| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 31 October 1852 |
ENGELS TO MARX
IN LONDON
[Manchester, 31 October 1852]
Dear Marx,
The way the case has been opened, it can hardly go wrong. The letter from Stieber[1] is a discovery that's worth more than all the gold-mines in Australia. What luck that the malheureux Nothjung kept these old N. Rh. Z. papers and sent them to London at the time! I only hope the thing arrives; for not even the Chief Public Prosecutor would consider it a crime to suppress stuff of that kind. You'd have done better not to send this letter by registered mail but in some other way. There's still a possibility that something may go wrong between Frankfurt and Cologne and, even though the copy provides a fair amount of proof, the original is still all-important. Somebody should have taken it to Cologne, or else it should have gone by express delivery. However, I hope all will be well.
The other documents are likewise admirable, and we shall now raise a really tremendous hullabaloo.
Yesterday, for safety's sake, I sent a letter to v. Hontheim,[2] for posting in Amsterdam, in which I gave him a summary of what you had written in the letter intended for Schneider,[3] and told him about the non-arrival of Schneider's letter addressed to Dronke. 4 copies, then, and one summary.
Today I shall send another copy of Stieber's letter to Cologne by a different route, likewise dispatch to the Rhine Province cuttings containing the article in Friday's Advertiser,[4] and the statement in Saturday's,[5] and shall in general throw at the bourgeoisie items of information about the crimes of the police.
Now for some suggestions:
1. In view of the highly equivocal—and, as it now behoves us to show, in passages unequivocal—nature of the only incriminating pieces of evidence, your evidence and that of Lupus, Pieper, etc., etc., if given on oath and authenticated, is of great importance. It does not matter what the Public Prosecutor says, the jury regards ourselves and the accused as GENTLEMEN. Now nothing could be easier than for 2 or 3 of you to go to Wingham and there record on oath those matters relating to London which all of you know about. For example:
a) that to the best of your knowledge there is no such person as H. Liebknecht, but only a W. Liebknecht, and that you people have never known any H. L.;
b) that you yourself never received a letter from Mrs Daniels; c) that, aside from the Wednesday meetings, you did not hold any other meetings—on Thursdays in any other pub,—and
d) that you declare the evidence, contained in Hirsch's minutes as to speeches, lectures, etc., etc., allegedly given by yourselves, to be UTTERLY UNTRUE; e) that the scrap of paper found with the red catechism and regarded by the Public Prosecutor as being in your handwriting, did not emanate from you[6] —and anything else in the latest proceedings and Stieber's first statements which seems untrue and worth refuting.
When all this has been recorded on oath before Wingham, he will draw up an ordinary affidavit—you might as well take a draft in English along with you—and you should ask him to hand it to a POLICEMAN, who will accompany you to Hebeler, the Prussian consul in the City; the latter must certify Wingham's signature, otherwise he will forfeit his exequatur. 2 copies of this, drawn up as above, can then be dispatched to Cologne and cannot fail to have an effect. I regard this as extremely important, for it means that all the legal formalities have been complied with and that the thing is a legal document. Should Hebeler nonetheless refuse to sign, go to any NOTARY PUBLIC, who will certify it[7] (the latter procedure was indicated to my old man in a similar case by the Prussian authorities).
2. Yesterday I received a lengthy dissertation from Dronke about Bangya.[8] I must confess that, in view of those wretched lies about our manuscript,[9] in view of Duncker's letter sent you on Tuesday by Weerth,[10] and assuming that it is true he addressed the last letter but one to Kothes, I find no reason to doubt that he is a Prussian spy. The fact that he keeps in with the Hungarians is no proof of the contrary; if he refers us to the Hungarians, he will likewise refer the Hungarians to us. This matter must be investigated without fail and as expeditiously as possible. And if, within vingt-quatre heures, Mr Bangya fails to provide satisfactory information as to the whereabouts of the manuscript, the previous address of the alleged Eisermann, giving street and no., and about his highly questionable means of subsistence, I would strongly recommend that counsel in Cologne ask Stieber outright what he knows about a certain Colonel Bangya. After the revelations that have already been made, Mr Stieber will no longer dare to give false evidence, since he cannot know what will be coming next; at the same time Schneider should be informed about the business of the manuscript so that he can pass the story on to the court, after which no further statement need be made for the time being.
3. A few people from Stechan's workers' society,[11] committee members, etc., might also go to the magistrate, not with little scraps of paper, but with whole pages, or as large samples as possible, of Hirsch's handwriting, and declare on oath that these are in Hirsch's hand. Cela vaut infiniment mieux than mere unauthenticated cuttings.
On Monday we shall see that some more money is sent to you, so that none of you will get into difficulties. Your own affidavit could be dispatched last of all—which would have certain advantages; but we must ensure that everything arrives before the cross-examination of the witnesses is over.
Don't forget to let me have a few safe addresses as soon as you can.
Stechan's statement about the forgery[12] must also be sworn before a magistrate. Cela pourra avoir de brillants résultats.
Kinkel has today been sneaking round the Exchange here, in tow of a RABBLE of local German Jews. However, we have been putting a few ideas in our people's heads and, here as in Bradford, Weerth will make things pretty hot for him.
Could you not obtain direct evidence of Kinkel's escroquerie from Reichenbach through Imandt or someone, and send copies of it to the Examiner and Times, the Guardian, or the Courier here, and also to the Bradford papers? Such direct evidence, of course, that the fellows need have no fear of a LIBEL action. You might also send it to Dr J. W. Hudson, secretary of the Manchester Athenaeum.[13]
Strohn is back in Bradford, somewhat indisposed, and will be coming here on Wednesday or Thursday. I am writing to him today and will provide him with adequate instructions so that, when you send him things, you can count on his attending to them efficiently and in such a way as not to clash with arrangements. The main thing is that none of the commercial addresses should be used more than once.
We must take things to such lengths that in future people will no longer talk about stealing but stiebering.[14]
Then, too, there is the lawyer Schürmann, one of the defence counsel, whose address can be used for enclosures. Schneider is really too risky.
There's another reason why the Bangya affair is important: Granted that the original minute-book was not in Hirsch's hand, but copied—what then? Stieber has sworn in any case that he doesn't know Hirsch.
Should the Cologne people be sentenced after all, which I regard as exceedingly unlikely if we go on doing everything in our power to send over all available information and documents, we must write something without fail. If they are acquitted, I believe that this would merely soften down the government's defeat. Meanwhile we can only wait and see. Above all an exact copy must be taken of every document, affidavit, etc., all of them fully authenticated, etc., etc., for these things will provide a splendid series of pièces justificatives.
Dronke has asked me for 10/- as he is ill and down on his luck. Let him have it, or perhaps a bit more, when the next lot of money arrives, i.e. on Tuesday.
You had best send me the addresses per Pickford or Carver. Regards to all and write soon.
Your
F. E.
Up here we are keeping a careful register of all outgoing documents, with dates, how sent, etc.[15]