He had by his irresolution forfeited the favour of William, and never obtained a mitre till Anne was on the throne.

[58] The bishopric of Bath and Wells was bestowed on Richard Kidder, a man of considerable attainments and blameless character, but suspected of a leaning towards Presbyterianism.
About the same time Sharp, the highest churchman that had been zealous for the Comprehension, and the lowest churchman that felt a scruple about succeeding a deprived prelate, accepted the Archbishopric of York, vacant by the death of Lamplugh.

[59] In consequence of the elevation of Tillotson to the See of Canterbury, the Deanery of Saint Paul's became vacant.

As soon as the name of the new Dean was known, a clamour broke forth such as perhaps no ecclesiastical appointment has ever produced, a clamour made up of yells of hatred, of hisses of contempt, and of shouts of triumphant and half insulting welcome; for the new Dean was William Sherlock.
The story of his conversion deserves to be fully told; for it throws great light on the character of the parties which then divided the Church and the State.

Sherlock was, in influence and reputation, though not in rank, the foremost man among the nonjurors.