| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 16 June 1876 |
ENGELS TO PYOTR LAVROV
IN LONDON
[London,] 16 June 1876 122 Regent's Park Road
My dear Mr Lavrov,
A short while ago Liebknecht wrote asking me to inform you that R.[1] was under suspicion and, since I could not undertake such a mission without so much as a single fact to go on, I told him so outright.
Here is his reply, which I pass on to you in strict confidence:
'Last winter R. tried in the most conspicuous way to get hold of a packet of letters that was due to be sent me in Berlin. He was tipsy and, in consequence, went about it clumsily so that he was caught out. For hours, befuddled as he was, he was obsessed by the thought of getting hold of the packet, and in this he succeeded, but was forced by his companions to drop it into the letter-box, which he did after an attempt to substitute it had failed. Those who were present on this occasion had, up till then, been absolutely convinced of his honesty, but now they began to «under. Drunkenness, it is true, sometimes brings strange thoughts into a man's head, but nothing that had not already been there when he was sober. In vino Veritas[2] does after all have a modicum of truth in it. I shall not mention here other highly suspicious circumstances, these not being so grave as the one I have related. But it is noteworthy that R. should have repeatedly offered himself as intermediary in the carrying of letters and that he should have asked for introductions to all manner of party members.'[3]
I am sorry that repeated interruptions should have prevented my passing on this communication before now; I really don't know what to make of the thing.
I trust that this letter finds you in good health. My regards to Mr Smirnov.
Yours ever,
F. Engels