So extraordinary did Dr. Johnson consider the adventures, enterprise, and exploits of this remarkable man, that "he urged him to give the world his life." He said, "I know of no man whose life would be more interesting. If I were furnished with materials, I would be very glad to write it." This was a flattering offer. The very suggestion implied that the great and worthy deeds, which Oglethorpe had performed, ought to be recorded for the instruction, the grateful acknowledgment, and just commendation of contemporaries; and their memorial transmitted 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 rescue the notices of some striking incidents and occurrences in the life of Oglethorpe, in order to give consistency and completeness to a narrative of the little that had been preserved and was generally known. [Footnote 1: Gulian Veerplanck, Esq. _Anniversary Discourse before the New York Historical Society_, December 7, 1818, page 33.]