popularity and reputation. Beloved and respected by all orders of
people, he would have reached, in all probability, the situation which
was the object of his wishes, had he possessed patience enough to have
waited for it, and prudence sufficient to keep himself out of those
difficulties which might prove fatal to his integrity. But the habits of
dissipation and expense had acquired too great an influence over him;
and he had by their means involved himself in considerable debts. To
extricate himself from them, he was tempted to an act which entirely cut
off every hope which he could entertain of rising in his profession, and
totally ruined him in the opinion of the world. On the translation of
Bishop Moss, in February 1774, to the see of Bath and Wells, the
valuable rectory of St. George, Hanover-square, fell to the disposal of
the Crown, by virtue of the King's prerogative. Whether from the
suggestion of his own mind, or from the persuasion of some friend, is
uncertain; but on this occasion he took a step of all others the most
wild and extravagant, and the least likely to be attended with success.
He caused an anonymous letter to be sent to Lady Apsley, offering the
sum of three thousand pounds if by her means he could be presented to
the living. The letter was immediately communicated to the chancellor,
and, after being traced to the writer, was laid before his majesty. The
insult offered to so high an officer by the proposal was followed by
instant punishment. Dr. Dodd's name was ordered to be struck out of the
list of chaplains. The press teemed with satire and invective; he was
abused and ridiculed in the papers of the day; and to crown the whole,
the transaction became a subject of entertainment in one of Mr. Foote's
pieces at the Haymarket.
As no explanation could justify so absurd a measure, so no apology
could palliate it. An evasive letter in the newspapers, promising a
justification at a future day, was treated with universal contempt; and
stung with remorse, and feelingly alive to the disgrace he had brought
on himself, he hastily quitted the place where neglect and insult only
attended him, and going to Geneva to his late pupil, he was presented by
him with the living of Winge in Buckinghamshire, which he held with that
of Hockliffe, by virtue of a dispensation. Though encumbered with debts,
he might still have retrieved his circumstances, if not his character,
had he attended to the dictates of prudence; but his extravagance
continued undiminished, and drove him to pursue schemes which
overwhelmed him with additional infamy. He became the editor of a
newspaper; and it is said that he even attempted, by means of a
commission of bankruptcy, to clear himself from his debts; an attempt in
which, however, he failed. From this period it would appear that every
step which he took led to complete his ruin. In the summer of 1776, he
went to France, and there, with little regard to decency or the
observances proper to be maintained by a minister of religion, he
paraded himself in a phaeton at the races on the plains of Sablons,
dressed in all the foppery of the kingdom in which he was temporarily
resident. At the beginning of winter he returned to London, and
continued there to exercise the duties of his profession until the very
moment of his committing the offence for which his life was subsequently
forfeited to the offended laws of his country. On the 2nd of February
1777, he preached his last sermon at the Magdalen Chapel, where he was
still heard with approbation and pleasure; and on the 4th of the same
month he forged a bond, purporting to be that of his late pupil, the
Earl of Chesterfield, for 4200_l._ Pressed by creditors, and unable any
longer to meet their demands or soothe their importunities, he was
driven to commit this crime, as the only expedient to which he could
have recourse to aid him in his escape from his difficulties. The method
which he adopted in completing the forgery was very remarkable. He
pretended that the noble earl had urgent occasion to borrow 4000_l._ but
that he did not choose to be his own agent, and he begged that the
matter therefore might be secretly and expeditiously conducted. A person
named Lewis Robertson was the person whom he employed as broker to
negotiate the transaction; and he presented to him a bond, not filled up
or signed, that he might find a person ready to advance the sum
required, as he directed him to say, to a young nobleman who had lately
come of age. Several applications were made by Robertson without
success, the persons refusing because they were not to be present when
the bond was executed; but at length the agent, confiding in the honour
and integrity of his employer went to Messrs. Fletcher and Peach, who
agreed to advance the money. Mr. Robertson then carried the bond back to
the doctor, in order that it might be filled up and executed; and on the
following day it was returned, bearing the signature of the Earl of
Chesterfield, and attested by the doctor himself. Mr. Robertson, knowing
that Mr. Fletcher was a man who required all legal observances to be
attended to, and that he would therefore object to the bond as bearing
the name of one witness only, put his name under that of Dr. Dodd, and
in that state he carried the bond to him, and received from him the sum
of 4000_l._ in return, which he paid over to his employer.
