Letter to Karl Marx, February 9, 1870

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 9 February 1870


First published abridged in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 4, Stuttgart, 1913 and in full in MEGA, Abt. III, Bd. 4, Berlin, 1931
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 43


ENGELS TO MARX

IN LONDON

Manchester, 9 February 1870

Dear Moor,

Either you are sick, or you once again cramming yourself into sickness; otherwise one would hear from you.

The blasted:

Ancient Laws of Ireland.—Senchus Mor.—PART I AND II, DUBLIN, PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY, STATIONERY OFFICE,[1] the 2nd part of which appeared 3-4 weeks ago, are said to be 'REPRINTING', and lay me completely by the heels. QUERY, can one get something of this sort SECOND HAND in London?

So Rochefort has quietly been put in quod. Ollivier obviously wants a collision; the barricade attempts will presumably turn out to be 'white smock'[2] pranks. And if Ollivier doesn't want a collision, then Bonaparte, behind his back, does.

Best greetings.

Your

F. E.

  1. ↑ See this volume, pp. 409 10.
  2. ↑ A reference to the arrest of Rochefort on 7 February 1870, in La Villette, a workers' suburb of Paris, for his article about Victor Noir's murder (see Note 516) published by La Marseillaise, 12 January 1870.
    White smocks was a name for French police agents. In June 1869, the Police Prefecture of Paris made an attempt to provoke a spontaneous outburst among the workers using the 'white smocks' who staged manifestations, built barricades, sang the Marseillaise, etc. Engels expressed his apprehensions that similar provocations would be staged after Rochefort's arrest.