A HISTORY OF LONDON the Dean of Westminster, and a clergyman here and there,*"* refused to con- travene the rubric. As late as 1830 Bishop Blomfield complained that the practice had long been partially sanctioned by custom in London, and was still much used, though in more than one important parish it had already been stopped.*"' The practice of churching women in the house was also usual in the i8th century,*"' and was still employed in London in 1830.*"' The canons of 1603 had not insisted on frequent confirmations,*"' and the 1 8th century was not a time for the performance of more than legal duties. The usual age for candidates seems to have been sixteen or seventeen, but younger children were occasionally confirmed, and in 1726 the vicar of St. Leonard's Shoreditch urged his parishioners not to press for the confirma- tion of children before they came to years of discretion, since Bishop Gibson was ' so diligent in the discharge of his trust as even to do more than he is obliged by the Canons, making it a standing rule unto himself to hold con- firmations almost every year.'*"' The rite was almost neglected in the i8th century, but was revived under Evangelical influence ; Bishop Porteus making provision for its performance by friendly bishops during his infirmity,*^" while popular churches such as St. John's Bedford Row presented large numbers of candidates. Bishop Randolph, a High Churchman, held a confirmation soon after succeeding to London,*" and from this time the rite was constantly performed, though about i860 sixty confirmations in the year were still considered a large number for the London diocese. *^^ Irregularities were frequent also in the performing of marriages; a question as to clandestine marriages figured in the visitation articles of 1685— 6, and was generally satisfactorily answered,*" but the extent of the evil is evident from the constant repetition of the question at other visitations. The marriages at the Fleet Prison were notorious, as were those at St. James's Duke's Place, wherein 1674—5 the Court of Aldermen, patrons of the living, dismissed the incumbent for marrying ' at all hours ' ; *^* and Dr. Keith, in- cumbent of Mayfair Chapel, was well known for the irregular marriages he performed. The shifting of population must ever be a prominent factor in London Church life. London and Westminster had been joined in the early 17th cen- tury, and the districts round Soho Square and St. James's Square were, in 1685, formed into the new parishes of St. Anne's Soho and St. James's West- minster.*" Soon afterwards the quarter to the north of this part of Picca- dilly was filled with fashionable houses, and St. George's Hanover Square was built. In the reign of George II the most fashionable districts were Bloomsbury Square, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Soho Square, Queen's Square, Westminster, Leicester Fields, Golden Square, and Charing Cross. *^^ Custom and fashion demanded attendance at church, but in all these new quarters the people rapidly outgrew the church accommodation, and it was computed that at least 40,000 persons could never go to church for lack of room.**^ "' Let. from a Clergyman. *°' Blomfield, Charge, 1830, pp. 23, 24. "' Let. from a Clergyman, 42.
- " Blomfield, loc. cit. '™ Canon Ix. "' Denne, The Nature, Design, and Benefits of Confirmation.
- '° Randolph, Primary Charge. «" Ibid. *" Tait, Present Position of Ch. of Engl 79.
- " Bodl. Lib. Tanner MSS. 124-5. '" Rec. Corp. Repert. kxx, fol. 25^.
- '* Stat. I Jas. II, cap. 20, 22. *'* Lecky, Hist, of Engl in the i8/i Cent, i, 565.
- " Baxter, Breviate of the life of Margaret . . . wife of Richard Baxter, 54. This estimate no doubt covers
3l greater area than that strictly included in London as here dealt with. 36+
