, addressed to Mr. Walmsley, and quoted by
Mr. Croker. I failed to insert it in my notes.
_'Solihull, the 30 August 1735._
'SIR,
'I was favoured with yours of the 13th inst. in due time, but deferred
answering it til now, it takeing up some time to informe the Foeofees
of the contents thereof; and before they would return an Answer, desired
some time to make enquiry of the caracter of Mr. Johnson, who all agree
that he is an excellent scholar, and upon that account deserves much
better than to be schoolmaster of Solihull. But then he has the caracter
of being a very haughty, ill-natured gent., and that he has such a way of
distorting his Face (which though he can't help) the gent, think it
may affect some young ladds; for these two reasons he is not approved
on, the late master Mr. Crompton's huffing the Foeofees being stil in
their memory. However, we are all exstreamly obliged to you for thinking
of us, and for proposeing so good a schollar, but more especially is,
dear sir,
'Your very humble servant,
'HENRY GRESWOLD.'
_Johnson's knowledge of Italian_.
(Vol. i, p. 115.)
Boswell says that he does not know 'at what time, or by what means
Johnson had acquired a competent knowledge of Italian.' In my note
on this I say 'he had read Petrarch "when but a boy."' As Petrarch
wrote chiefly in Latin, it is quite possible that Johnson did not
acquire his knowledge of Italian so early as I had thought.
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