| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 1 November 1876 |
ENGELS TO ERNST DRONKE[1]
IN WATERLOO [Draft]
[London,] 1 November 1876
Dear Dronke,
I am writing today to tell you what I was on the point of telling you last Friday[2] when you categorically refused to let me intervene in any way.
I am not in a position to lose the sum of £150, still less £200, nor, by the same token, to gamble with it. If I were still in business,[3] when any loss incurred could be made good in the course of time, that would be a rather different matter. Hence, even if I were on a different footing with Götz, whom I barely know by sight, and even if I didn't find the whole transaction highly unpleasant, in that it can't be carried out without the prior knowledge of Kyllmann, and therefore of Dr Borchardt, I would, under no circumstances, undertake a guarantee of the kind you want.
Even if I were still in business, I obviously couldn't consider gaily staking, for old friendship's sake, the sum of £150 on a business about whose standing I know absolutely nothing. But all the same I could have gone further than I can now when it's no longer possible for me simply to write off a loss of this order. On the other hand, I should be glad to help you so long as it's simply a question of making funds available to you for a stated period without my incurring a risk of this kind.
You had offered my brother-in-law[4] a POLICY amounting to £300 as collateral security. I told him that if he was willing to agree to your proposal I would pay him the £150 in the event of your not having paid it at the end of 6 months.[5] I could have raised the sum by then, which I was unable to do at that moment, and he would then have held the POLICY as security for myself. But he refused so much as to entertain the thing. Had you then made me exactly the same offer as you made my brother-in-law, I should not, it is true, have been in a position to advance you the £150 immediately, but no doubt something might have been arranged. Now, however, the latest American drawing has brought me a 5/20 bonus, the result being that I am in a position to make available over £150; it is at your disposal for a period of 6 months, provided you give me the POLICY as security. It will in any case be as safe with me as with anyone else, if not safer.
I have told you in all frankness how I see the matter and how far I'm able to go. Maybe you have other proposals to make, in which case I shall be glad to consider them. Just one final word: Whatever we may arrange, let it be arranged strictly between ourselves, with no third party, giving of guarantees, etc.; it's much simpler.