Letter to Karl Marx, November 20, 1868

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 20 November 1868


First published: in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 4, Stuttgart, 1913.
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 43, p. 164

To Marx in London


Manchester, 20 November 1868

Dear Moor,

I shall send you some money on Sunday so that you will receive it Monday morning. The stupidity of our cashier is responsible for the fact that it did not already come today. I am sending you £20. Militairement parlant[1] , the fellows in Paris have not the ghost of a chance, if they launch their attack at present. It is not so easy to get out of this Bonapartism. Without a military revolt, nothing can be done. In my opinion, a coup can only be attempted when at least the garde mobile[2] once again stands between the people and the army. It is certain and obvious that Bonaparte wants an attempt, and the revolutionaries would be jackasses if they gave him the satisfaction. In addition, the new rifles (1) can very easily be rendered useless (by extracting the pin) and (2) even if they fall into the hands of the insurgents in a usable state, they are valueless if you do not have the specific ammunition, which you cannot make like the old cartridges. And why, in fact, should they launch their attack just at this moment? The continuation of this state of affairs injures Bonaparte more every day; in addition, there is no special reason for attacking. Bonaparte will also take care not to give the sort of reason that only the revolutionaries need.

The secret of the elections in Lancashire is the English workers' hatred of the Irish. The damned Murphy cleared the way for the Tories. In the meantime, the Irish state church is finished no matter what. Otherwise things have happened as I said. The Morning Herald has already explained that, though the Tories seemed to be in the minority, they were really in the majority, since they represent the majority of the people.[3]

If you have not received the £20 by Monday morning, telegraph me immediately. On Sunday I cannot register and would not consider even a registered letter safe in the hands of the post from Saturday evening to Monday morning.

Many greetings.

Your

F. E.


Send me back the letter from Nincompoop[4] , As you know I have to show him what grammatical blunders he makes.

  1. ↑ militarily speaking
  2. ↑ The Mobile Guard was set up by a decree of the Provisional Government on 25 February 1848 with the secret aim of fighting the insurgent people. Its armed units consisted mainly of lumpen-proletarians and were used to crush the June uprising of the Paris workers. Subsequently, it was disbanded on the insistence of the Bonapartists, who feared that in the event of a conflict between President Bonaparte and the republicans the Mobile Guard would side with the latter. For Marx's description of the Mobile Guard, see his work The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850.
  3. ↑ Engels refers to the leading article 'London, Wednesday, November 18' in The Morning Herald of 18 November 1868.
  4. ↑ Borkheim; see also Engels to Marx. 10 November and Marx to Engels, 18 November