Catholic Church in the United Kingdom was not yet a reality, particularly in Ireland, where the Protestant Ascendancy was still in full force. The Treaty of Union of 1707, like the Act of Settlement, had stated that no "Papist" could succeed to the throne. Restrictions on the civil rights of Catholics only began to change with the passing of the Papists Act 1778, which allowed them to own property, inherit land and join the British Army, although even this measure resulted in the backlash of the Gordon Riots of 1780, showing the depth of continuing anti-Catholic feeling. After 1790, a new mood emerged as thousands of
London Evening Post Meres died in 1761, his son (also John) took over the business. The younger Meres was called before the House of Lords in 1764 to explain a "vague and slightly anti-Scottish remark" regarding Lord Hertford. After Richard Nutt died in 1780, the paper also reportedly folded, though there are archives of the paper in the same name that date past 1780. John Miller (c. 1744-1807), who was printer of the "Post" in 1770s, was charged with libel five times and at times jailed for it; he later moved to South Carolina in 1783 and started newspapers there. London Evening Post