with honor to posterity. "The General seemed unwilling to enter upon
it then;" but, upon a subsequent occasion, communicated to Boswell
a number of particulars, which were committed to writing; but that
gentleman "not having been sufficiently diligent in obtaining more
from him," death closed the opportunity of procuring all the requisite
information.

There was a memoir drawn up soon after his decease, which has been
attributed to Capel Lofft, Esq., and published in the European
Magazine. This was afterwards adopted by Major McCall; and, in an
abridged form, appended to the first volume of his History of Georgia.
It is preserved, also, as a note, in the second volume of Nichols's
Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, with some references and
additional information. But it is too brief and meagre to do justice
to the memory of one of whom it has been said, "His life was full of
variety, adventure, and achievement. His ruling passions were, the
love of glory, of his country, and of mankind; and these were so
blended together in his mind that they formed but one principle of
action. He was a hero, a statesman, an orator; the patron of letters,
the chosen friend of men of genius, and the theme of praise for great
poets."[1] The writer of this elegant encomium, adds this remark: "AN
AUTHENTIC AND TOLERABLY MINUTE LIFE OF OGLETHORPE IS A DESIDERATUM."
Such a desideratum I have endeavored to supply. This, however, has
been a very difficult undertaking; the materials for composing it,
excepting what relates to the settlement of Georgia, were to be sought
after in the periodicals of the day, or discovered by references to
him in the writings or memoirs of his contemporaries. I have searched
all the sources of information to which I could have access, with the
aim to collect what had been scattered; to point out what had been
overlooked; and, from the oblivion into which they had fallen, to