Who first stated that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel?
Patriotism allowed to teach in public schools since their "patrie" was heaven, so that they could not inspire love of the homeland in their students. One of the most influential proponents of this classical notion of patriotism was Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Enlightenment thinkers also criticized what they saw as the excess of patriotism. In 1774, Samuel Johnson published "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 the scoundrel." James Boswell, who reported this comment in his "Life of Johnson", does not
Samuel Johnson the last refuge of a scoundrel." This line was not, as widely believed, about patriotism in general, but the false use of the term "patriotism" by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (the patriot-minister) and his supporters, who played upon his non-English descent. Johnson opposed "self-professed Patriots" in general, but valued what he considered "true" patriotism. The last of these pamphlets, "Taxation No Tyranny" (1775), was a defence of the Coercive Acts and a response to the Declaration of Rights of the First Continental Congress of America, which protested against taxation without representation. Johnson argued that in emigrating to America,