<P> On 17 June 1783, Johnson's poor circulation resulted in a stroke and he wrote to his neighbour, Edmund Allen, that he had lost the ability to speak . Two doctors were brought in to aid Johnson; he regained his ability to speak two days later . Johnson feared that he was dying, and wrote: </P> <P> The black dog I hope always to resist, and in time to drive, though I am deprived of almost all those that used to help me . The neighbourhood is impoverished . I had once Richardson and Lawrence in my reach . Mrs. Allen is dead . My house has lost Levet, a man who took interest in everything, and therefore ready at conversation . Mrs. Williams is so weak that she can be a companion no longer . When I rise my breakfast is solitary, the black dog waits to share it, from breakfast to dinner he continues barking, except that Dr. Brocklesby for a little keeps him at a distance . Dinner with a sick woman you may venture to suppose not much better than solitary . After dinner, what remains but to count the clock, and hope for that sleep which I can scarce expect . Night comes at last, and some hours of restlessness and confusion bring me again to a day of solitude . What shall exclude the black dog from an habitation like this? </P> <P> By this time he was sick and gout - ridden . He had surgery for gout, and his remaining friends, including novelist Fanny Burney (the daughter of Charles Burney), came to keep him company . He was confined to his room from 14 December 1783 to 21 April 1784 . </P> <P> His health began to improve by May 1784, and he travelled to Oxford with Boswell on 5 May 1784 . By July, many of Johnson's friends were either dead or gone; Boswell had left for Scotland and Hester Thrale had become engaged to Piozzi . With no one to visit, Johnson expressed a desire to die in London and arrived there on 16 November 1784 . On 25 November 1784, he allowed Burney to visit him and expressed an interest to her that he should leave London; he soon left for Islington, to George Strahan's home . His final moments were filled with mental anguish and delusions; when his physician, Thomas Warren, visited and asked him if he were feeling better, Johnson burst out with: "No, Sir; you cannot conceive with what acceleration I advance towards death ." </P>

A new look at an 18th century english writer