Letter to Friedrich Engels, April 28, 1862

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 28 April 1862


First published abridged in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 3, Stuttgart, 1913 and in full in MEGA, Abt. III, Bd. 3, Berlin, 1930
Published in English in full for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 41


MARX TO ENGELS[1]

IN MANCHESTER

[London,] 28 April 1862

Dear Frederick,

My wife was discreet enough not to write to Dana. What the intention was is now unmistakably evident from the fact that the fellows don't even send me the Tribune any more.[2]

Enclosed letter from Friedländer. Arrived on Saturday.[3] Fine ideas these Germans have. I am to send him an article on the opening [of the exhibition[4] ], which, with the SEASON TICKET needed to this end, the clothes I'd have to buy and sundry incidental expenses, would cost me at least 10 guineas—and, IN EXCHANGE, the prospect of selling a total of 4 to 6 articles à £8 (summa summarum[5] ), or, at very best, à £12. And, since one must always assume the minimum where these chaps are concerned, I should actually lose money on the 4 articles! I have written to tell him[6] that I am confined to my room and cannot therefore send off on Thursday the desired inaugural sermon but shall, from time to time, submit a few articles on the exhibition along with the other ones. So far as the 'other' articles are concerned, the cat is now out of the bag.[7] 1 article per week (o £1), and even that is hedged about with somewhat hypothetical clauses. I must accept, of course, and have already accepted, since something is better than nothing at all. What the chaps are particularly interested in at the moment is America, and I should be grateful if you would send me an article (before the end of the week that is) on the progress of the war (I mean the battle of Corinth[8] ), and generally write to me from now on whenever military events take a new turn. If only to disseminate correct views on this important matter in the land of the Teutons. (I had already revised your earlier articles for them; were published, what's more.[9] )

In his new science, Vico says that Germany is the only country in Europe where an 'heroic tongue' is still spoken.[10] Had he had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with the Vienna Presse or the Berlin National-Zeitung, the old Neapolitan would have abandoned this preconceived idea.

On arriving in London,897 I found a letter from my LANDLORD, in which he said he would call today (28 April) in order to get the rest of the £20. However, he can't have a centime. During my month's absence, the list of debts relating to IMMEDIATE NECESSITIES has, of course, grown. In addition, there are 2 extra items that must be paid for and are even more urgent than the LANDLORD. Firstly, £7 for the piano MASTER since, CIRCUMSTANCES being what they are, my wife had to give him notice and hence must also pay him. Secondly, £10's worth must be redeemed from the pawn-shop, whither have departed not only the children's things but also those of the maids, right down to their boots and shoes. Because of the LANDLORD, I have so far remained incognito (excepto Borkheim), so that my wife may tell him that I have not yet returned and attempt to put him off indefinitely. For it's a question of SHIFTING.

So far Borkheim has advanced £20; promises the remainder for the beginning of next week.[11]

My wife saw Dronke in the street with madame and offspring, but they didn't see her.

As regards Ariadne, adhuc sub judice lis est.[12] For the disputed point in this case is a legal one. In Diodorus[13] she figures as a star. I don't find her shown as a constellation. Rather, indeed, as a planetoid, No. 43, Plate II, Mädler, latest issue, 5th Edition (which I have), Berlin 1861. So, at all events, the girl is in the firmament. As things stand, it is a nice legal point as to whether you or Lupus have won. Your general contention that all those persons placed by the Greeks among the stars live on in the astronomical charts would also seem to be doubtful in the extreme.

What was it you wanted besides the English army ESTIMATES? AS soon as I am 'mobile' again, I shall see to the matter.

Kinkel has departed with his tail between his legs. He makes no reply. Instead, a line or two from his man Beta in which the swine attests that it was only after 6 months' urging on his part that Gottfried let him have the necessary biographical notes (which, from time immemorial, the said swine has been using regularly every 2 years) and the photograph, etc., at the request of Keil, editor of the Gartenlaube. But the real joke is that, after the MacDonald affair,[14] Keil and Beta (Juch has the relevant letter written by the last named and Eichhoff has seen it) refused to proceed with the matter, and it was only with difficulty that Gottfried engineered the final 'set-to'.[15] However, I am writing to Eichhoff, instructing him to drop the matter for the time being, since otherwise he'll take the edge off Gottfried's defeat.[16] For Juch is too cowardly to come out with Beta's letter. Otherwise, he would have already done so of his own accord in a note appended to the latter's statement.

Salut.

Your

K. M.

Little Jenny is still far from being her proper self.[17] Our youngest[18] has been seriously ill but is now recovered. You should read the enclosed excerpts from Urquhart.[19]

  1. ↑ An extract from this letter was first published in English in: Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Civil War in the United States, New York, 1937
  2. ↑ Engels means the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson on the Tennessee and the Cumberland by the Federals under Grant in February 1862. For details see the article 'The American Civil War' by Marx and Engels (present edition, Vol. 19). There are two inaccuracies in Engels' letter here. In the fighting referred to, the Southern troops were commanded, not by J. E. Johnston, who had won the battle of Bull Run, but by A. S. Johnston. Moreover, the latter had not been taken prisoner, as reported in The Times of 5 March 1862, which Engels read, but had withdrawn. The Times had given Johnston's name without his initials, and this misled Engels.
    The battle fought on the Bull Run river near Manassas, Virginia, on 21 July 1861 was the first major engagement of the US Civil War. The Federal army was defeated by the Secessionist forces.
  3. ↑ 26 April
  4. ↑ This refers to the second Great Exhibition (world industrial fair) held in London from May to November 1862.
  5. ↑ in all
  6. ↑ This letter by Marx has not been found.
  7. ↑ Marx uses the expression des Pudels Kern (the core of the matter) from Goethe's Faust, Teil I, Sc. 3.
  8. ↑ The battle mentioned by Marx took place on 6 and 7 April 1862. On the 6th, the Southern forces, commanded by Beauregard, defeated Grant's army at Pittsburg Landing (northeast of Corinth), but on the 7th, following the arrival of General Buell's forces, the Northerners counter-attacked and threw the Southerners back to Corinth. Engels probably wrote no article on the fighting at Corinth, but he gave an analysis of it in his letter to Marx of 5 May 1862 (see this volume, pp. 359-60).
  9. ↑ K. Marx and F. Engels, 'The American Civil War'.
  10. ↑ G. Vico, Principj di una scienza nuova.
  11. ↑ while Marx was in Manchester, Engels gave him a bill for £50 to be drawn on Borkheim.
  12. ↑ The case is still before the court (Horace, Ars Poetica, 78).
  13. ↑ [Diodorus Siculus,] Diodori bibliotheca historica.
  14. ↑ In September 1860, British Army Captain MacDonald, travelling in Germany, was arrested in Bonn on charges of disobeying the local authorities. He was kept in detention for six days, brought before a court and fined. The British government took advantage of the incident to whip up an anti-Prussia propaganda campaign. It was not until May 1861 that the conflict was resolved.
  15. ↑ Marx is relating the story of the publication of Beta's (Bettziech's) laudatory article on Kinkel headed 'Ein Nichtamnestirter'. It appeared in the journal Die Gartenlaube, No. 2, 1862, pp. 21-24, and No. 3, pp. 38-41. Marx got the details from a letter by K. W. Eichhoff dated 26 April 1862.
  16. ↑ This letter by Marx has not been found.
  17. ↑ See this volume, pp. 340 41, 352.
  18. ↑ Eleanor Marx
  19. ↑ From The Free Press published by Urquhart.