The bond was subsequently produced to the Earl of Chesterfield; but
immediately on his seeing it, he disowned it, and expressed himself at a
loss to know by whom such a forgery upon him could have been committed.
It was evident, however, that the supposed attesting witnesses must, if
their signatures were genuine, be acquainted with its author; and Mr.
Manly, his lordship's agent, went directly to consult Mr. Fletcher upon
the best course to be taken; and after some deliberation, Mr. Fletcher,
a Mr. Innis, and Mr. Manly proceeded to Guildhall to prefer an
information with regard to the forgery against Dr. Dodd and Mr.
Robertson. Mr. Robertson was without difficulty secured; and then
Fletcher, Innis, and Manly, accompanied by two of the lord mayor's
officers, went to the house of the doctor in Argyle-street, whither he
had recently removed.
Upon their explaining the nature of their business to him, he appeared
much struck and affected, and declared his willingness to make any
reparation in his power. Mr. Manly told him that his instantly returning
the money was the only mode which remained for him to save himself; and
he immediately gave up six notes of 500_l._ each, making 3000_l._, and
he drew on his banker for 500_l._ more. The broker then returned 100_l._
and the doctor gave a second draft on his banker for 200_l._, and a
judgment on his goods for the remaining 400_l._ All this was done by the
doctor in full reliance on the honour of the parties that the bond
should be returned to him cancelled; but, notwithstanding this
restitution, he was taken before the lord mayor, and charged with the
forgery. The doctor declared that he had no intention to defraud Lord
Chesterfield or the gentlemen who advanced the money, and hoped that the
satisfaction he had made in returning it would atone for his offence. He
was pressed, he said, exceedingly for 300_l._ to pay some bills due to
tradesmen, and took this step as a temporary resource, and would have
repaid the money in half a year. "My Lord Chesterfield," added he,
"cannot but have some tenderness for me as my pupil. I love him, and he
knows it. There is nobody wishes to prosecute. I am sure my Lord
Chesterfield don't want my life,--I hope he will show clemency to me.
Mercy should triumph over justice." Clemency, however, was denied; and
the doctor was committed to the Compter in preparation for his trial. On
the 19th of February, Dr. Dodd, being put to the bar at the Old Bailey,
addressed the Court in the following words:--
"My lords,--I am informed that the bill of indictment against me has
been found on the evidence of Mr. Robertson, who was taken out of
Newgate, without any authority or leave from your lordships, for the
purpose of procuring the bill to be found. Mr. Robertson is a
subscribing witness to the bond, and, as I conceive, would be swearing
to exculpate himself if he should be admitted as a witness against me;
and as the bill has been found upon his evidence, which was
surreptitiously obtained, I submit to your lordships that I ought not to
be compelled to plead on this indictment; and upon this question I beg
to be heard by my counsel. I beg leave also further to observe to your
lordships, that the gentlemen on the other side of the question are
bound over to prosecute Mr. Robertson."
Previously to the arguments of the counsel, an order which had been
surreptitiously obtained from an officer of the court, dated Wednesday,
February 19, and directed to the keeper of Newgate, commanding him to
carry Lewis Robertson to Hicks's Hall, in order to his giving evidence
before the grand inquest on the present bill of indictment--as well as a
resolution of the Court, reprobating the said order--and also the
recognizance entered into by Mr. Manly, Mr. Peach, Mr. Innis, and the
Right Hon. the Earl of Chesterfield to prosecute and give evidence
against Dr. Dodd and Lewis Robertson for forgery--were ordered to be
read; and the clerk of the arraigns was directed to inform the Court
whether the name "Lewis Robertson" was indorsed as a witness on the back
of the indictment, which was answered in the affirmative.
