| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 20 July 1854 |
ENGELS TO MARX
IN LONDON
Manchester, 20 July 1854
Dear Marx,
To judge by your total silence you must either be hard at work or making tremendous EFFORTS to raise money. [1] I would inform you that, after the brother of Dronke's principal[2] has been to Bradford, Dronke will be in a position to shell out some money—just how much, it is impossible to say, but about £3 or £4. The brother arrives this week, so you should be able to rely on it in, say, 3 weeks' time.
Naut has been in London, here and in Bradford and, until he ran into Dronke in the street, had kept out of everyone's way. Dronke says he is hellish slack; apparently he—Naut—only saw Daniels once or twice in the street and doesn't even know whether he's living in Cologne or out in the country. Bürgers and a tailor—who, he was unable to say—are in Glatz and said to be quite well, and Becker is in Weichselmünde.[3] Otherwise all Naut could find to say was that it would be fine if in Prussia they could have a constitution like the one in England.
Dronke, by the way, has got himself into a serious scrape, so that the money may not be forthcoming after all. For when he was here 4 or 6 weeks ago he got drunk and, at one o'clock in the morning or thereabouts, made a grab at a female in the street; she, a married, middle-class woman, boxed his ears, whereupon he KNOCKED her DOWN. True, Dronke's own version of the story is slightly different, but that is what seems to have happened. The husband arrived on the scene and went to fetch the police, who didn't want to get mixed up in it. The business was protracted by Dronke's spurious excuses and now he has finally received an ATTORNEY'S letter demanding an APOLOGY AND COMPENSATION, failing which the FOREIGNER is to be made an example of. Since Buckup's brother is just due to come, you can imagine the situation. We shall try and reach an accommodation, but it will probably cost money. Keep the matter under your hat, by the way, otherwise I'll have instant trouble with the little man, since Imandt will promptly write to him about it; in general, by no means everything I write to you is intended for the crew at large.
In other ways it suits me very well that the swank and swagger of the Heise-Dronke-Imandt trio should come to an inglorious end, for otherwise one would get no respite from these people with their rumbustious drunken contentiousness. Heise, at any rate, has his SETTLER in the shape of a crooked finger which he will probably retain for the rest of his days, and Dronke, too, has doubtless had enough.
SO NO MORE FROM YOUR AFFECTIONATE
F. E.