1877. Robert Southey to Thomas Southey, 2 March 1811 ⁠* 

Friday. March 2. 1811

My dear Tom

In the Basque Roads business, [1]  – when a good deal [MS obscured]beers defence turns upon the state of the batteries on Isle d Aix would it not have been a good x way to have begun by taking the Isle & so securing the passage? –

Tell me also another thing – where did the L’Orient squadron under Tronde [2]  go when this unlucky Brest fleet liberated it, – for this was boasted of by the Moniteur. [3]  It was the squadron seen by the Surveillante. [4] 

Tell me too what you believe the rise of the tide to be in the B. Roads – for on this point Cochrane & Gambiers witnesses differ a good deal. – the former stating it at about 10 or 12 feet – The latter speaking only of spring tides which they state at 21. – I wish the Trial had arrived when you were here, for I do not like writing the account xx without you. If you are at Durham when it is in the press (which I suppose you will) I will have a proof sent to you. It will be printed within a fortnight probably.

What size ship was the Calcutta, which then made part of the French force? [5] 

______

This volume runs to a most merciless length. [6]  The proof before me reaches to p. 288 – & there will be not less than 50 more before the Home business of the year is cleared off. I have just begun upon B. Roads. Of Sp. affairs I have four chapters written, & part of two others [7]  – there remain seven more, besides all the Austrian war [8]  &c. – . It will be hard work to finish it by the beginning of May.

Henceforth I have undertaken the scissars part of the business – that is the newspaper selections forming what is called the Chronicle. [9]  You remember that I had two unreasonable letters from the Home D to show this was [MS obscured] for 1809. He however has put [MS obscured] much of which the whole essence has necessarily been extracted by me in the Annals, that it is just as ill managed this year as the last. So I have consented to do it for the future. The trouble in fact is none, – merely cutting out & dating at the time for the convenience of arrangement. – The pay three guineas per sheet – amounting to about 50 guineas on the fair average. Now Tom comes the beauty of this arrangement. Such a job of course is best done regularly as the papers come in – but where was I to put the scraps that they might be safely & at the same time commodiously kept. I have had a box made for the nonce, – such a box Tom – O Tom such a box!

Mawson [10]  made it. It is of yew, the size of my desk & opening like a desk – xxxx <but> when open the part <it> is flat – not xxxx xxx an inclined plane. Then too it is yew, & when you lift up the inner cover, as in a desk, one on each side, are twelve partitions, for the twelve months, the breadth of a newspaper column, & of reasonable length. Cellarage for two years, – the one for the printing volume, the other xx <for> the current year. This is an invention of my own, – & a very ingenious invention it is. I regret that you & Sarah are not here to admire it, & rejoice over it with me, – as I do her the justice to believe she would do.

Being thus led to cut up the newspapers I have fallen upon the plan of xx cutting out all those parts which are the materials for the Annals, & pasting them in thin books, under proper arrangement. This will be of much facilitate the composition & save much time as Edith makes the books. Here too I have xx introduced an invention worthy of a patent, or a gold medal. Some columns would occasionally occur that could not be pasted down, – because the matter continued to the other side of the page. What then was to be done? Mark my contrivance. I pasted into the blue book a slip of blank paper folded in three folds, the lower fold being fastened to the page. On the xxx upper I pasted (this too by <in> a most ingenious manner) about 2 or 2 ½ inches of tape. The other end of this xxx tape (with like ingenuity) is secured to the top of the column, which then folds up to the shape <height> of the page. And then when required the tape permits the column to be turned, & read on either side. An admirable contrivance, verily most excellent, & invented wholly by me Robert Southey, Author of Kehama & the History of Brazil. [11] 

These books will be valuable. I shall bind them up & letter them Newspaper Collections for the History of 1810.

In describing the above contrivance I forgot to explain wherefor the paper is in those folds, it is for the purpose, by means of the middle fold of allowing play, like the elastic worn in bracers – lest by an incautious handling the tape should be torn off. On the least pull the folds open, & prevent this effectually.

You may tell the Doctor that a Scotch Lady of his acquaintance has scraped acquaintance with me on the score his Domineships score. She is a Miss Farquharson [12]  with stockings of blue.

I grieve that you cannot see Pasley’s Book, – the most important political work that has ever appeared. [13] 

Longman tells me Kehama is going on very well. 322 copies were disposed of when he wrote. My Evangelical Article [14]  has been spoken of by Perceval as the fairest & most comprehensive treatise he ever saw on any subject. This comes from Herries, & is therefore certain. I hope to do some good thro that Review.

Love to Sarah – God bless you

RS.