papers of libels were sent 

 up by the carriers into the district addressed to persons of position in the 

 bishopric, endeavouring to seduce them from their allegiance.'"* It was even 

 reported in Whitehall that near Sedgefield considerable sums of money were 

 collected on behalf of King James, and there were dim hints that some 

 design was intended.'"' No clerical complicity, however, is proved, and 



""' The authority for the statements about Grenville is the two volumes previously quoted, Surt. Soc. 

 Publ. xxxvii and xlvii, with Canon Ornsby's prefaces. 



"" Surtees Soc. Publ. vol. xxxvii. The directions, ibid. 1 6 1-3, as to the cathedral throw much light on 

 the conduct of its services. 



"" This has been denied {Camden Misc. ix, 23), but contemporary evidence of the fact will be found in 

 Kenyon MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv), 189, and Leeds MSS. (ibid. Rep. xi, App. vii), 30. An 

 explicit denial is given by the bishop of Carlisle in May, 1688, who says that the bishop is much annoyed by 

 the report. 



'" Surtees Soc. Pui>/. xlvii, 147. 



'"' For the rest of his life spent in exile see the Surtees Society volumes xxxvii and xlvii. 



'" 'The drum beat for ten days at Durh.im for volunteers, but got none,' 12 Oct. 1688. Rydal Hall 

 MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii, App. vii), 215. 'The gentlemen of the bishopric of Durham have all 

 signed a petition for a free Parliament,' 13 Dec. 1688, ibid. 228. There is evidence that many Roman 

 Catholics in the district man.iged to evade the oath. 



™ Full particulars of these appeals will be found in Surtees Soc. Publ. xlvii, 124, 11-36, 43-59. The 

 letter to his curates is interesting, ibid. 119-27, written from Rouen in 1691. 



'" They are given, ibid. 127 w. from the appendix to the life of Kettlewell. 



•»' Cal. S.P. Dom. 1689-90, p. 177. ™ Ibid. 412. 



60 



