History continued to be my strongest predilection, and most of all ancient history.

Mitford's Greece I read continually; my father had put me on my guard against the Tory prejudices of this writer, and his perversions of facts for the whitewashing of despots, and blackening of popular institutions.

These points he discoursed on, exemplifying them from the Greek orators and historians, with such effect that in reading Mitford my sympathies were always on the contrary side to those of the author, and I could, to some extent, have argued the point against him: yet this did not diminish the ever new pleasure with which I read the book.

Roman history, both in my old favourite, Hooke, and in Ferguson, continued to delight me.

A book which, in spite of what is called the dryness of its style, I took great pleasure in, was the _Ancient Universal History_, through the incessant reading of which, I had my head full of historical details concerning the obscurest ancient people, while about modern history, except detached passages, such as the Dutch War of Independence, I knew and cared comparatively little.