A fellow passenger with Mr. Dickens in the _Britannia_ steam-ship,
across the Atlantic, inquired of the author the origin of his signature,
“Boz.” Mr. Dickens replied that he had a little brother who resembled so
much the Moses in the _Vicar of Wakefield_, that he used to call him
Moses also; but a younger girl, who could not then articulate plainly,
was in the habit of calling him Bozie or Boz. This simple circumstance
made him assume that name in the first article he risked to the public,
and therefore he continued the name, as the first effort was approved
of.