'At home I acquired increased facilities for reading, by means of a small book-club, consisting of my landlord and a few of his friends. Of this I became a member; and thus had the means of becoming a little acquainted with works which I had not before seen. Among these was Rollin's "Ancient History", which greatly pleased me, although I was at a loss to account for his seemingly intimate knowledge of what was done or said in the private cabinet of monarchs and warriors two or three thousand years before he wrote.'