Masonic Notes And Queries.

growled the lexicographer , ' be they addressed to Avhat they may . ' "Dr . Squire did not lose sight of his panegyrist ; it was he who introduced him to the Earl of Chesterfield ( Johnson ' s Chesterfield , and the author of the Letters ' ) as a tutor to his son—a connection that was destined to have a fatal influence on Dodd ' s career . In the year following this event , he was appointed one of the King ' s chaplains , and in 1766 took his degree of LL . D .

Dodd had all along been living at a great rate , but he now launched out still more . Besides his house in Southampton EOAA 7 , he had another at Ealing , ancl he exchanged his chariot for a coach . He had dabbled in lotteries , and having gained a £ 1 , 000 prize , he engaged Avith a builder to erect a chapel near the palace of the Queencalling itafter herCharlotte

, , , Chapel . He also entered into a partnership with respect to Charlotte Chapel , Bloomsbury . In the former , he had set apart a particular gallery for the heir-apparent , but he Avas deceived in his hopes , for royalty let him alone . His income from his chapels ivas considerablebut there were very heavy charges

, , and the old rate of living Avent on . Dedd Avas driven to expedients ; a large Commentary on the Bible Avas undertaken aud dedicated to Bishop Squire , who unfortunately died the next year , is o matter Avhat work it Avas , so long as it furnished an excuse for a dedication to some one in position to aid him . Thoughts

on the Glorious Epiphany Avere addressed to the Bishop of Chester ; a translation of Massillon ' s Sermons Avas inscribed to the Prince of Wales ; Sermons to Young Men Avere dedicated to his pupil , Phili p Stanhope . " In 1772 the doctor obtained the rectory of Hockcliffe , in Bedfordshire , lleturning from it to London in the same year , the coach in which were the doctor and his wife Avas stopped hy a highwayman , Avho discharged a pistol into the carriage . 'Happily , ' says

the author of the memoirs ' ( as it Avas then thought ) the shot only broke the glass . On Dodd ' s evidence the man Avas hanged , and to this incident is probably OAving the sermon published in the same year ' On the frequency of Capital Punishments . ' "In 1773 Lord Chesterfield diedaud the doctor ' s

, , old pupil succeeding him , Dodd Avas appointed his chaplain—another source of income ; but he was IIOAV deeply in debt . A sinking man Avill catch at straws , and the rich living of St . George ' s , Hanover-square , having become vacant , Dodd determined to have it if possible pier fas aut nefas . The plan he adopted

shows to what desperate straits he must have been driven . The presentation to the living was in the gift , of the Crown , aud Dodd caused an anonymous letter to be sent to Lady Apsley , the wife of the Lord Chancellor , offering 3 , 000 guineas ifthrough her meansDodd should be appointed .

, , The letter was laid before the Lord Chancellor , traced to its source , and communicated to the King . Dodd aggravated his offence by declaring that the application had been made at the instance of his wife , and tti'thout his knowledge , but the story was not believed . The consequences of this conduct were fatal to him .

He was in the zenith ofhis popularity ; it was an age of scoffers , indeed , and perhaps it Avas not difficult to find in the bland and fashionable preacher a suitable mark for satirical shafts ; 'the reverend doodle , Dr . Dodd , ' had heen more than once celebrated in verse

but those AVIIO revered and believed in him were numerous . But the press now opened on him , andEoote introduced into a piece at the Haymarket a Dr . Simony , Avhose lady spoke of her husband as a " populous" preacher in English not much worse , it Avas said , than Mrs . Dodd habitually used . Dodd wrote au evasive letter to the papers ; 'to the torrent

of popular invective' he opposed his past life , ' hoping that ere long time would put some circumstances in his favour which would lead to an elucidation of the affair . ' The elucidation never came . "Stung with shame , Dodd retired to Geneva , to Lord ChesterfieldAVIIO poured oil into his

wounds—, a Buckinghamshire living Avas added to his means . Dodd ' s preferments now brought him iu about £ 800 a year , but his extravagance outran his means . Desperately iu debt —haud ignarus mall—he exerted himself in the establishment of a society for the relief ancl discharge of small debtors ; Avhile to assist

himself ' he descended so low , ' says a biographer , ' as to become the editor of a newspaper . ' Dodd having fallen to this pitch of social degradation , the ingenuity of infamy found a still lower depth—forgery . " Pressed by creditors , iu February , 1777 , he signed the name of Lord Chesterfield to a bond for £ 4 , 200 . There Avas some slight irregularity in the bond , aud application Avas made to Lord Chesterfield for a fresh signature . His lordship disclaimed all knoAvledge of .

the affair , and Dodd , AVIIO then lived in Argyle-street , Avas apprehended . He immediately repaid the greater part of the money , and gaA-e a judgment on his goods for the remainder . Those who had advanced the money Avould have Avithdrawn from the prosecution ; Lord Chesterfield , it is said , placed the bond in the hands of DoddAVIIO was standing near a firein hopes

, , that he might destroy it ; but presence of mind Avas Avanting to the Avretched man , and he missed his chance . The Lord Mayor ordered a prosecution , ancl Dodd Avas committed to prison . " The facts Avere too clear to leave any chance of escape : all that Dodd could plead Avasthat there

, Avas no intention to defraud , —he Avould have returned the money iu the space of three months . The jury after a very short deliberation found him guilty , but Avith a recommendation to mercy . Sentence Avas postponed , to give time for the consideration of a point of Lawancl on the 26 th of May , Dodd AA as brought up

, to receive sentence . Dodd had once only been in the society of Dr . Johnson , * but in his distress he applied to him . There Avas nothing in common between the shalloAV flippancy of Dodd , ancl the great , rough , earnest nature of the man to whom he looked forhelp ; but to misery Johnson ' s heart was more tender

than a woman ' s . He Avas agitated on receiving the application , made through a third person ; paced up ancl doAvn the room , and promised to do what he could . It AA as he who Avrote the speech delivered by