a=. I am now, however, resolv'd to
unburthen myself of a secret which I have hitherto kept thro' Dread of
Incredulity; and to impart to the Publick a true knowledge of my long
years, in order to gratifie their taste for authentick Information of an
Age with whose famous Personages I was on familiar Terms. Be it then
known that I was born on the family Estate in =Devonshire=, of the 10th
day of August, 1690, (or in the new =Gregorian= Stile of Reckoning, the
20th of August) being therefore now in my 228th year. Coming early to
=London=, I saw as a Child many of the celebrated Men of King
=William's= Reign, including the lamented Mr. =Dryden=, who sat much at
the Tables of =Will's= Coffee-House. With Mr. =Addison= and Dr. =Swift=
I later became very well acquainted, and was an even more familiar
Friend to Mr. =Pope=, whom I knew and respected till the Day of his
Death. But since it is of my more recent Associate, the late Dr.
=Johnson=, that I am at this time desir'd to write; I will pass over my
Youth for the present.

I had first Knowledge of the Doctor in May of the year 1738, tho' I did
not at that Time meet him. Mr. =Pope= had just compleated his Epilogue
to his Satires, (the Piece beginning: "Not twice a Twelvemonth you
appear in Print.") and had arrang'd for its Publication. On the very Day
it appear'd, there was also publish'd a Satire in Imitation of
=Juvenal=, entituled "=London=," by the then unknown =Johnson=; and this
so struck the Town, that many Gentlemen of Taste declared, it was the
Work of a greater Poet than Mr. =Pope=. Notwithstanding what some
Detractors have said of Mr. =Pope's= petty Jealousy, he gave the Verses
of his new Rival no small Praise; and having learnt thro' Mr.
=Richardson= who the Poet was, told me, "that Mr. =Johnson= wou'd soon
be =deterre=."

I had no personal Acquaintances with the Doctor till 1763, when I was
presented to him at the =Mitre= Tavern by Mr. =James Boswell=, a young
=Scotchman= of excellent Family and great Learning, but small Wit, whose
metrical Effusions I had sometimes revis'd.

Dr. =Johnson=, as I beheld him, was a full, pursy Man, very ill drest,
and of slovenly Aspect. I recall him to have worn a bushy Bob-Wig,
untyed and without Powder, and much too small for his Head. His Cloaths
were of rusty brown, much wrinkled, and with more than one Button
missing. His Face, too full to be handsom, was likewise marred by the
Effects of some scrofulous Disorder; and his