Letter to Karl Marx, August 16, 1852

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 16 August 1852


First published considerably abridged in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 1, Stuttgart, 1913 and in full in MEGA, Abt. III, Bd. 1, Berlin, 1929
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 39


ENGELS TO MARX

IN LONDON

[Manchester,] 16 August 1852

Dear Marx,

This evening I have been promised the £2 borrowed from me a short while ago; if I get it, I shall send you it at once tomorrow by P.O. order and shall also write at great length.

Since we've heard nothing further from Weydemeyer and, according to Cluss' letters, the things seem at last to have been sent off,[1] it might be advisable for us to inquire from Edwards, Sanford and Co. in Liverpool whether they have received any packages. If you hear nothing more (last night the STEAMER had not yet arrived), I, at any rate, could do that.

From your report it would seem that the resolutions of 3 [August] have for the present snatched the money from Mr Kinkel's grasp.[2] Mr Imandt does pretty well for himself after his own fashion. C'est drôle, quand un Schapper nous échappe, un Imandt est toujours sûr de revenir à nous.[3] But he is at any rate a deus minimorum gentium[4] , canis domesticus communismi germanici[5] and as such is useful, since we have now learnt to keep lesser folk of this kind on a short rein.

The noble Willich's bosom must be much lacerated now that separation from the emigration's coffre-fort[6] has sprung the last band holding his noble consciousness together. He must, moreover, have notified his trusties over there long ago of his arrival since the latter, on the strength of an important letter from Willich, have already convened big extraordinary general meet-ings. Mr Willich will become head of the LOAFERS and ROWDIES there, and as such will have a rare opportunity of distinguishing himself. What is more, he will also find his old enemy Schramm[7] there, and that will lead to some pretty rows.

How delectable that Mr Kossuth has actually already caused companies to be drilled and Napoleon-Sigel is playing the instructor of the recruits. What an unspeakable swindler this Kossuth is; driving him out of America was one of the most splendid coups ever perpetrated by Cluss.[8]

By the way I shall very soon be doing the Hungarian campaign and shall write direct to Brockhaus this very week. If he has no faith in my military qualifications, I shall arrange previously to do one or two cogent articles for the Gegenwart so that he can see what there is to them. Dronke's connection with Brockhaus is very good and must be exploited. For Brockhaus is after all one of the more tractable booksellers. Nous allons voir.[9]

I was interrupted while writing the article for Dana last Thursday and shall, if possible, make up for it by doing 2 this week. I also expect something more from you on England.[10] Last week there could be little thought of work. While Dronke was here I had neglected much of what I had previously been doing. Now I am gradually getting back in TRAIN. Regards to your wife and children.

Your

F. E.

  1. ↑ Copies of the Revolution containing Marx's Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, see this volume, p. 160.
  2. ↑ See this volume, pp. 149-50.
  3. ↑ It's curious, whenever we lose a Schapper, an Imandt is always sure to come back to us (pun on Schapper and échappe).
  4. ↑ god of the minor nation
  5. ↑ house dog of German communism
  6. ↑ strong box
  7. ↑ Conrad Schramm
  8. ↑ The reference here is to Kossuth's circular of 28 June 1852 which Marx received from Cluss together with a letter of 22 July 1852. In the circular Kossuth urged the German refugees in America, in view of the imminent presidential elections, to demand that the USA should effect an armed interference in order to carry out a revolution in Europe. To expose the adventurist nature of this appeal, Cluss had the circular published in The New-York Herald. This was the immediate reason for Kossuth's departure from America on 14 July 1852 as he had officially declared himself a supporter of non-interference in the home affairs of host countries. The circular was also published in The People's Paper, No. 14, 7 August in the section 'Foreign News' under the title 'Secret Circular by Kossuth'
  9. ↑ We shall see.
  10. ↑ Engels is expressing the wish that Wilhelm Wolff should write for Die Revolution on current events as he did earlier in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung in the column 'Aus dem Reich' ('From the German Empire')