wich grammar school and at Caius
College, Cambridge, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On
taking orders he was appointed secretary to Bishop Overall of Lichfield,
and then domestic chaplain to Bishop Neile of Durham. In December 1624
he was made a prebendary of Durham, and in the following year archdeacon
of the East Riding of Yorkshire. In 1628 he took his degree of D.D. He
first became known as an author in 1627, when he published his
_Collection of Private Devotions_, a manual stated to have been prepared
by command of Charles I., for the use of the queen's maids of honour.[1]
This book, together with his insistence on points of ritual in his
cathedral church and his friendship with Laud, exposed him to the
suspicions and hostility of the Puritans; and the book was rudely
handled by William Prynne and Henry Burton. In 1628 Cosin took part in
the prosecution of a brother prebendary, Peter Smart, for a sermon
against high church practices; and the prebendary was deprived. In 1634
Cosin was appointed master of Peterhouse, Cambridge; and in 1640 he
became vice-chancellor of the university. In October of this year he was
promoted to the deanery of Peterborough. A few days before his
installation the Long Parliament had met; and among the complainants who
hastened to appeal to it for redress was the ex-prebendary, Smart. His
petition against the new dean was considered; and early in 1641 Cosin
was sequestered from his benefices. Articles of impeachment, were, two
months later, presented against him, but he was dismissed on bail, and
was not again called for. For sending the university plate to the king,
he was deprived of the mastership of Peterhouse (1642). He thereupon
withdrew to France, preached at Paris, and served as chaplain to some
members of the household of the exiled royal family. At the Restoration
he returned to England, was reinstated in the mastership, restored to
all his benefices, and in a few months raised to the see of Durham
(December 1660). At the convocation in 1661 he played a prominent part
in the revision of the prayer-book, and endeavoured with some success to
bring both prayers and rubrics into completer agreement with ancient
liturgies. He administered his diocese with conspicuous ability and
success for about eleven years; and applied a large share of his
revenues to the promotion of the interests of the Church, of schools and
of charitable institutions. He died in London on the 15th of