| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 11 March 1872 |
ENGELS TO LAURA LAFARGUE
IN MADRID
London, 11 March 1872
Dear Laura,
I should like to compliment you on Paul's articles in the Emancipation, which have given us all great pleasure, sending as they do a breath of fresh air into the desert of abstract declamation that prevails amongst the Spaniards.[1] Given all the tribulations and journeyings which have been inflicted on you over the past eighteen months and which, needless to say, I have followed with interest and at times with anxiety, it must be very gratifying for you to know that Paul's presence in Madrid, precisely at the decisive moment, has been of incalculable value both to us and to the whole Association. Had Bakunin & Co. won the day in Spain—and without Paul they would probably have done so—a split would have occurred and with it a public rumpus. But now this attempted rebellion has come to an ignominious end and we can proclaim a victoire sur toute la ligne[2] In those articles in the Emancipation where, for the first time, the Spaniards were treated to some genuine learning, you yourself played an important part, indeed the really learned part, which means that I, as Secretary for Spain, owe you especial thanks.
I see from the Naples Campana that Paul has also extended his activities in that direction. So much the better. Naples harbours the worst Bakuninists in the whole of Italy. Cafiero is a good chap, a born intermediary and, as such, naturally weak. If he doesn't improve soon, I shall give him up too. In Italy the journalists, lawyers and doctors have thrust themselves so much to the fore that up till now we have been unable to get in direct touch with the workers. That is beginning to change and we are discovering that the workers, as everywhere else, are quite different from their spokesmen. It is ludicrous—these people cry 'we want complete autonomy, we don't want leaders' and at the same time, more than in any other country, they allow a handful of doctrinaire bourgeois to lead them by the nose. The Spaniards are much better in this respect, for on the whole they have progressed a good deal further than the aforesaid Italians.
There have been great rejoicings at your home since the Longuet affair and if, at the time of your engagement, one or two people may have cracked bad jokes about CASTING SHEEFS EYES, you have now been fully avenged, for Jenny is doing her very best along similar lines. This business has, by the way, been of enormous benefit to her; she is happy and cheerful and also physically much better, while Longuet is a very kindly companion. Tussy is also very pleased about the affair and really gives the impression that she SHOULD NOT MIND TO FOLLOW SUIT. Day after tomorrow Longuet will give a guest performance at your house where he will cook sole à la normande, his national dish. We too have been invited and I shall be curious to see what my wife[3] makes of the taste. His last offering— boeuf à la mode—WAS NO GREAT SUCCESS.
The Fondevilles have ruined themselves utterly over here, morally speaking; they are out and out tricksters.
My best thanks for that amusing Spanish poem.[4] It has caused us a great deal of merriment.
I'm glad that Schnappy[5] is improving and hope soon to hear that he is perfectly well again. The poor little chap has already had a great deal to contend with.
So now good-bye, think kind thoughts of me and rest assured that, wherever you may go, my heartfelt interest will go with you. My wife, though still unknown to you, sends her best wishes.
Ever your old
General[6]