Letter to Karl Marx, May 1, 1854

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 1 May 1854


First published much 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


ENGELS TO MARX

IN LONDON

Manchester, 1 May 1854

Dear Marx,

The business of Heise is really rather disastrous. If the chap had behaved dubiously in regard to party matters, you might at least have let me know. As it was, I could only suppose that, for a new convert, he was PERFECTLY SAFE. I hadn't met him before, except for a couple of days in the Palatinate; seeing him in London as part of the intimate circle and, like Meyer, apparently a special favourite of yours, I naturally concluded that the fellow had already done penance down there, had undergone his épreuves[1] and earned your good graces. Hitherto I have treated him accordingly and, since he had nothing to do and is in other ways a cheerful sort of chap, I've been going round with him more than with anyone else. Moreover, now that the philistines have got to know that I'm living with Mary[2] and this has got to stop, I have taken lodgings NEXT DOOR TO HIM, though I haven't yet moved in. Well, all this is exceedingly difficult to set right now, and I can see only one way of doing it: from your letter I can only conclude that you gave him a letter for me. This I have not received.[3] Write to me at once so that I can question him about it.

There were two reasons why I did the Schimmelpfennig article with him[4] : 1. because I wanted the fellow to be given a dressing-down without myself appearing to be working for the Reform, 2. because it was absolutely essential that Heise be given something to do to get him out of his indolent ways. The article is very good and, though marred here and there by Heise's style, gives Mr Schimmelpfennig some rough treatment. The thing can be of no further benefit to Heise, for he'll never be able to write another article of the kind; on the other hand, the business greatly impressed him by showing him how surely and on what a firm 'basis' we operate. However, even this wouldn't have happened had I been informed, and at least the fellow wouldn't have cost me so much; as it is, I have him round my neck and, au bout du compte,[5] am more or less responsible for his household debts, etc., etc.

As regards my visit to London, it seems very questionable. I have far too much to do at the office to be able to get away easily. However, if all had gone well with The Daily News,[6] I had indeed intended to come down and clinch the thing by word of mouth. That reason no longer obtains and, since the thing would cost me some £7-£8, which I can ill afford and I could only stay down there 3-4 days at the most, I shan't come if I can help it.

After Cluss' letter, returned herewith, I shall now send him the article on Schimmelpfennig to be used as circumstances dictate; if he has already become too involved with Schimmelpfennig,[7] it will at least serve to enlighten Cluss privately concerning Schimmelpfennig and at the same time help him not to become too deeply involved. As a soldier, give me Willich any day, rather than that clever-clever Schimmelpfennig who really has nothing to him except sheer vanity and arrogance, and whose entire stock of learning derives from a few common or garden manuals and textbooks.

I shall let you have another article on Turkey, military or otherwise, for next Friday's STEAMER. It is time we harked back to our first articles on the subject,[8] including the political aspect. Here, too, we have been splendidly vindicated by circumstances; the pertinacity of the Greek insurrection[9] and the evident uneasiness of the Turks in Bulgaria prove, après tout,[10] that the Christian population is starting to bestir itself and that the Turkish Empire is rapidly approaching its end. On the other hand it is symptomatic of the Turks' great weakness that the larger part of their army, as was always its wont, ran away home during the winter and that as yet no amount of reform has succeeded in instilling in these fellows a soldierly spirit on the European pattern. As regards the Odessa business we shall have to have some more detailed news; up till now everything has been too contradictory. Lupus is fuming at the allies for not having cut the Russians to pieces ad majorem gloriam Aberdeeni et Bonaparti.[11] He and Heise now vie with each other in dismaying the philistines with flat contradictions and downright rudeness. One or both of them will get a beating before long; yesterday they came close to it, whereupon I suddenly began talking in a Lancashire accent, which made the philistines laugh and provided the opportunity for a dignified retreat.

Heise, by the way, won't ever be dangerous, his writing ability is far inferior to little Dronke's, idleness is his speciality. No knowledge whatever, only a strong inclination to acquire the ABC of everything. With great difficulty he succeeded in learning the ABC of Russian, but has already forgotten it again.

Sûr ce que Dieu l'ait en sa sainte garde, habeat sibi![12]

Your

F. E.

  1. ↑ tests
  2. ↑ Mary Burns
  3. ↑ See this volume, p. 442.
  4. ↑ Weydemeyer, editor of Die Reform, received a review of Schimmelpfennig's book The War Between Turkey and Russia written jointly by Engels and Heise, when the newspaper ceased publication (Weydemeyer to Engels, 16 May 1854). He sent it on to Cluss who wanted to insert it in some other newspaper, preferably Der Deutsch-Amerikaner, a weekly published from March 1854 in Chicago by Eduard Schläger (Cluss to Marx, 25 May 1854). The editors of the present edition have no file of Der Deutsch-Amerikaner for that period and the fate of the review is unknown
  5. ↑ in the final count
  6. ↑ See this volume, pp. 442 and 445.
  7. ↑ An allusion to Schimmelpfennig's proposal to contribute military articles to Die Reform. In a letter to Marx of 13 April 1854 Cluss asked for Marx's advice on this point
  8. ↑ K. Marx and F. Engels, 'British Politics.—Disraeli.—The Refugees.—Mazzini in London.—Turkey'; F. Engels. 'The Real Issue in Turkey', 'The Turkish Question', 'What Is to Become of Turkey in Europe?'
  9. ↑ At Marx's request Engels wrote on 13 March 'Retreat of the Russians from Kalafat' (see present edition, Vol. 13). The Greek revolution—the revolt of the Greek population in Epirus, the mountain regions of Thessaly and other territories still subject to Turkey; Marx assessed these events in the article 'The Greek Insurrection' (see present edition, Vol. 13)
  10. ↑ after all
  11. ↑ for the greater glory of Aberdeen and Bonaparte
  12. ↑ Certain that God has him in his safe keeping—let him have him.