A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



famous Durham copes which are said to have been worn in the cathedral 

 according to the terms of the canons of 1604 is ascribed to Warburton/" 

 His residence at Durham was the least productive period of his life, until his 

 promotion to the see of Gloucester. Lowth appears to have written some of 

 his later works either at Sedgefield, where he was rector, or at Durham. In 

 these two eminent men the bishop carried on the tradition of promoting 

 learned divines from without to Durham prebends, but generally speaking 

 the dignified clergy were not at this time conspicuous for learning. There 

 seems to be no means of estimating correctly the general standard of piety 

 and efficiency reached by the contemporary local clergy. Wesley says of 

 South Shields in 1761 : 



Why is there not here, as in every parish in England, a particular minister who takes care 

 of all their souls ? There is one here who takes charge of all their souls ; what care of them 

 he takes is another question."* 



It is said that some of them opposed his work, whilst others, as at Whick- 

 ham, were glad for him to address their people.''' One interesting con- 

 temporary proof of a widening interest in clergy and people is the great 

 success which attended a tour made by an ordained Indian to solicit help for 

 work amongst the tribes of the north-west."" 



The societies founded by Wesley and his helpers in the county of 

 Durham continued to flourish during the episcopate of Egerton (1771-87) 

 and of Thurlow (1787-91). Wesley's own visits were perhaps less frequent, 

 but he came to the north at intervals until 1790. He says of Darlington in 

 1777, 'I have not lately found so lively a work in any part of England as 

 here.' "^ But his labours were not confined to the towns ; in Weardale the 

 efforts he had made in previous years were now producing a considerable 

 result, and particularly among the children. A tour of 1772 is fully 

 described by him, in which some account of the people of the district is 

 given. He does not seem to have reached the upper parts of Teesdale, but 

 the embrace of his journeyings through the county is prodigious. The last, 

 or almost the last, notice of Wesley's work in the county is as follows : 



I preached a charity sermon in Monk Wearmouth Church, for the Sunday School, 

 which had already cleared the streets of all the children that used to play there on a 

 Sunday from morning to evening.*''^ 



The abiding result of the influence of the societies upon the county must 

 have been very considerable, and one proof of its permanence on the material 

 side is to be found in the large number of trust deeds connected with the 

 various Wesleyan societies between 1736 and 1836.'" In the return made 

 from the Close Rolls 63 such deeds are credited to the Methodists, and 

 37 only to the Church of England."* Other causes, so far as property goes, 

 were not strongly represented during the period named, for the Independents 

 claim 8, the Romanists i, Presbyterians i, the Baptists 5. 



'" There is at Auckland Castle a MS. account of the prebendaries of Durham in the time of Warburton. 

 For the copes see Low, Diocesan Hist, of Dur. 3 1 4. 



638 Wesley's Journ. iii, 60. '" See Low's account (as above), 302. 



"» Sykes, Local Rec. i, 263. 



"' Wesley's Journ. iii, +73, &c. •''" Ibid, iv, 504. 



'" The returns are given in the Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. ii. One deed may include various 

 buildings and lands. 



'" For the further progress of Wesleyanism see below, p. 70. 



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