al of time
in a way very unsatisfactory. Dined at home, and wrought hard. I shall
be through the Bruce's reign. It is lengthy; but, hang it, it was our
only halcyon period. I shall be soon done with one-half of the thousand
pound's worth.

_May_ 20.--Mr. Cadell breakfasted with us, with a youngster for whom he
wants a letter to the Commander or Governor of Bombay. After breakfast
C. and I had some talk of business. His tidings, like those of ancient
Pistol, are of Africa and golden joys. He is sure of selling at the
starting 8000 copies of the _Magnum_, at a profit of L70 per 1000--that
is, per month. This seems certain. But he thinks the sale will rise to
12,000, which will be L280 more, or L840 in all. This will tell out a
gross divisible profit of upwards of L25,000. This is not unlikely, but
after this comes a series of twenty volumes at least, which produce only
half that quantity indeed; but then the whole profits, save commissions,
are the author's. That will come to as much as the former, say L50,000
in all. This supposes I carry on the works of fiction for two or three
novels more. But besides all this, Cadell entertains a plan of selling a
cheaper edition by numbers and numbermen, on which he gives half the
selling price. One man, Mr. Ireland, offers to take 10,000 copies of the
_Magnum_ and talks of 25,000. This allows a profit of L50 per thousand
copies, not much worse than the larger copy, and Cadell thinks to carry
on both. I doubt this. I have great apprehension that these interlopers
would disgust the regular trade, with whom we are already deeply
engaged. I also foresee selling the worst copies at the higher price.
All this must be thought and cared for. In the meantime, I see a fund,
from which large payments may be made to the Trustees, capable of
extinguishing the debt, large as it is, in ten years or earlier, and
leaving a reversion to my family of the copyrights. Sweet
bodements[316]--good--but we must not reckon our chickens before they
are hatched, though they are chipping the shell now. We will see how the
stream takes.

Dined at a public dinner given to the excellent Lord Dalhousie before
his departure for India. An odd way of testifying respect to public
characters, by eating, drinking, and roaring. The names, however, will
make a good show in the papers. Home at ten. Good news from Sophia and
Walter. I am zealous for the Mediterranean when the season comes, which
may be the beginning of Sep