He said, Dodd's friends had an image of him made of wax,
which was to have been left in his place; and he believed it was carried
into the prison.
Johnson disapproved of Dr. Dodd's leaving the world persuaded that The
Convict's Address to his unhappy Brethren was of his own writing. 'But,
Sir, (said I,) you contributed to the deception; for when Mr. Seward
expressed a doubt to you that it was not Dodd's own, because it had a
great deal more force of mind in it than any thing known to be his, you
answered,--"Why should you think so? Depend upon it, Sir, when a man
knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind
wonderfully."' JOHNSON. Sir, as Dodd got it from me to pass as his own,
while that could do him any good, there was an IMPLIED PROMISE that I
should not own it. To own it, therefore, would have been telling a lie,
with the addition of breach of promise, which was worse than simply
telling a lie to make it be believed it was Dodd's. Besides, Sir, I did
not DIRECTLY tell a lie: I left the matter uncertain.
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