SHERLOCK, WILLIAM, a learned English divine, was born at Southwark in 1641, and educated at Eton school, where he distinguished himself by the vigour of his genius and his application to study. From this he was removed to Cambridge, where he took his degrees. In 1669 he became rector of the parish of St George, Botolph Lane, in London; and in 1681 was collated to the prebend of St Pancras, in the cathedral of St Paul's. He was likewise chosen master of the Temple, and had the rectory of Thetford, in Herefordshire. After the Revolution he was suspended from his preferment, for refusing the oaths to William and Mary; but at last he took them, and publicly justified what he had done in his publication of the Allegiance of the Two Sovereign Powers. His case excited immense sensation. According to Lord Macaulay (Hist. of Eng. vol. vi. p. 48, 1858), "the replies to the doctor, the vindications of the doctor, the pasquinades on the doctor, would fill a library." In 1691 he was installed as dean of St Paul's. His Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity engaged him in a warm controversy with Dr South and others. Bishop Burnet tells us he was "a clear, a polite, and a strong writer; but apt to assume too much to himself, and to treat his adversaries with contempt." He died in 1707. His works are very numerous, among which are—A Discourse concerning the Knowledge of Jesus Christ, (against Dr Owen) 1674; Several pieces against the Papists, the Socinians, and Dissenters; A Practical Discourse on Death, 16th edition, 1715, which has been more frequently reprinted than any of Sherlock's other works; A Practical Discourse on Providence, 1715; A Practical Discourse on the Future Judgment, 1699.