to
Burke's first preceptor. She is poor. She has behaved most
handsomely about some letters of Burke's to her grandfather and
herself. It would have been advantageous to her to publish them;
but, as Mrs. Burke[2]--Heaven knows why--objected, she desisted.

Mrs. Leadbeater was an Irish Quaker lady whose simple and spirited
annals of Ballitore delighted Carlyle in his later days, and whose
'Cottage Dialogues' greatly struck Mr. Edgeworth at the time; and the
kind Edgeworths, finding her quite unused to public transactions,
exerted themselves in every way to help her. Mr. Edgeworth took the
MSS. out of the hands of an Irish publisher, and, says Maria, 'our
excellent friend's worthy successor in St. Paul's Churchyard has, on
our recommendation, agreed to publish it for her.' Mr. Edgeworth's own
letter to Mrs. Leadbeater gives the history of his good-natured offices
and their satisfactory results.

Footnote 2: Mrs. Burke, hearing more of the circumstances, afterwards
sent permission; but Mrs. Leadbeater being a Quakeress, and having once
_promised_ not to publish, could not take it upon herself to break her
covenant.

From R. L. Edgeworth, July 5, 1810.

Miss Edgeworth desires me as a man of business to write to Mrs.
Leadbeater relative to the publication of 'Cottage Dialogues.'
Miss Edgeworth has written an advertisement, and will, with Mrs.
Leadbeater's permission, write notes for an English edition. The
scheme which I propose is of two parts--to sell the English
copyright to the house of Johnson in London, where we dispose of
our own works, and to publish a very large and cheap edition for
Ireland for schools.... I can probably introduce the book into
many places. Our family takes 300 copies, Lady Longford 50, Dr.
Beaufort 20, &c.... I think Johnson & Co. will give 50_l._ for the
English copyright.

After the transaction Mr. Edgeworth wrote to the publishers as
follows:--

May 31, 1811: Edgeworthtown.
My sixty-eighth birthday.

My dear Gentlemen,--I have just heard your letter to Mrs.
Leadbeater read by one who dropped tears of pleasure from a sense
of your generous and handsome conduct. I take great pleasure in
speaking of you to the rest of the world as you deserve, and I
cannot refrain from expressing to yourselves the genuine esteem
that