Although it is a tragic account, it can be very amusing in places;

"There was, for instance, a writer on prophecy called Jukes, of whose works each of my parents was inordinately fond, and I was early set to read Jukes aloud to them. I did it glibly, like a machine, but the sight of Jukes's volumes became an abomination to me, and I never formed the outline of a notion what they were about."

"I read the Bible every day, and at much length. Also, with I cannot but think some praiseworthy patience, a book of incommunicable dreariness, called Newton's "Thoughts on the Apocalypse." Newton bore a great resemblance to my old aversion, Jukes, and I made a sort of playful compact with my Mother that if I read aloud a certain number of pages out of "Thoughts on the Apocalypse," as a reward I should be allowed to recite my own favourite hymns."