DODWELL, HENRY, was born in Dublin in 1612. His father, who had been in the army, possessed some property in Ireland, but having lost it in the rebellion, ha brought over his family to England, and settled at York, in 1648. Young Dodwell was to the York Free school, where be remained for five years. In the meantime both his father and mother had died, and he was reduced to great distress from the want of all pecuniary means, till, in 1654, he was taken under the protection of a brother of Ills mother's, at whose expense be was sent, in 1656, to Trinity College, Dublin. There ho eventually obtained a fellowship, which however he relinquished in 1666, owing to certain conscientious scruples against taking holy orders. In 1672, on his return to Ireland, after having resided some years at Oxford, he made his first appearance as an author by a learned preface, with which ho Introduced to the publio • theological tract of the late Dr. Steam, who hail been his college tutor : It was entitled ' Do Obstinatione; and published at Dublin. Dodwell's next publication was a volume en titled ' Two Letters of Advice : I. For the Susception of Holy Orders : 2. For Studies Theological, especially such as are Rational.' It appeared In a second edition in 1681, accompanied with a ' Discourse on the Pheenician History of Sanohoniathon,' the fragments of which, found in Porphyry and Eusebins, he contends to be spurious. Meanwhile, in 1674, Dodwell had settled in London, and from this time to his death lie led a life of busy authorship. Many of his publications were on the popish and nonconformist controversies; they have the reputation of showing, like everything else he wrote, extensive and minute learn ing, and greet skill in the application of his scholarship, but little judgment of a larger kind. Few, if any, of the champions of the Church of England have strained the preteneions of that establishment so far as Dodwell seems to have done; but his whole life attested the perfect conecientionaness and disregard of personal consequences under which lie wrote and acted. In 1688 he was elected Camden Professor of History by the University of Oxford, but was deprived of his office, after he had held It about three years, for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. He then retired to the village of Cookham in Ikrkehirr, and soon after to Shotteebrooke in the same neighbourhood, where he spent the rest of his days. Ile possessed, it appears, an estate in Ireland, but he allowed • relation to enjoy the principal part of the rent, only reserving such a moderate main tenance for himself as sufficed for his simple and inexpensive habits of life. It is said however that his relation at length began to grumble
at the subtraction even of this pittance; and on that Dodwell resumed his property, and married. He took this step in 1694, in his fifty-third year, and lie lived to see himself the father of ten children. The works fur which he is now chiefly remembered were also all produced in the latter part of his life. Among these are his ' Dissertations and Annotations on the Greek Geographers,' published in Hudson's 'Oco graphia. Veterie Scriptores Greed del in ores,' Oxon., 1608, 1703, and 1712; his 'Annales Thucyclidel et Xenopliontei,' 1696; his Chronologia Grasco-Romana pro Hypothesibus Dion. Halicarnassei; 1692; and his 'Annabel Vellciani. Quintilianl, Statlani,' 1698. These several chrono logical essays, wlileh are drawn op with great ability, have all been repeatedly reprinted. Dodwell's principal work is considered to be his 'Do Yeteribus Griecoresm Romanorunique Cyclic, Obiterquo de Cycle Judeoram se Mate Christi, Dissertatlones,' 4to, Oxon., 1701. He also published in 8vo., In 1706, ' An Epistolary Discourse, proving from the Scriptures and the first Fathers, that the Soul is a principle naturally mortal, but immortalised actually by tho pleasure of God, to pnnieliment or to reward, by Its union with the divine baptismal spirit; whore it is proved that none have the power of giviui this divine immortalising spirit aiuce the Apostles, but only the Biehope.' This attempt to make out for the bishops the new power of conferring immortality raised no small outory against tho writer, and staggered many even of those who had not seen any extravagance in his former polemical lucubrations. Of course it gave great offence to the Dis senters, all of whose souls it unceremoniously shut out from a future existence on any terms. Dodwell died at Shottesbrooke on the 7th of Juno 1711. Of his sons, the eldest, Henry, who was a barrister, pub lished anonymously in 1742, a tract, which has been generally, but perhaps erroneously, looked upon as a covert attack upon revealed religion, under the title of ' Christianity not founded on Argument;' and another, William, who was iu the church, distinguished himself by some painplileta in the controversy with Dr. Conyers Middleton about miracles; and also wrote an answer to his brother's anonymous tract just mentioned.