The counsel now proceeded in their arguments for and against the
prisoner. Mr. Howarth, one of Dr. Dodd's advocates, contended that no
person ought to plead or answer to an indictment, if it appeared upon
the face of that indictment that the evidence upon which the bill was
found was not legal, or competent to have been adduced before the grand
jury.
Mr. Cooper and Mr. Buller, on the same side, pursued the same line of
argument with equal ingenuity, and expressed a hope that Dr. Dodd would
not be called upon to plead to an indictment found upon such evidence as
had been pointed out, but that the indictment would be ordered to be
quashed.
The counsel for the prosecution advanced various arguments in opposition
to those employed on the other side, and the learned judge having taken
a note of the objection, it was agreed that the trial should proceed,
the question of the competency of Mr. Robertson as a witness being
reserved for the consideration of the twelve judges.
The doctor was then arraigned upon the indictment, which charged him in
the usual terms with the forgery upon the Earl of Chesterfield; and the
evidence in proof of the facts above stated having been given, the Court
called upon the prisoner for his defence. He addressed the Court and
jury in the following terms:--
"My lords and gentlemen of the jury,--Upon the evidence which has this
day been produced against me, I find it very difficult to address your
lordships. There is no man in the world who has a deeper sense of the
heinous nature of the crime for which I stand indicted than myself: I
view it, my lords, in all its extent of malignancy towards a commercial
state like ours; but, my lords, I humbly apprehend, though no lawyer,
that the moral turpitude and malignancy of the crime always, both in the
eye of the law and of religion, consists in the intention. I am
informed, my lords, that the act of parliament on this head runs
perpetually in this style, _with an intention to defraud_. Such an
intention, my lords and gentlemen of the jury, I believe, has not been
attempted to be proved upon me, and the consequences that have happened,
which have appeared before you, sufficiently prove that a perfect and
ample restitution has been made. I leave it, my lords, to you and the
gentlemen of the jury to consider, that if an unhappy man ever deviates
from the law of right, yet if in the single first moment of recollection
he does all that he can to make a full and perfect amends, what, my
lords and gentlemen of the jury, can God and man desire further? My
lords, there are a variety of little circumstances too tedious to
trouble you with, with respect to this matter. Were I to give loose to
my feelings, I have many things to say which I am sure you would feel
with respect to me; but as it appears on all hands, that no injury,
intentional or real, has been done to any man living, I hope that you
will consider the case in its true state of clemency. I must observe to
your lordships, that though I have met with all candour in this court,
yet I have been pursued with excessive cruelty; I have been prosecuted
after the most express engagements, after the most solemn assurances,
after the most delusive, soothing arguments of Mr. Manly; I have been
prosecuted with a cruelty scarcely to be paralleled. A person avowedly
criminal in the same indictment with myself has been brought forth as a
capital witness against me; a fact, I believe, totally unexampled. My
lords, oppressed as I am with infamy, loaded as I am with distress, sunk
under this cruel prosecution, your lordships and the gentlemen of the
jury cannot think life a matter of any value to me. No, my lords, I
solemnly protest, that death of all blessings would be the most pleasant
to me after this pain. I have yet, my lords, ties which call upon
me--ties which render me desirous even to continue this miserable
existence. I have a wife, my lords, who, for twenty-seven years, has
lived an unparalleled example of conjugal attachment and fidelity, and
whose behaviour during this trying scene would draw tears of
approbation, I am sure, even from the most inhuman. My lords, I have
creditors, honest men, who will lose much by my death. I hope, for the
sake of justice towards them, some mercy will be shown to me. If, upon
the whole, these considerations at all avail with you--if, upon the most
impartial survey of matters, not the slightest intention of injury can
appear to any one--(and I solemnly declare it was in my power to replace
it in three months--of this I assured Mr. Robertson frequently, and had
his solemn assurances that no man should be privy to it but Mr. Fletcher
and himself)--and if no injury was done to any man upon earth, I then
hope, I trust, I fully confide myself in the tenderness, humanity, and
protection, of my country."
