ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



that there was too widespread a neglect of canons and rubrics.*' 1 Yet the 

 archdeacon was always ready to boast that ' the bishopric of Durham is with- 

 out dispute the most conformable part of England,' and to compliment the 

 clergy on its general condition. 4 '* 



The new bishop was Nathaniel Crewe (16741722), whose episcopate 

 was destined to be longer than that of any bishop of Durham, and less memor- 

 able than most. In 1697 he succeeded to his father's barony. All through 

 his tenure of office he was more the rich man and the nobleman than the 

 chief pastor of the diocese. He owed his advancement to the duke of York, 

 and was not ashamed to aid the designs of the prince when he became king. 

 He did not absolutely neglect his diocese, 4 ' 7 but his presence in it was chiefly 

 for the purpose of entertaining lavishly at Durham and Auckland. The loss 

 of his register prevents us from tracing his work in the county. In 1680 we 

 get a passing mention of Romanists in the district in connexion with the extra- 

 ordinary Act then proposed for transplanting the more notorious Romanists in 

 different parts of the county. Eighty-one names are given in the county of 

 Durham, a number which is below rather than above the average for other 

 places. In Northumberland 106 were named, and in Newcastle itself eighty- 

 two. 4 ' 8 



In the city of Durham the Roman Catholic cause received considerable 

 impetus in the work of the Jesuit Father Pearson who served a mission which 

 had been established there since 1590. About 1685 Pearson erected a 

 chapel and residence in Old Elvet, and opened a public school or college 

 which drew together a large number of scholars at a time when it was 

 thought that by the action of King James the whole of England would 

 shortly embrace Romanism. So successful were the efforts of Pearson that 

 in 1687, when Leyburn, the vicar-apostolic, visited Durham, 1,024 persons 

 were presented to him for confirmation. Sixteen months later a paralysing 

 blow fell upon the mission when William of Orange entered London. A 

 large mob collected in Durham and made their way to the residence. In a 

 few minutes the chapel was completely destroyed, and the cross was publicly 

 burnt. The houses of the leading Roman Catholic residents were sought 

 out by the excited rioters, who pillaged right and left with apparently very 

 little check laid upon them by the inhabitants. The Jesuit priests had to 

 flee for their lives and seek refuge where they might, as they wandered up 

 and down the country. Pearson, the head of the mission, ventured back 

 again somewhat later, but it is believed that no attempt was made to resusci- 

 tate the pillaged mission in Durham until nearly the end of William's reign. 

 The residence, or missionary district, was served by thirteen Jesuits in Anne's 

 reign, when it comprised Cumberland as well as Durham and Northumberland. 4 '* 



m Surtees Soc. Publ. xlvii, 1 1-14. Grenville as prebendary was frivolous, as archdeacon scrupulous, as 

 dean dignified. For his improvement, ibid, zxxvii, 150-1. His excellent ideals of parish work are contained 

 in many letters and papers, cf. ibid. 42, 43. ** Ibid, xlvii, 23, cf. 15. 



** The life written by one of his household credits him with frequent visits to the diocese : ' He was con- 

 stantly in his diocese every year till his sickness in London in 1715-16. His visitations till that time were 

 constantly triennial and his confirmations annual ' (CamJen Mite, ix, 33). Of his first visitation it is said : ' My 

 lord made a pompous visitation over his whole diocese. He visited the Dean and Chapter' (Life, 1790, 



P- 39)- 



* The draft and particulars are given in Hut. MSS. Cam. Rep. xi, App. it, 224-6. 



** The facts as to the Durham mission have been put together by the Rev. Canon Brown of St. Cuth- 

 bert's, Durham, who is now in charge of the secular mission which took the place of the Jesuits in 1827. See 

 the 'Story of an Old Mission* in the Uihato Mag. for 1900. 



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