III. Episcopal revenues were unequally distributed.[276] The Bishop of Durham received, in 1670 and afterwards, an annual income of £3,280; previously to which his resources were so limited, that it was computed not more than £1,500 remained after he had paid subsidies and first-fruits. Durham House, in the Strand, had been seized by Queen Elizabeth; although reclaimed by the Bishop upon her death, it never again became the episcopal residence; but Aukland Palace, which used to be to Durham what Croydon used to be to Lambeth, remained in the Bishops’ possession, and furnished an opportunity for the richest hospitalities. Ely Place, where Shakespeare’s “good strawberries” grew in the garden, with its vineyard, meadow, and orchard, had been appropriated to Sir Christopher Hatton by Queen Elizabeth; yet Bishop Laney had possession of the palace, and died there in 1675. The Bishops of Carlisle had long lost Worcester House, in the Strand; and the prelates of Winchester had leased out “their very fair house well repaired” (in Southwark), which had “a large wharf and landing-place,” to occupy a mansion in the suburb of Chelsea.[277] The provincial palaces of the Bishops surpassed those which they had in the Metropolis, and were well-known centres of social attraction and entertainment. Whilst lamentations were poured forth by some over the robbery and spoliation of sees, so that it was said a mean gentleman of £200 in land yearly would not exchange his worldly state and condition with divers Bishops,[278]--Burnet speaks of the extravagance of the class generally, and represents them as a bad pattern “to all the lower dignitaries, who generally took more care of themselves than of the Church.” It is a fact, however, which it would be unjust not to mention, that many of the Bishops were large contributors to the repairs of sacred buildings, and to other ecclesiastical objects. Cosin, for instance, expended the income of the first seven years of his episcopacy in the improvement of property belonging to the see of Durham, and in establishing various charitable foundations. The see of Bristol was extremely poor, and Hereford yielded only £800 a year.[279] Yet Brian Duppa, after his translation to the see of Winchester, which he held but a year and a half, is reported to have received in fines as much as £50,000. Out of this large amount, however, he remitted £30,000 to his tenants, and expended £16,000 in acts of charity.[280] Morley disposed of almost all his income in benefactions. Sheldon’s gifts were computed at upwards of £66,000.[281] [Sidenote: REVENUES.]