WYCOMBE ABBEY, _Nov. 2, 1821_.

It is impossible to be kinder than Lord Carrington is to us: he wrote to
invite everybody that he thought we should like to meet. We have had Mr.
Wilberforce for several days, and I cannot tell you how glad I am to
have seen him again, and to have had an opportunity of hearing his
delightful conversation, and of seeing the extent and variety of his
abilities. He is not at all anxious to show himself off; he converses,
he does not merely talk. His thoughts flow in such abundance, and from
so many sources, that they often cross one another; and sometimes a
reporter would be quite at a loss. As he literally seems to speak all
his thoughts as they occur, he produces what strikes him on both sides
of any question. This often puzzles his hearers, but to me it is a proof
of candour and sincerity; and it is both amusing and instructive to see
him thus balancing accounts aloud. He is very lively, and full of odd
contortions: no matter. His indulgent, benevolent temper strikes me
particularly: he makes no pretension to superior sanctity or strictness.
He spoke with much respect and tenderness for my feelings, of my father,
and of the Life.

We have had, besides, Mr. Manning and his son, very unaffected and
agreeable; and Mr. Abel Smith, a nephew of Lord Carrington's; and Mr.
Hales, an old bachelor diplomatist, who told me the name which the Abbe
de Pradt gave to Buonaparte--Jupiter-Scapin. Does not this name contain
a volume?


_To_ MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH.

WYCOMBE ABBEY, _Nov. 4, 1821_.