 "It hath been my constant design", he wrote in his letter to Sir Richard Browne, "to dispose and incline the Greek church to a communion with the church of England, together with a canonical reformation of some grosser errors".Those who are acquainted with the church history of the eighteenth century will observe that Basire was in advance of his age; for what he attempted was, half a century later, the subject of many negotiations in which the nonjurors took a leading part.Basire, on his return to England, was restored to his stall in Durham Cathedral, the rectory of Egglescliffe, and the Archdeaconry of Northumberland.