They had even recourse to all the bitterness of invective against Tillotson and the new bishops, whom they reviled as intruders and usurpers; their acrimony was chiefly directed against Dr.
Sherlock, who had been one of the most violent sticklers against the revolution, but thought proper to take the oaths upon the retreat of king James from Ireland.

They branded him as an apostate who had betrayed his cause, and published a review of his whole conduct, which proved a severe satire upon his character.

Their attacks upon individuals were mingled with their vengeance against the government; and indeed the great aim of their divines, as well as of their politicians, was to sap the foundation of the new settlement.

In order to alienate the minds of the people from the interests of the reigning prince, they ridiculed his character; inveighed against his measures; they accused him of sacrificing the concerns of England to the advantage of his native country; and drew invidious comparisons between the wealth, the trade, the taxes, of the last and of the present reign.

To frustrate these efforts of the malcontents, the court employed their engines to answer and recriminate; all sorts of informers were encouraged and caressed; in a proclamation issued against papists and other disaffected persons, all magistrates were enjoined to make search, and apprehend those who should, by seditious discourses and libels, presume to defame the government.