Letter to Friedrich Engels, April 19, 1854

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 19 April 1854


First published abridged in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 2, Stuttgart, 1913 and in full in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXII, Moscow, 1929
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 39


MARX TO ENGELS

IN MANCHESTER

London, 19 April 1854 28 Dean Street, Soho

Dear Frederic,

In Cluss' letter, enclosed herewith, you will note on the one hand Schimmelpfennig's admiration of your military stuff—for which I am given the credit; on the other, his crafty critical reservations.[1]

Should today's report (in The Times) from Gorchakov and the report in the Northern Bee on the manoeuvres on the Circassian coast[2] give you occasion to send me a LETTER for the Tribune, you might drop a few anonymous remarks about Schimmelpfennig's opinion which, by the by, is commanding much attention.

What is the significance of The Times suddenly ceasing its attacks on the ministry (quant à la guerre)?

You will see from the American newspaper cuttings that for six months the 'Central Committee'[3] —of this I received private confirmation yesterday—had had a considerable amount of money at its disposal. The letter from Karger—Ledru's famulus— in the Pionier shows how Ledru, and with him the entire orthodox emigration, are deceiving themselves as to the significance and future prospects of this same Ledru. He and the Germans have agreed that as soon as he is Great Khan of France, he will order a French army—but under the German command of Ruge-Blind-Goegg—to invade Germany.

Enclosed also a map of Constantinople which may be of interest to you.

Schily is off to Paris with official permission. He will represent the 'house' over there and Cornelius here.

Bangya is in Erzerum—colonel, of course—is called Mohammed Bey, has had himself circumcised, and embraced the Koran. Possibly sent to General Guyon as a spy.

Damned lovely weather. A pity one can't make better use of it. According to a letter received yesterday from Trier, Edgar[4] is leaving Texas on a six months' trip to London and Germany.

Your

K. M.

I can see that this letter will be too bulky, so shall send the cuttings in my next.

  1. ↑ The Egyptian Pasha Mohammed Ali, who had actually secured his position as independent ruler of the country and strove to secede from the Ottoman Empire, carried out a number of important socio-economic reforms in the 1820s-30s in the sphere of agrarian relations, organisation of the state apparatus, industry and the navy. In his reforms Mohammed Ali received a certain assistance from French ruling circles who supported him in the struggle against the Sultan in order to strengthen their own position in the Middle East. On Mohammed Ali's invitation a large number of French officers, military instructors and engineers went to Egypt
  2. ↑ The report of Gorchakov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army on the Danube, to Nicholas I was reprinted by The Times on 19 April 1854 from a special supplement to the Journal de Saint-Pétersbourg of 6 April 1854 and entitled 'The Russian Passage of the Danube'. The same issue of The Times carried an item 'The Russian Fleet in the Black Sea' reprinted from Русскій инвалидъ (and not from Северная пчела as Marx wrote) about military operations on the Caucasian coast
  3. ↑ Marx means the Central Committee of European Democracy founded in London in June 1850 on Mazzini's initiative. It included Ledru-Rollin, Darasz and Ruge and united bourgeois and petty-bourgeois refugees from different countries. In March 1852 the Central Committee of European Democracy actually dissolved due to disagreements between Italian and French democratic refugees
  4. ↑ Edgar von Westphalen