Editing Samuel Johnson (section)

===Final works===
{{See also|A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland|Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets}}
[[File:Portrait of Samuel Johnson ("Blinking Sam").jpg|alt=Man staring intently at a book held close to his face|thumb|Johnson (1775) showing his intense concentration and the weakness of his eyes; he did not want to be depicted as "[[Blinking Sam]]". This unique portrait showing his nearsightedness is in the [[Huntington Library]] in San Marino, California.<ref>{{Harvnb|Yung|1984|p=14}}</ref>]]
On 6 August 1773, eleven years after first meeting Boswell, Johnson set out to visit his friend in Scotland, and to begin "a journey to the western islands of Scotland", as Johnson's [[A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland|1775 account of their travels]] would put it.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|p=463}}</ref> That account was intended to discuss the social problems and struggles that affected the Scottish people, but it also praised many of the unique facets of Scottish society, such as a school in Edinburgh for the deaf and mute.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|p=471}}</ref> Also, Johnson used the work to enter into the dispute over the authenticity of [[James Macpherson]]'s [[Ossian]] poems, claiming they could not have been translations of ancient Scottish literature on the grounds that "in those times nothing had been written in the Earse [i.e. Scots Gaelic] language".<ref>{{Harvnb|Johnson|1970|pp=104–105}}</ref> There were heated exchanges between the two, and according to one of Johnson's letters, MacPherson threatened physical violence.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wain|1974|p=331}}</ref> Boswell's account of their journey, ''[[The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides]]'' (1786), was a preliminary step toward his later biography, ''[[Life of Johnson|The Life of Samuel Johnson]]''. Included were various quotations and descriptions of events, including anecdotes such as Johnson swinging a [[Basket-hilted sword|broadsword]] while wearing Scottish garb, or dancing a Highland jig.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|pp=468–469}}</ref>

In the 1770s, Johnson, who had tended to be an opponent of the government early in life, published a series of pamphlets in favour of various government policies. In 1770 he produced ''The False Alarm'', a political pamphlet attacking [[John Wilkes]]. In 1771, his ''Thoughts on the Late Transactions Respecting Falkland's Islands'' cautioned against war with Spain.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|pp=443–445}}</ref> In 1774 he printed ''The Patriot'', a critique of what he viewed as false patriotism. On the evening of 7 April 1775, he made the famous statement, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."<ref>{{Harvnb|Boswell|1986|p=182}}</ref> This line was not, as widely believed, about patriotism in general, but what Johnson considered to be the false use of the term "patriotism" by Wilkes and his supporters. Johnson opposed "self-professed Patriots" in general, but valued what he considered "true" patriotism.<ref name="Griffin p. 21">{{Harvnb|Griffin|2005|p=21}}</ref>

The last of these pamphlets, ''Taxation No Tyranny'' (1775), was a defence of the [[Coercive Acts]] and a response to the [[Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress|Declaration of Rights]] of the [[First Continental Congress]], which protested against [[No taxation without representation|taxation without representation]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|p=446}}</ref> Johnson argued that in emigrating to America, colonists had "voluntarily resigned the power of voting", but they still retained "[[virtual representation]]" in Parliament. In a parody of the Declaration of Rights, Johnson suggested that the Americans had no more right to govern themselves than the [[Cornish people|Cornish]], and asked "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the [[Slavery in the colonial United States|drivers of negroes]]?"<ref>Johnson, Samuel, TAXATION NO TYRANNY; An answer to the resolutions and address of the American congress (1775)</ref> If the Americans wanted to participate in Parliament, said Johnson, they could move to England and purchase an estate.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ammerman|1974|p=13}}</ref> Johnson denounced English supporters of American separatists as "traitors to this country", and hoped that the matter would be settled without bloodshed, but he felt confident that it would end with "English superiority and American obedience".<ref>{{Harvnb|DeMaria|1994|pp=252–256}}</ref> Years before, Johnson had stated that the [[French and Indian War]] was a conflict between "two robbers" of Native American lands, and that neither deserved to live there.<ref name="Bate p. 328"/> After the signing of the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|1783 Treaty of Paris]], marking the colonists' victory over the British, Johnson became "deeply disturbed" with the "state of this kingdom".<ref>{{Harvnb|Griffin|2005|p=15}}</ref>

{{quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=Mr Thrale's death was a very essential loss to Johnson, who, although he did not foresee all that afterwards happened, was sufficiently convinced that the comforts which Mr Thrale's family afforded him, would now in great measure cease.<ref name="Boswell p. 273">{{Harvnb|Boswell|1986|p= 273}}</ref>|source=Boswell's ''Life of Samuel Johnson''}}

On 3 May 1777, while Johnson was trying and failing to save [[William Dodd (priest)|Reverend William Dodd]] from execution for forgery, he wrote to Boswell that he was busy preparing a "little Lives" and "little Prefaces, to a little edition of the English Poets".<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|p=525}}</ref> Tom Davies, William Strahan and [[Thomas Cadell (publisher)|Thomas Cadell]] had asked Johnson to create this final major work, the ''[[Lives of the English Poets]]'', for which he asked 200 guineas, an amount significantly less than the price he could have demanded.<ref name="Bate p. 526">{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|p=526}}</ref> The ''Lives'', which were critical as well as biographical studies, appeared as prefaces to selections of each poet's work, and they were longer and more detailed than originally expected.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|p=527}}</ref> The work was finished in March 1781 and the whole collection was published in six volumes. As Johnson justified in the advertisement for the work, "my purpose was only to have allotted to every Poet an Advertisement, like those which we find in the French Miscellanies, containing a few dates and a general character."<ref>{{Harvnb|Clingham|1997|p=161}}</ref>

Johnson was unable to enjoy this success because Henry Thrale, the dear friend with whom he lived, died on 4 April 1781.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|pp=546–547}}</ref> Life changed quickly for Johnson when Hester Thrale became romantically involved with the Italian singing teacher Gabriel Mario Piozzi, which forced Johnson to change his previous lifestyle.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|pp=557,&nbsp;561}}</ref> After returning home and then travelling for a short period, Johnson received word that his friend and tenant [[Robert Levet]], had died on 17 January 1782.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bate|1977|p=562}}</ref> Johnson was shocked by the death of Levet, who had resided at Johnson's London home since 1762.<ref>{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXHv5EClgZgC&q=wakefield+levett&pg=PA231|title= The Samuel Johnson Encyclopedia|author=Rogers, Pat|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location= Westport, CT|year=1996|isbn=978-0-313-29411-2}}</ref> Shortly afterwards Johnson caught a cold that developed into [[bronchitis]] and lasted for several months. His health was further complicated by "feeling forlorn and lonely" over Levet's death, and by the deaths of his friend [[Thomas Lawrence (physician)|Thomas Lawrence]] and his housekeeper Williams.<ref>{{Harvnb|Martin|2008|pp=501–502}}</ref>