The jury retired for about ten minutes, and then returned with a verdict
that "the prisoner was guilty;" but at the same time presented a
petition, humbly recommending the doctor to the royal mercy.
It was afterwards declared that upon the reserved point, the opinion of
the judges was, that he had been legally convicted. On the last day of
the sessions Dr. Dodd was again put to the bar to receive judgment. The
clerk of the arraigns then addressed him, saying,
"Dr. William Dodd, you stand convicted of forgery, what have you to say
why this court should not give you judgment to die, according to law?"
In reply Dr. Dodd addressed the court as follows:--
"My lord,--I new stand before you a dreadful example of human infirmity.
I entered upon public life with the expectations common to young men
whose education has been liberal, and whose abilities have been
flattered; and, when I became a clergyman, I considered myself as not
impairing the dignity of the order. I was not an idle, nor, I hope, an
useless minister: I taught the truths of Christianity with the zeal of
conviction and the authority of innocence.
"My labours were approved, my pulpit became popular, and I have reason
to believe that, of those who heard me, some have been preserved from
sin, and some have been reclaimed. Condescend, my lord, to think, if
these considerations aggravate my crime, how much they must embitter my
punishment! Being distinguished and elevated by the confidence of
mankind, I had too much confidence in myself; and, thinking my
integrity--what others thought it--established in sincerity, and
fortified by religion, I did not consider the danger of vanity, nor
suspect the deceitfulness of mine own heart. The day of conflict came,
in which temptation seized and overwhelmed me! I committed the crime,
which I entreat your lordship to believe that my conscience hourly
represents to me in its full bulk of mischief and malignity. Many have
been overpowered by temptation, who are now among the penitent in
heaven! To an act now waiting the decision of vindictive justice I will
now presume to oppose the counterbalance of almost thirty years (a great
part of the life of man) passed in exciting and exercising charity--in
relieving such distresses as I now feel--in administering those
consolations which I now want. I will not otherwise extenuate my offence
than by declaring, what I hope will appear to many, and what many
circumstances make probable, that I did not intend finally to defraud:
nor will it become me to apportion my own punishment, by alleging that
my sufferings have been not much less than my guilt; I have fallen from
reputation which ought to have made me cautious, and from a fortune
which ought to have given me content. I am sunk at once into poverty and
scorn; my name and my crime fill the ballads in the streets; the sport
of the thoughtless, and the triumph of the wicked! It may seem strange,
my lord, that, remembering what I have lately been, I should still wish
to continue what I am! but contempt of death, how speciously soever it
may mingle with heathen virtues, has nothing in it suitable to Christian
penitence. Many motives impel me to beg earnestly for life. I feel the
natural horror of a violent death, the universal dread of untimely
dissolution. I am desirous to recompense the injury I have done to the
clergy, to the world, and to religion, and to efface the scandal of my
crime, by the example of my repentance: but, above all, I wish to die
with thoughts more composed, and calmer preparation. The gloom and
confusion of a prison, the anxiety of a trial, the horrors of suspense,
and the inevitable vicissitudes of passion, leave not the mind in a due
disposition for the holy exercises of prayer and self-examination. Let
not a little life be denied me, in which I may, by meditation and
contrition, prepare myself to stand at the tribunal of Omnipotence, and
support the presence of that Judge, who shall distribute to all
according to their works: who will receive and pardon the repenting
sinner, and from whom the merciful shall obtain mercy! For these
reasons, my lords, amidst shame and misery, I yet wish to live; and most
humbly implore, that I may be recommended by your lordship to the
clemency of his majesty."
