From 1777 to 1783 James Boswell was a columnist for the London Magazine, writing a total of seventy essays under the pseudonym the Hypochondriack.
Paul Lewis - Highwayman executed at Tyburn
Paul Lewis
Died May 04, 1763 at Tyburn by HangingBiography:
Born at Hurstmonceaux, Sussex, the son of a Clergyman. He became a Lieutenant in the navy before, at some point, he took to robbing people and on March 12, 1763 following a failed attempt at robbing a farmer, Mr. Brown, he was taken into custody. He was sentenced to death at the Old Bailey, and on May 4, 1763 he was executed at Tyburn.
Life with Boswell:
Boswell didn't really meet Paul Lewis, but on May 3, 1763 Boswell went to the Newgate prison to watch the prisoners, and there saw Lewis going to the chapel. Boswell took to him instantly, and in his journal described him as a "genteel, spirited young fellow. He was just a Macheath. [...] Poor fellow! I really took a great concern for him, and wished to relieve him." Lewis was executed on the next day, as was Hannah Diego/Dagoe (Link), also mentioned briefly by Boswell. Boswell watched the executions, together with Robert Temple, and was "thrown into a very deep melancholy".
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