From
what I have now stated, and from the internal evidence of the paper
itself, any one who may have the curiosity to peruse it, will judge
whether it was wrong in me to reject it, however willing to gratify Mrs.
Knowles. BOSWELL. Johnson mentioned the '_sutile pictures_' in a letter
dated May 16, 1776, describing the dinner at Messrs. Dilly's. 'And
there,' he wrote, 'was Mrs. Knowles, the Quaker, that works the sutile
[misprinted by Mrs. Piozzi _futile_] pictures. She is a Staffordshire
woman, and I am to go and see her. Staffordshire is the nursery of art;
here they grow up till they are transplanted to London.' _Piozzi
Letters_, i. 326. He is pleasantly alluding to the fact that he was a
Staffordshire man. In the _Dialogue_ in _The Gent. Mag_. for 1791, p.
502, Mrs. Knowles says that, the wrangle ended thus:--'Mrs. K. "I hope,
Doctor, thou wilt not remain unforgiving; and that you will renew your
friendship, and joyfully meet at last in those bright regions where
pride and prejudice can never enter." Dr. Johnson. "Meet _her_! I never
desire to meet fools anywhere." This sarcastic turn of wit was so
pleasantly received that the Doctor joined in the laugh; his spleen was
dissipated, he took his coffee, and became, for the remainder of the
evening, very cheerful and entertaining.
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