| Author(s) | Jenny Marx Longuet |
|---|---|
| Written | 1 October 1880 |
JENNY LONGUET TO CHARLES LONGUET
IN PARIS
[London,] 1 October 1880
My dear Charles,
I was well rewarded yesterday for spending without murmuring a most dreary evening — the evenings are getting so long and chill — by the arrival of your article. It gave me much pleasure for it is wittily written, and I rejoice to think that it will give much satisfaction to Liebknecht. Liebknecht is a great enthusiast with regard to rev- olutionary France — so great an optimist indeed in this respect, that during the Franco-Prussian war etc. he even lost all discrimination in judging of Trouchu and Co.— therefore your praise of him in the Jus- tice will sound like sweetest music to his ear and make him forget for a moment the troubles that lie so heavily upon him. He seems to me to be quite broken down by the last two years. With tears in his eyes he spoke to me of the struggles he and his family had passed through and which were yet in store for them. From all his sons he must part if he does not wish them to be shot or crippled, they must emigrate to America. 'My happiest time,' he said, 'was that spent in England' — and yet heaven knows, he did not lie on a bed of roses here! T often think of it with regret. But there was a fate that drove me to Germa- ny, that has driven me on ever since and will shape my destiny to the end.— When I heard of the Amnesty, my first thoughts were with you all — I already saw you hopelessly restlessly tossed on a small skiff on the wild ocean of Paris. But what must be must be.' To which I said Amen. There is a Providence (or rather a fate) that shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we will! — I quite agree with you in thinking that the men of the Commune should never forget how boldly the German socialists fought for the cause of the vanquished, and that therefore by writing your article you have paid a debt of gratitude, and I think now that if Bebel and Liebknecht have evinced
less sympathy for the Nihilists 242 of Russia, it is because they have had altogether false notions on the subject and have had the misfor- tune of meeting with a quantity of Russian humbugs calling them- selves Nihilists, with which the Continent swarms.
Fortunately for Liebknecht he has had his eyes opened now by Papa and Hartmann, who has interested him deeply and has shown him the importance of the Russian movement and the unparalleled grandeur of the true Nihilist heroes. The soi-disant[1] Nihilists that in- fest the Continent, Hartmann said, are nearly always fellows whose only reason for leaving Russia is that they will not work, and that they can find ways and means to live without working elsewhere — numbers of them are not refugees.
Pardon this endless letter in which I have not yet found time to mention that which lies nearest your heart. My object is to make it last until I shall hear the welcome sound of the postman's knock — shall get a letter from you, or read an article written by you. It is only since you are gone, my dear Charles, that I feel how dear you are to me and how lonely life would be without you! I was not quite well this morning and yesterday, having horrid fits of sickness — but when they are over I am all right again — my misgivings will come but too true!!! The children are blooming like roses and I can see that Harry[2]
is daily gaining strength. He begins to grow wonderfully fond of and interested in all that the Wolf[3] does, and follows him about from room to room, calling for him when away. Little Edgar is a very sun- beam of brightness, in his delightful joyousness he constantly reminds me of our poor little Caro[4] and I tremble lest anything should happen to this lovely child — you alarmed me by telling me of your neural- gia—I hope Tussy's cordial has spelled it away.
Your
Jenny
How is it I only receive one copy of the Justice when your articles are in it? Do not forget to send two.