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 A HISTORY OF LONDON garet's and St. John's, ten in the east City, four in the west City, ten for St. Sepulchre's, eighteen for Shoreditch, twenty-three for Spitalfields, thirty for Stepney, as well as churches for other districts."^ By 1884 it was evident that the old parishes were losing their popula- lation by emigrations to the further suburbs."' Even in 1862 there were thirty-one City parishes with populations of under 600."* How complete since then has been the depopulation is shown by the return that, in 1904,"° forty-six churches had congregations of under 100, as compared with twenty-one churches in 1858."^ The shifting of population has been met by new organization ; the interest in the moral life of the people resulted in the establishment of creches, industrial schools, district nurses, and loan societies in all the populous parishes."^ The efforts made in 1858 to draw the middle classes to church by opening St. Paul's "' and Westminster Abbey "' for evening service have been followed by well-attended midday services at St. Paul's and other City churches; since 1862"° many City rectors have followed the advice of Dr. MacNeile and have opened their churches for private prayer during the week. The Church in London, with its missions and missioners, from the Church Army to the Cowley Fathers, is no inconsiderable factor in the life of the people. The strong national prejudice against the Roman Church which had induced the Popish Plot and had given colour to the Revolution did not die out at once. In 1690 a proclamation ordered the departure of all Papists living in the City or within a radius of 10 miles,^'^ and returns of all Papists within the City were ordered by precept in 1694—5, 1701—2,"^ and later in the 18th century. Walpole's policy of toleration and the failure of the Rebellion of 171 5 tended to assuage the popular dislike ; few converts were made and Roman Catholics in London generally attended the chapels of the Sardinian, Bavarian, or other foreign embassies, though there were a few small boys' schools ^^' and one or two English chapels in 1780, that in Ropemakers' Alley'-* being the most important. In 1778 an Act ^-" was passed relieving Roman Catholics of the disabilities imposed by the Act of 1689,'-° and in the following year Lord George Gordon became president of the Protestant Association. Supported by the Common Council '" the association drew up a petition against the new measure. Its presentation was the excuse for anti- Popery riots lasting from 2 to 9 June. The chapels of the Sardinian and Bavarian embassies, together with that in Ropemakers' Alley,'** were plun- dered and burnt,'^' and it was only the arrival of the military which prevented the fire becoming general."" A few years later the Common Council again '" Jackson, Our Present Difficulties {Charge, 1875), App. "' Jackson, Five Tears in the Diocese of Lond. {Charge, 1884), 7. '" Tait, Charge, 1862, p. 63. '" Mudie-Smith, Relsg. Life of Lond. 126. "* Tait, Charge, 1858, p. 132. '" Charles Booth, Life and Labour of People in Lond. (Ser. 3), vii, 56 et seq. "' Birch, Lond. Ch. 21. '" Charles Wordsworth, Annals of my Early Life, 1806-46, p. 31 n. '™ Tait, Charge, 1862, p. 72. '" Wilkins, Concilia, iv, 623. '" Rec. Corp. Repert. xcix (pt. 2), fol. 161 ; ibid, cvi, fol. 91. '" Gasquet, Short Hist. ofCath. Ch. in Engl. 124-7. "* Welch, Modern Hist, of City of Lond. 59 et seq. '" Stat. 18 Geo. Ill, cap. 60. '" Stat. I & 2 Will, and Mary, cap. 8. "' Corp. Rec. Journ. Ixviii, fol. 29, 61, 66. "' Welch, loc. cit. '" Protestant Association Notice (B.M. Pressmark, 1855, c, 4, no. 48) ; ibid. no. 58. "» Bull, Life ofNeuiton, 248.