Still Sherlock was not the only inconsistent man of that period. Burnet and Tillotson, in the time of Charles II, held the same opinions. They opposed Popery: but they maintained that opposition to the Prince could not be justified: and that the authority was in his person, not in the law. Had Sherlock complied at the Revolution without scruple, he would have been in the same situation with Burnet, Stillingfleet, and Tillotson, all of whom had written in defence of the doctrine at which he stumbled. They complied at first; while he hesitated, but yielded afterwards. His two works, "Obedience and Subrnission to the Present Government, &c." and the "Case of Allegiance, &c." were attacked by several of the Nonjurors. One of the keenest answers was written, I believe, by Wagstaffe. It is attributed to Ken in the Biographia Britannica; but this is clearly a mistake; and in a copy now in my possession, which was once the property of a Nonjuror, a contemporary of Sherlock's, it is assigned to Wagstaffe.[1]
- ↑ An Answer to a late Pamphlet, entituled Obedience and Submission, &c.; with a Postscript in answer to Dr. Sherlock's Case of Allegiance. 4to. Previous to the appearance of Sherlock's "Case of Allegiance," a work was published by a Nonjuror entitled "The Case of Allegiance to a King in Possession. Printed in the year 1691." Neither the name of the place nor of the printer is given. This work was noticed by Sherlock: and the circumstance produced the following repty: "An Answer to Dr. Sherlock's Case of Allegiance to Sovereign Power's, in Defence of The Case of Allegiance to a King in Possession. In a Letter to a Friend. London, Printed in the year 1691." "The Trimming Court Divine," a severe satire upon the Doctor, was noticed in my History of the Convocation. There was also a clever attack under this title: "A Review of Dr. Sherlock's Case of Allegiance, &c. with an Answer to his Vindication, &c.: and from the whole proved, that neither the present Church of England nor the present Government are beholden to him. 4to. Lon-