Here he sunk down overcome with mental agony, and some time elapsed
before he was sufficiently recovered to hear the dreadful sentence of
the law, which the Recorder pronounced upon him in the following words:
"Dr. William Dodd,
"You have been convicted of the offence of publishing a forged and
counterfeit bond, knowing it to be forged and counterfeited; and you
have had the advantage which the laws of this country afford to every
man in your situation, a fair, an impartial, and an attentive trial. The
jury, to whose justice you appealed, have found you guilty; their
verdict has undergone the consideration of the learned judges, and they
found no ground to impeach the justice of that verdict; you yourself
have admitted the justice of it; and now the very painful duty that the
necessity of the law imposes upon the court, to pronounce the sentence
of that law against you, remains only to be performed. You appear to
entertain a very proper sense of the enormity of the offence which you
have committed; you appear, too, in a state of contrition of mind, and,
I doubt not, have duly reflected how far the dangerous tendency of the
offence you have been guilty of is increased by the influence of
example, in being committed by a person of your character, and of the
sacred function of which you are a member. These sentiments seem to be
yours; I would wish to cultivate such sentiments; but I would not wish
to add to the anguish of your mind by dwelling upon your situation. Your
application for mercy must be made elsewhere; it would be cruel in the
court to flatter you; there is a power of dispensing mercy, where you
may apply. Your own good sense, and the contrition you express, will
induce you to lessen the influence of the example by publishing your
hearty and sincere detestation of the offence of which you are
convicted; and will show you that to attempt to palliate or extenuate
it, would indeed add to the influence of a crime of this kind being
committed by a person of your character and known abilities. I would
therefore warn you against anything of that kind. Now, having said this,
I am obliged to pronounce the sentence of the law, which is--That you,
Doctor William Dodd, be carried from hence to the place from whence you
came; that from thence you be carried to the place of execution, and
that there you be hanged by the neck until you are dead." To this Dr.
Dodd replied, "Lord Jesus, receive my soul!" and was immediately
conveyed from the bar.
Great exertions were now made to save Dr. Dodd. The newspapers were
filled with letters and paragraphs in his favour; individuals of all
ranks exerted themselves in his behalf; the members of several charities
which had been benefited by him joined in application to the throne for
mercy; parish officers went in mourning from house to house, to procure
subscriptions to a petition to the king; and this petition, which, with
the names of nearly thirty thousand persons, filled twenty-three sheets
of parchment, was actually presented. Even the lord mayor and common
council went in a body to St. James's, to solicit mercy for the convict.
These were, however, of no avail. On the 15th of June the privy council
assembled, and deliberated on the cases of the several prisoners then
under condemnation; and in the end a warrant was ordered to be made out
for the execution of Dr. Dodd, with two others (one of whom was
afterwards reprieved), on the 27th of the same month.
Having been flattered with the hopes of a pardon, he appeared to be much
shocked at the intimation of his approaching destiny; but resumed in a
short time a degree of fortitude sufficient to enable him to pass
through the last scene of his life with firmness and decency. On the
26th he took leave of his wife and some friends, and he afterwards
declared himself ready to atone for the offence he had given to the
world. His deportment was meek, humble, and devout, expressive of
resignation and contrition, and calculated to inspire sentiments of
respect for his person, and concern for his unhappy fate.
He was attended to the fatal spot, in a mourning-coach, by the Rev. Mr.
Villette, Ordinary of Newgate, and the Rev. Mr. Dobey. Another criminal,
named John Harris, was executed at the same time. It is impossible to
give an idea of the immense crowds of people that thronged the streets
from Newgate to Tyburn. When the prisoners arrived at the fatal tree,
and were placed in the cart, Dr. Dodd exhorted his fellow sufferer in
so generous a manner, as testified that he had not forgotten his duty as
a clergyman; and he was also very fervent in the exercise of his own
devotions. Just before he was turned off, he was observed to whisper to
the executioner; and, although we have not the means of ascertaining the
precise purport of his remark, it is pretty obvious from the fact, that
as soon as the cart had been drawn away from the gibbet, he ran
immediately under the scaffold and took hold of the doctor's legs as if
to steady his body, and the unfortunate gentleman appeared to die
without pain.
Of his behaviour before execution a particular account was given by Mr.
Villette, Ordinary of Newgate, in the following terms:--
"On the morning of his death I went to him, with the Rev. Mr. Dobey,
Chaplain of the Magdalen, whom he desired to attend him to the place of
execution. He appeared composed; and when I asked him how he had been
supported, he said that he had had some comfortable sleep, by which he
should be the better enabled to perform his duty.