Letter to Laura Lafargue, March 5, 1892

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 5 March 1892


First published, in the language of the original (English), in: F. Engels, P. et L. Lafargue, Correspondance, t. III, Paris, 1959
Reproduced from the original
Published in English in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 49


ENGELS TO LAURA LAFARGUE

AT LE PERREUX

London, 5 March 1892

My dear Laura,

Today I can do no more than fulfil my promise to Paul and send you the enclosed cheque for the rent — £15 — made out in your name, so that Paul's absence need not cause any delay. I have received your letter and shall reply in a few days — I am overwhelmed with work — Sonnenschein has by some blunder sent the rough draft of Edward's translation of my Entwicklung des Sozialismus to press[1] and now all the work of revising that rough draft falls upon me, and of course has to be done quick.— Then Percy was here all week, left yesterday, then other interferences with work — today Tussy has gone on Union[2] work to Plymouth and Edward will be all day with us, so I must get this letter closed and off before he comes.

I am glad of the news about the 'Daily' and this time it may turn out a success, if our friends take the proper precautions not to be turned out again the very moment the paper begins to pay.[3] But things are better now, there is a power behind them now and that makes a difference — only they ought to take care to secure their position in the paper for all that.

I should be glad if Paul would let me know something of the position of the various socialist and Auch-Sozialisten[4] groups in the Chamber—the Blanquists, Possibilists, Millerand lot,[5] and the ex-Boulangists. I see in yesterday's Intransigeant that Paul and Ferroul attended a meeting composed chiefly of the Blanquist Boulangists, and, if he works together with them, it's 100 to 1 that Hyndman will attack them in Justice, and anyhow the subject is sure to be discussed here and interpellations to come to me — so I ought to be prepared!

In my next you will also very probably receive a dunning letter from Louise for more contributions to the Arbeiterinnen-Zeitung.

Love to all your numerous family

Ever yours,

F.E.

  1. ↑ F. Engels, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.
  2. ↑ trade-union
  3. ↑ This concerns the plan for turning Le Socialiste, the weekly newspaper of the French Workers' Party (see Note 146), into a daily. Engels had asked Laura and Paul Lafargue to keep him informed of the progress of the negotiations. The plan failed to materialise.
  4. ↑ 'partly socialist'
  5. ↑ Engels means the 'Independent Socialists' in the Chamber of Deputies. Led by Etienne-Alexandre Millerand, the group consisted mostly of bourgeois radicals (see note 147) who had joined the socialist movement following the events in Fourmies (see Note 243) and formed the opportunist wing of the socialist faction in parliament. The 'Independent Socialists' supported Lafargue's candidature and demanded his release from prison (see this volume, pp. 269 and 274-75).