Cosin, John

Author

b Norwich 1594 or 1596, d Westminster, London 1671/2. Norwich Free Sch; Caius Coll Cambridge; ordained to serve in various parishes before becoming a Canon of Durham in 1625 and Rector of nearby Brancepeth a year later. Master of Peterhouse Coll Cambridge, 1635; Archdeacon of the E Riding, he was deprived of most appointments by the Long Parliament. For a time he lived in Paris as a royal chaplain and on his return became Dean and then (from 1660) Bp of Durham, attending the 1661 Savoy Conference in an attempt to reconcile Presbyterians and Anglicans. A man of outstanding learning even in a distinguished age, he tried to make Puritans and RCs conform to what he saw as the CofE norm; among his many writings are those attacking transubstantiation and the inclusion of the Apocrypha in the Bible. A friend of the Huguenots and an often bitter opponent of Romanism, he nevertheless favoured elaborate ritual and church decoration. He is not strictly speaking a contributor to Praise!, but his name features as the initial paraphraser of Veni, Creator Spiritus. His version, Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire is one of only two metrical hymns (and the only one still in regular use) included in the 1662 BCP. It was printed in a book of prayers dated 1627 but not much loved by the Puritans. No.522.