m of collecting facts. He told me
that he bought all the books which he read, and made a full index, to
each, of the facts which he thought might prove serviceable to him, and
that he could always remember in what book he had read anything, for his
memory was wonderful. I asked him how at first he could judge what facts
would be serviceable, and he answered that he did not know, but that a
sort of instinct guided him. From this habit of making indices, he was
enabled to give the astonishing number of references on all sorts of
subjects, which may be found in his 'History of Civilisation.' This book
I thought most interesting, and read it twice, but I doubt whether his
generalisations are worth anything. Buckle was a great talker, and I
listened to him saying hardly a word, nor indeed could I have done so
for he left no gaps. When Mrs. Farrer began to sing, I jumped up and
said that I must listen to her; after I had moved away he turned around
to a friend and said (as was overheard by my brother), "Well, Mr.
Darwin's books are much better than his conversation."

Of other great literary men, I once met Sydney Smith at Dean Milman's
house. There was something inexplicably amusing in every word which he
uttered. Perhaps this was partly due to the expectation of being amused.
He was talking about Lady Cork, who was then extremely old. This was the
lady who, as he said, was once so much affected by one of his charity
sermons, that she _borrowed_ a guinea from a friend to put in the plate.
He now said "It is generally believed that my dear old friend Lady Cork
has been overlooked," and he said this in such a manner that no one
could for a moment doubt that he meant that his dear old friend had been
overlooked by the devil. How he managed to express this I know not.

I likewise once met Macaulay at Lord Stanhope's (the historian's) house,
and as there was only one other man at dinner, I had a grand opportunity
of hearing him converse, and he was very agreeable. He did not talk at
all too much; nor indeed could such a man talk too much, as long as he
allowed others to turn the stream of his conversation, and this he did
allow.

Lord Stanhope once gave me a curious little proof of the accuracy and
fulness of Macaulay's memory: many historians used often to meet at
Lord Stanhope's house, and in discussing various subjects they would
sometimes differ from Macaulay, and formerly they often referred to some
book to see who was rig