Through Swift's influence, Matthew obtained the post of chaplain to the Lord Mayor of London in 1732 and, leaving Laetitia in Dublin, mixed with leading figures on the English theatrical and literary scene, including Alexander Pope. However, he also antagonised influential people and was imprisoned in 1734. Going quietly back to Dublin after his release, he had lost the support of most Irish literary figures, including Swift, and instead associated with such characters as the rascally painter James Worsdale and Edward Walpole, the prime minister's dissolute son. There followed a very public rupture with Laetitia, ending in an ecclesiastical divorce in 1738 that left him as the supposed innocent party with custody of their children.
