, an English barrister, was the son of the Rev. John Dodson, M. A.
, an English barrister, was the
son of the Rev. John Dodson, M. A. a dissenting minister
of Marlborough, in Wiltshire, and of Elizabeth, one of
the daughters of Mr. Foster, an attorney-at-law of the
same place. He was born at Marlborough on the 20th or
21st Sept. 1732, and educated partly under the care of his
father, and partly at the grammar-school of that town; and
under the direction of his maternal uncle, sir Michael
Foster, he was brought up to the profession of the law.
After being admitted of the Middle Temple, London, August 31, 1754, he practised many years with considerable
reputation, as a special pleader. His natural modesty and
cliffiJence discouraged him from attending the courts, and
therefore he did not proceed to be called to the bar till
July 4, 1783. This measure contributed, as was intended,
more to the diminution than to the increase of professional
business. He was appointed one of the commissioners of
bankrupts in 1770, during the chancellorship of lord Camden, and was continued in that situation till the time of
his death. On December 31, 1778, Mr. Dodson married
miss Elizabeth Hawkes, his cousin-german, and eldest
daughter of Mr. Hawkes, of Marlborough. He enjoyed a
life of uninterrupted good health, and indeed little alteration was observeable in his strength or general habits till
nearly the last year of his life. It was not till the month
of October 1799, that he began more sensibly to feel the
effect of disease; and, after a confinement to his room of
about a fortnight, he died of a dropsy in his chest, at his
house in Boswell-court, Carey-street, London, on the 13th
of November of that year; and was buried in Bunhillfields the 21st of the same month. Mr. Dodson’s legal
knowledge and discrimination were deservedly estimated
by those to whom he was known, and who had occasion to
confer with him upon questions of law. He was deliberate
in forming his opinion, and diffident in delivering it, but
always clear in the principles and reasons on which it was
founded. His general acquaintance with the laws, and
veneration for the constitution of his country, evinced his
extensive acquaintance with the principles of jurisprudence, and his regard for the permanence of the liberties
of Britain. In 1762, Mr. Justice Foster published his
book, entitled, “A Report of some proceedings on the
commission for the trial of the Rebels in the year 1746, in
the county of Surrey; and of other crown cases; to which
are added, Discourses upon a few branches of the Crown
Law.
” This work will be to him, said Mr. Dodson, “monumeutum aere perennius.
” The impression being large,
and a pirated edition being made in Ireland, a new edition,
was not soon wanted in England; but in 1776 Mr. Dodson
published a second edition with some improvements, and
with remarks in his preface on some objections made by
Mr. Barrington in his “Observations on the more ancient
Statutes.
” In Commentaries and Essays,
” written by the members of a small “Society for promoting the knowledge of
the Scriptures.
” Mr. Dodson was a very early member of
this society, not only communicating some papers of his
own, but conducting through the press some of the contributions of others. In 1790 he laid before the public, as
the result of many years’ study, “New translation of Isaiah,
with notes supplementary to those of Dr. Lowth, late
bishop of London, and containing remarks on many parts
of his Translation and Notes, by a Layman.
” In this he
has taken more freedoms than can be justified by the principles of sound criticism; which drew forth an able answer
from the pen of Dr. Sturges, in “Short remarks on a new
Translation of Isaiah,
” 8vo. To this Mr. Dodson replied,
with urbanity and candour, in “A Letter to the Rev. Dr.
Sturges, &c.
” 8vo,