During the weeks that preceded the withdrawal of James II. to France violent riots had taken place in London， where several of the Catholic chapels were attacked， and in many of the other leading cities.
William III. was not personally in favour of a policy of religious persecution， particularly as he had promised his imperial ally to deal gently with his Catholic subjects. But the popular prejudice against them was so strong that a policy of toleration was almost an impossibility. The Catholics were excluded specially from enjoying the concessions made in favour of the Dissenters， and in the Bill of Rights (1689) it was provided that no member of the reigning family who was a Catholic or had married a Catholic could succeed to the throne， and that any sovereign of England who became a Catholic or married a Catholic thereby forfeited the crown. Catholics were prohibited from residing within ten miles of London； magistrates were empowered to administer the objectionable oath of allegiance to all suspected Papists； Catholics were forbidden to keep arms， ammunition， or a horse valued for more than ten pounds； they were debarred from practising as counsellors， barristers， or attorneys； if they refused to take the oath they were not allowed to vote at parliamentary elections； they were incapacitated from inheriting or purchasing land；and prohibited from sending their children abroad for education； while priests were to be punished with imprisonment for life for celebrating Mass， and spies who secured the conviction of priests were offered ā100 as a reward.[21]
During the reign of Anne (1702-14) and during the early portion of the reign of George I. the persecution continued， especially after the unsuccessful rebellion of 1715 in which many Catholics were accused of taking part.[22] After 1722 the violence of the persecution began to abate， and Catholics began to open schools， and to draw together again their shattered forces. Fortunately at the time there was one amongst them in the person of Richard Challoner， who was capable of infusing new life into the Catholic ranks and of winning for the Church the respect even of its bitterest opponents. Richard Challoner (1691-1781)was born in London， and was converted to Catholicism at the age of thirteen. He entered Douay College， in which he remained twenty-five years， first as a student and afterwards as a professor， and vice-president. He returned to London in 1730， and threw himself into the work of strengthening the faith of his co-religionists in all parts of the city. He went about disguised as a layman， visiting the poorest quarters， and celebrating Mass wherever he could find a place of security. Already he had published a book of meditations under the title /Think Well On't/ (1728)， and a little later he found time to prepare for the press /The Christian Instructed in the Sacraments， etc/. In 1740， much against his own will， he was appointed coadjutor to Dr. Petre， vicar-apostolic of the London district. As coadjutor he undertook to make a visitation of the entire district as far as it was situated in England. But his work as bishop did not interfere with his literary activity. In quick succession he published /The Gardin of the Soul/， /The Memoirs of Missionary Priests/， containing the Lives of the English Martyrs (1577-1681)， the /Britannia Sacra/， or a short account of the English， Scottish and Irish Saints， an edition of the New Testament (1749)， of the old Testament (1750)， together with a revised edition (1752).
Besides all this he founded two schools for boys， one at Standon Lordship， the other at Sedgley Park， and one for poor girls at Hammersmith. Though more than once he stood in the gravest danger of having his career cut short by the activity of the priest-hunters， he had the good fortune to survive the storm and to see the First Relief Act of 1778 placed upon the statute book.[23]
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[1] Frere， op. cit.， 289-90.
[2] Dodd-Tierney， iv.， app. no. iv.
[3] Id.， iv.， 10-13.
[4] /Statutes/， 1 James， c. 4.
[5] On the Gunpowder Plot， cf. Gerard， /What was the Gunpowder Plot/， 1897. Rev. J. H. Pollen， /Arrest and Examination of Father Garnet/； /Trial and Execution of Father Garnet/ (/The Month/， July 1888， Sept.， 1888). /The Month/ (Oct.， 1878， Sept.-Oct.， 1897， Aug.， 1898， Aug.， 1904). Sidney， /A History of the Gunpowder Plot/， 1904.
[6] /Statutes 3/， 1 James， c. 4， 5.
[7] Many documents relating to this unfortunate controversy are to be found in Dodd-Tierney， op. cit.， vol. iv. Appendix. /Memoirs of Gregorio Panzani/， edited by Berington， 1793.
[8] Guilday， op. cit.， chap. vii.
[9] /Political Hist. of England/， vii.， chap. v.， vi.
[10] Hutton， /The Life of Laud/， 1895. Shaw， /The English Church during the Civil War and under the Commonwealth/， 2 vols.， 1900.
Neale， /History of the Puritans/， 4 vols.， 1732-8.
[11] Lingard， vii.， 157-9.
[12] Lingard， vii.， 168.
[13] Burton-Pollen， op. cit.， xxxvi.
[14] /The Memoirs of Gregorio Panzani/， 1634-36， etc. Transl. Ed. by Rev. J. Berington， 1793.
[15] Burton-Pollen， op. cit.， xxxvi.
[16] /Memoirs of Panzani/， 308-11 (Supplement).
[17] /Political Hist. of England/， viii.， 87.
[18] On the Titus Oates' Plot， cf. Gerard， /Some Episodes of the Oates' Plot/ (/Month/， Aug. 1894). Marks， /Further Light on the Oates' Plot/ (/Month/， Aug. 1903). Pollock， /The Popish Plot/， 1903. Markes， /Who killed Sir Edmund Godfrey？/ 1905.
[19] Onno Klopp， /Der Fall des Hauses Stuarts/， 1875-9.
[20] Cf. Foley， /Records of the English Jesuits/， v.， vii.， /The Month/ (1886-87).
[21] Cf. Lilly-Wallis， /Manual of the Law specially affecting Catholics/， 1893.
[22] Payne， /Records of the English Catholics of 1715/， 1889.
[23] Cf. Burton， /The Life and Times of Bishop Challone (1691-1781)/， 2 vols.， 1909 (an excellent biography).
