The musical parties at Brighton were a source of very mixed satisfaction to me. I believe I always had the instinct of a virtuoso, and I certainly had the irritability and impatience of one. It was not de rigueur at Brighton to listen to anyone, but I never could bear playing to people who did not listen. In mixed companies I resorted to every conceivable trick and device to ensnare attention; and I am quite aware as STERNDALE BENNETT, who accompanied the first solo I ever played in a public concert room, told me some years afterwards that I injured my style by a partiality for crude and sensational effect, which my better judgment even then revolted from.