'I was fond of reading when at home, but we had not an abundance of books; so as soon as I settled at Notting Hill, I often in the evening made my way to Oxford and other streets where I could find open bookshops, and in the course of a couple of years I had purchased and read a fair selection of our standard authors, and, as I shall mention in future pages, I became fairly well acquainted with the drama and the players. I am afraid I was rather more fond of the drama and works of fiction than of books of more general interest.'