| Author(s) | Karl Marx |
|---|---|
| Written | 20 January 1852 |
MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London,] 20 January 1852 28 Dean Street, Soho
Dear Engels,
Only since yesterday have I been up and about again and it was not until today that I again took up my pen.
Since I was unable to go out and visit Chapman as I had planned, Pieper, with the enthusiasm he habitually displays in the first ten minutes, offered to discount the bill for me. The other evening he brought me the money, only to declare that he would send you the bill so that you could have it discounted in Manchester. I, as well as my wife, told him that we knew you couldn't do so. But he had already written his letter and, since he made it pretty clear that I appeared, for reasons of my own, to be putting obstacles in his way, I gave him his head and be damned to it, feeling sure that you would return the stuff to him. Now, when he informs me of this fait[1] it turns out that he was not in such a hurry after all, but was merely seeking to give himself airs. For me, it was a nasty business, since you might have thought I had been guilty of an indiscretion.
In France les choses vont à merveille.[2] And I hope la belle France will not pass through this school too casually but will have to spend a longer time in class. War, whether it comes a few MONTHS sooner or later, seems to me inevitable. Nous avons eu le Napoléon de la paix[3] Louis[4] can BY NO MEANS emulate Louis Philippe. Et alors?[5]
As you know, our people in Cologne have not been brought before the Assizes under the pretext that the case is so difficult that the investigation must be begun all over again.
Madier has just been here. He proved to me de la manière la plus crapaude[6] that the FRENCHMEN are capable of taking London by breakfast time and assaulting all of England's coasts within five hours. One has too much pitié[7] for the poor devils not to hold one's tongue quand ils déraisonnent.[8]
Write soon.
Your
K. M. How is le commerce?