A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



With the Restoration the old conditions were brought back. Those 

 who had been extruded from any benefice unjustly during the troubles at once 

 began to sue for restitution/ 5 * a proceeding which a special Act of Parliament 

 soon legalized, appointing the justices to act as commissioners for such suits. 465 

 The Church services were resumed.* 58 Multitudes of petitions from those 

 who had suffered began to flow in." 7 From the Act of Oblivion three or four 

 names were specially excepted in the county of Durham.* 58 At some early 

 date the chief inhabitants of the district petitioned Parliament for the full 

 restoration of the old form of government, and many were willing to sign 

 this document whose names appear on the parliamentary side in previous 

 years.* 59 A flood of loyalty spread over the bishopric at first, nor is there any 

 apparent sign of a discontented minority until two or three years had passed. 

 During the vacancy of the see all benefices were in the king's gift, and to 

 these Charles at once began to prefer incumbents. He also placed new men 

 in the chief vacant Palatinate offices.* 60 At the end of the year Cosin was 

 consecrated bishop of Durham, and next year began the course of renovation 

 for which his precise knowledge of city and county so well fitted him. His 

 entry into the bishopric was delayed until August, 1661, after the main part 

 of his labours on the revised Prayer Book were completed. An active 

 autumn followed, in which he confirmed, ordained, and preached widely.* 61 

 Durham was a partly demolished city. Elsewhere the see houses were ruined. 

 He did over again the work which Neile had done so bountifully forty years 

 before. From London he kept up a vigorous correspondence with his agent, 

 who was pressing on the building and decorating in the castles at Auckland 

 and Durham.* 63 In July, 1662, his primary visitation was undertaken and 

 was carried out with a minuteness which recalls the exactitude of Barnes a 

 century before. It was succeeded by a progress ' through the larger part of 

 this county palatine, preaching on every Sunday in several churches, and 

 being received with great joy and alacrity both of the gentry and all other 

 people.'* 63 The cathedral which was in course of restoration was also visited 

 and articles of detailed inquiry administered. A precise return of all the 

 money expended by the new Dean Barwick and his chapter shows as well 

 the ruin caused by the Scottish prisoners, and the munificent scale of restora- 

 tion now set on foot. 46 * 



The Puritan hold of the county had been firm. Organization had been 

 carried out more widely than in many parts. No voice of remonstrance has 

 come down to us from the early days of the Restoration. The Puritan party 

 no doubt sulked in silence. It seems quite impossible to estimate the propor- 

 tion of their various constituents. C^uakers were first heard of in the county 



'" See the action of Cosin's friends on his behalf, Surtees Soc. Publ. Iv, 3-4.. 

 455 1 2 Chas. II, cap. 17. 



K Thus in the Whitworth Register it is noted that the Prayer Book was used again for the first time 

 since July, 1645, on 12 May, 1660. 



"The S.P. Dom. of 1660 give numbers of these. 



58 The document is given in the Lambeth MSS. 



"'Given in Surtees, Hist. Ditr. i, p. cxxxix. " S.P. Dom. 



Kl Surtees Soc. Publ. Iv, 27. 



61 The correspondence is preserved in the Durham University Mickleton MSS. and has been printed in 

 part, op. cit. 



183 Ibid, xvi, from Mercurius Politicus, xxxii, 531, and Kennetfs Reg, 831. 



*" Printed Surtees Soc. Publ. xxxvii, 260, from Mickleton MSS. 



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