doctrine ornamentis præditus," amongst many other troubles, suffered "a confinement in Stockton-castle in following the fortune of his majesty's cause."* After his release from hence, he travelled for many years abroad, endeavouring to propagate the knowledge of the doctrine and discipline established in the Britannic church among the Greeks, Arabians, &c. He preached in Greck be fore the Metropolitan of Achaia in the Morea. "From Aleppo I went," says he, "this year to Jerusalem, and so travelled over all Palæstina. At Jerusalem I received much honour;-I travelled over Euphrates, and went into Mesopotamia, Abraham's country, whither I am now intending to send our catechism in Turkish to some of their bishops. I travelled all alone, I mean without either servant or christian, or any man with me that could so much as speak the Frank language;-I have not been unmindful of our church with the true Patriarch here, whose usurper now for awhile doth interpose; I will not be wanting to embrace all opportunities of propagating the doctrine and repute thereof, stylo veteri, especially if I should about it receive any commands or instructions from the king (whom God save) only in ordine ad Ecclesiastica. I should long for a comfortable post-liminium to my family; but yet I am resolved rather intermori in these toylesome ecclesiastical peregrinations than to decline the least on either hand from my religion or allegiance; and, oh! that it were with our church, as whilome when God Almighty did shine upon our wayes, and

* Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, part ii. p. 20.

upheld both the staves thereof, BEAUTY and BANDS; but patience; Hoc erat in votis, and to recover both shall be the prayer and endeavour of," &c.-Letter to Sir Richard Brown, resident at Paris, dated Pera, near Constantinople, 20 Julii, 1653. This strenuous son of religion and loyalty travelled many years after the date of this letter in Transylvania, &c. &c. He survived his travels, and found his wishes realized in the reenjoyment of his preferment, his family, his religion, and his king.

To show the warm feelings of the times, the following passage concludes an address, prefixed to a catalogue of the lords, knights, and gentlemen, who were compelled to make a compromise with the ruling party by compounding for their estates.-""Tis not for us of the lowest sphear, to censure or moderate in the intricate contests, which our home divisions have engendered, our inconsiderablenesse has redeemed us from those Snaring Enigmaes; those rocks upon which the greatest reasons and estates have dashed and perished, you yourselves best know your own engagements: But in (Thesi) this may be received as a sober truth, that he happilie consults his treasure, who honestly loses, or piously expends it; yea, more, every drop of blood that is shed in a good cause, shall commence a Ruby in heaven."— Lond. 1655.

Having brought those troublesome times, as connected with Stockton, to a conclusion, I have only to add, may they never be revived!" Peace I leave with you, my

* Zechariah, 11, 7.

peace I give unto you:" may this sacred legacy be the morning-star, and evening cordial, of every Christian breast! May pure religion and loyalty ever remain united, that the blessing of the Almighty may rest upon this favoured nation!

Part the Second.

THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE

BOROUGH.

CHAPTER VI.

Of the earliest Account of the Borough of Stockton till A. D. 1314.

ROM the account of the castle, and the frequent residences of many of its early possessors, and the not total desertion of the others, we are enabled to state that the borough of Stockton, which was closely connected with it, may boast, though probably not much of its importance, yet something of its antiquity. The manor of Stockton, as we have seen, constituted a portion of the See of Durham, as early as the Norman conquest. The nature of the connexion between the vassal and the lord, though it could hardly be called an union of affection, produced an intercourse of interest which bound them to each other. The union of the highland clans, hardly yet extinguished, offers the best illustration of this connexion. The manners of modern times, indeed, and the improve

L

ment of the mind, have meliorated the servile state of society which then prevailed, so that we can now with difficulty draw a comparison. But servile as the connexion was, it was beneficial to the parties.*

About the time of Bishop Pudsey, A. D. 1189, numbers of retainers seem to have accumulated around his mansion. Of the many that formed his train several would be inclined to take up a more permanent residence; and we find that at this period there must have been an increased accession of inhabitants at Stockton. This, of course, led to the concession of privileges; and therefore we may confidently conclude, in the absence of the original charter, that the incorporation of Stockton took place about this period; when king John in the second year of his reign, A. D. 1201, granted a charter of incorporation to Hartlepool. The building of a chapel soon after, implies the increased population and importance of the place. The Boldon-buke compiled A. D. 1183, does not indeed expressly mention the borough of Stockton, though it records the manor; ; yet, in another record within an hundred years, 1283, the guardians of the temporalities for the crown after the death of bishop Robert de Insula, account for the talliage of the borough of Stockton, with the talliage of the bondmen there.†

*It appears, from Doomsday book, that the greatest boroughs were at the time of the conquest, scarcely more than country villages; and that the inhabitants lived in entire dependance on the king or great lords, and were of a station little better than servile.-Hume's Hist. of England, vol. 2, p. 128. He adds in a note "Liber Homo" anciently signified a gentleman; for scarce any one beside was entirely free. Spelm. Gloss. in Verb.

+ Madox's Hist. of the Exchequer, p. 496.