| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 25 August 1857 |
ENGELS TO MARX
IN LONDON
Waterloo, 25 August 1857
Dear Marx,
My last letter was abruptly broken off because the post was leaving. I had meant to teil you about Lupus' adventures in France. He had neither time nor money enough to stop in London and therefore travelled straight through to Manchester, arriving with 2/- in his pocket. At Lille he was spotted by the French police and from then on they harried him. With his usual luck he arrived slap in the middle of the elections and a nice little assassination plot. He went to a small hotel near the Louvre, intending to visit Versailles. On this trip 2 [1] took possession of him, pushed their wav into his carriage both on the way there and on the way back, and never let him out of their sight. Back at the hotel two mouchards, one an Alsatian Jew, sat at his table while he ate supper, and passed remarks about him in German, French and broken English. *'That chap eats with much appetite and his head is not worth a farthing. The telegraphic despatch has just arrived',*[2] etc. Lupus kept mum—compelled, of course, by his bad political conscience, else he'd have been dragged off to clink and made to establish in the Préfecture what kind of a wolf he was—and drowned his anger in drink, after which he went up to his room and stationed himself by the window—[3] From there he caught sight of his Versailles friends in the gateway. The gang, growing ever larger, shouted loud remarks to him while their chief parleyed with the landlady. Subsequently the fellows took over the whole house and roistered and caroused half the night through. They occupied the rooms above and to the left and right of Lupus who, as you can imagine, was in a fine STEW — on top of which it was stiflingly hot. The fellows woke him early in the morning, banging on the walls on either side and dragging tables, beds, etc., etc., across the floor
above so that he almost took leave of his senses. Presently Lupus plucked up sufficient courage to visit the w.c. The Jew and his mate were sitting on the stairs and in a loud voice the Jew said 'The fellow's going for a shit now'. He ordered breakfast in his room and inquired when the train left for Strasbourg. One by one the fellows disappeared, for it was the day of the by-elections and they had achieved their aim of hounding Lupus out of Paris. Once again his Versailles friend was on the train and accompanied him in the same carriage as far as the fourth or fifth station, where another man took over. So conspicuously did the fellows push their way into the packed carriage that a French philistine jocularly remarked: [4] In this way he was escorted to Lyons, the Versailles chap having reappeared on the steamer from Chalons on the Saône. At Lyons Lupus went to the first hotel but discovered that waiters and all were on the pay-roll, pointed him out and notified the chaps by telegraph when he was arriving. Whenever he left the room the waiter gave a whistle while the man in the office shouted out: [5] , whereupon he was compelled to pass in review before the mouchard élite. They continued to harry him on the train to Seyssel as far as the point at which a line branches off in the direction of Plombières, where Mr Bonaparte happened to be. From then on, as soon as they saw that he was not going to Plombières, Lupus was free. On the return journey he wasn't harried at all.
One can see what Mr Bonaparte has set in train with the Société du dix Décembre.[6] There is no mistaking the types, particularly as regards their roistering and the playful manner in which they make life a misery for suspects visiting Paris. Had Lupus not left, one of them would probably have started a brawl so as to have a pretext for taking him to the Préfecture. Just imagine how many chaps must be on the pay-roll if an entire cohort can be set on to Lupus, who is COMPARATIVELY unknown to them. And then the roping in of landlords, waiters, BOOTS, etc., etc., as collabo- rators.
I have just been bathing again which, while generally most invigorating and refreshing, seems at first rather to aggravate the inflammation. But that was only to be expected. On the whole I feel very well and the sores don't trouble me much. My old man is probably in Manchester by now; I shall know definitely tomorrow,
in which case I shall at once go to Manchester and then, within a few days, to a more bracing seaside resort, possibly the Isle of Man. So write to Manchester in the meantime. As soon as I'm completely recovered and no longer require such regular sea- bathing I intend to take a sea trip, probably by STEAMER via Dublin to Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, where we could hold a council of war together. But that will depend on circum- stances.
'Army' is making progress; Antiquity is done, Middle Ages will be short and then modern times. However, Antiquity alone will run to 6 or 7 pages; I shall have to see what further deletions can be made. But we can't be bound too strictly by Mr Dana's conditions. It won't be possible to let you have the thing by Friday because of the disruption caused by my old man—but by Tuesday, I hope. Apropos, hasn't Dana said anything at all about the manuscripts or the list for B? Why, I wonder? It would certainly be curious if one were not to hear anything at all from him. Kindest regards.
Your
F. E.