Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784) was an English writer, poet, and playwright who was best-known as a "man of letters" and for his creation of A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755, creating a dictionary which was preeminent until the Oxford English Dictionary was created 150 years later. Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, Johnson was a devout Anglican and committed Tory, and he was forced to drop out of Oxford due to lack of funds and worked as a teacher before coming to write for The Gentleman's Magazine in London. He wrote a biography of a late friend in his 1744 Life of Mr. Richard Savage, the poems London and The Vanity of Human Wishes, and the play Irene, and he also became a prolific essayist. In 1774, he critiqued false patriotism in The Patriot, famously declaring, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," generally opposing "self-professed patriots" while valuing true patriotism. He also wrote counter-arguments to the American Revolution, saying that the Americans had no more right to govern themselves than the Cornish, and asked "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?" During the 1780s, Johnson's health declined as most of his friends died or moved elsewhere, and a forlorn Johnson determined to die in London. He died in 1784 at the age of 75 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
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