| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 17 August 1880 |
ENGELS TO JOHANN PHILIPP BECKER
IN GENEVA
Ramsgate, 17 August 1880
Dear Old Man,
Your postcard was not forwarded to me here until today and I immediately took out a money order for you for two pounds sterling, i. e. 50 frs and a few centimes (on which I wrote my London address). It goes without saying, of course, that we wouldn't let you be thrown out of your house while we were restoring our health at the seaside here. There's no need for you to make such a to-do about a few pence; that sort of thing is a matter of course between old comrades-in-arms who have been fighting under the same flag for forty years and who hearken to the same trumpet-calls.
We are all here — Marx, his wife and his daughters, together with husbands and children,[1] and the visit is proving especially beneficial to Marx, who, I hope, will be completely refreshed. His wife has unfortunately been ailing for some time, but is as cheerful as could be expected. I shall be returning to London next week but Marx ought to stay here as long as he possibly can.
Apropos, I should perhaps add that there's been a great muddle over the letters. Marx has never had letters of yours for safe-keeping, whereas Borkheim was supposed to have had some of yours and, when Mrs Marx was still in Geneva with you, you got her to ask Marx to get Borkheim to give them to him.[2] But now Borkheim denies ever having got any from you; so what the actual facts of the case are, we over here are unable to fathom.
Well, I hope that, for the time being at least, you have extricated yourself from the worst of your predicament and will get a bit of peace. Kindest regards from us all, and in particular from,
Your
F. Engels