Letter to Jenny Marx, January 14, 1852

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 14 January 1852


First published abridged in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 1, Stuttgart, 1913 and in full in MEGA, Abt. III, Bd. 1, Berlin, 1929
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 39


ENGELS TO JENNY MARX

IN LONDON

Manchester, 14 January 1852

Dear Mrs Marx,

I would have answered your kind letter[1] long ago had I not been totally prevented from doing so by a whole mass of things—in particular the presence of my brother-in-law[2] whom I had to keep amused for a whole week, certainly no light task here in Manchester. There could, of course, be no question of work during that time, and only now can I turn my mind to what may be done before next Friday's STEAMER. At all events, either this evening or tomorrow evening something will be ready for the Tribune, nor will Father Weydemeyer go empty-handed. In the meantime I have heard and seen nothing from the latter—I hope that today will have brought you a letter from him telling us about the prospects for the New Year, since the letters that arrived by yesterday's STEAMER were dated up to 1 January.

I trust that in the meantime the paterfamilias[3] will have arisen from his bed of pain and penance, and only hope that the Library will not entirely drive the Tribune from his mind. The information about the honourable Lüders was conveyed forthwith to Weerth, likewise as much as was necessary concerning the worthy Kinkel.

The lambastings received by the great Willich are most pleasing so far as we are concerned, while for him there would appear to be an excellent prospect of repeated applications. Once the spell of inviolability and invincibility cast around himself by the great war- rior has been broken by a bonne volée,[4] not one blackguard of an émigré, right down to the last Conrad,9 will rest until he has repeat- ed the experiment and wreaked upon the noble fellow tangible vengeance for his private GRIEVANCES. The great man's courage malheureux[5] may then console itself with the thought that those who did the thrashing were all of them 'men of principle'. Thrashings he may have had, but they were 'principled thrashings'.

I return Cluss' letter herewith." As an agent, the fellow's beyond compare. When the business of Willich's mystification10

comes out, there'll be a fine how-d'ye-do! The philistines will no longer dare to write letters for fear of their falling into our hands. How scurrilously hypocritical it was on Kinkel's part to maintain that he had written to London, telling them to get in touch with us! This fact only goes to show that he has been constantly and most disagreeably 'challenged' on our account in America and that, among the democratic rabble there, we too have a SET of adherents who swear by us, as do the others by Kinkel or Heinzen or Hecker, heaven knows why; these must be adherents à la Magnus Gross, Wilhelmi, etc., people who would only have to spend a short time in our company to be better informed both about us and themselves, and to return to the common fold where they belong.

[6] [7]

I must say, Louis Napoleon grows daily more amusing. While not a single one of those great measures for the abolition of pauperism, etc., has yet managed to see the light of day, the little fellow contrives to provoke all philistines in the world by measures which are merely intended to ensure a temporary consolidation of his authority.[8] No longer does any non-French paper dare speak up for him, even the Sun and the Kölnische remain silent, and only the good-for-nothing correspondent of the Globe continues to deposit his daily scurrilities in the corner allotted to him for the purpose. On top of that, Louis Napoleon has aroused universal suspicion, the whole of Europe resounds with war and rumours of war,[9] and even the peaceable Daily News has nolens volens[10] to join in the call for NATIONAL DEFENCES. Along with the side of his character which has been most in evidence since 2 December—the GAMBLER—the fellow is gradually beginning to develop another, that of the mad pretender who regards himself as a predestined world redeemer and who swears by his star. And when the time was come, God sent the nephew that he might redeem the world from the bondage of the devil and from the hell of socialism. Luckily parliament will be meeting shortly, which always introduces a little variety into the humbug of politics.

Warm regards to Marx and the little ones from your

F. Engels

  1. ↑ See this volume, pp. 567 69.
  2. ↑ Emil Blank
  3. ↑ Karl Marx
  4. ↑ sound thrashing
  5. ↑ discomfited cour age
  6. ↑ b of the British Museum
  7. ↑ e See this volume, pp. 568 69.
  8. ↑ Engels describes here the reaction of the European Press to Louis Bonaparte's policy of unrestrained social demagogy on the one hand and increased personal power on the other after the coup d'état of 2 December 1851. On 1 January 1852, a solemn service in honour of the President for which 190,000 francs were assigned was held in Notre Dame de Paris; the eagles on state banners (symbol of Napoleon's Empire) were restored. The Prince President moved to the royal palace of the Tuileries, where on 14 January a new Constitution was proclaimed under which all power was concentrated in the hands of the head of the State elected for a term of 10 years, the composition and legislative functions of all the higher state institutions were also placed under his control. A detailed analysis of the methods and essence of the demagogic policy pursued by Bonaparte in the social sphere and of repressions against the democratic and working-class movements is given in Marx's Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (present edition, Vol. 11)
  9. ↑ Matthew 24:6.
  10. ↑ willy nilly