Editing Samuel Foote (section)

==Legal troubles==
In 1774, the Duke of Kingston's sister was able to invalidate the Duke's will, on the grounds that his widow, [[Elizabeth Chudleigh]], was guilty of bigamy. Foote picked up this news and began work on a new play in which the character "Lady Kitty Crockodile" was clearly based on Chudleigh. In response a supporter of Chudleigh's, William Jackson, in 1775 began publishing in ''[[The Public Ledger]]'' veiled accusations of homosexuality. Not long after Chudleigh was convicted of bigamy in spring 1776, Foote's coachman accused Foote of sexual assault, leading to a trial at which Foote was eventually acquitted. In the interim, the ''Ledger'' filled its pages with the story, and an anonymous pamphlet (likely written by Jackson) aimed at Foote, "Sodom and Onan", appeared. The work was subtitled "A Satire Inscrib'd to [ – – ] Esqr, alias the Devil upon Two Sticks", with the blank filled by an engraving of a foot. Inevitably, these events provided more fodder for Foote's pen, with Jackson making a disguised appearance in ''The Capuchin''.<ref>{{cite journal | title=The Devil upon Two Sticks | author=Nicholl, Charles | journal=London Review of Books |date=May 2013 | volume=35 | issue=10 | pages=8–10}}</ref>