Letter to Thomas Allsop, April 20, 1877

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 20 April 1877


First published in the language of the original (English) in Economies et Sociétés, No. 6, Paris, juin 1967, Série S-11
Published in English in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 45


MARX TO THOMAS ALLSOP

IN LONDON

[London,] 20 April 1877
41 Maitland Park Road, N. W.

My dear and honoured Friend,

During your last stay at London I spoke with you of Wrôblewski. He was the most able and gallant general of the Paris Commune, and even at the age of 27[1] years, during the time of the Polish insurrection of 1863, the leader of the insurgent Lithuanians most redoubted by the Russians. During his exile in London he has lived in a poor but respectable way by drawing military maps and doing similar work. Though brought up in the usual style of Polish noblemen, he has courageously borne with more hardship than most of the workmen exiles. It would be in the interest of our cause to procure him the means of entering the Turkish service now that the war with Russia is at hand,[2] and all the more so that he wields great influence over his countrymen.

Myself, Engels and one or two other friends at London are willing to contribute our quota, if you and some of your friends would act in common with us. What he wants are the costs of travel and some money for dress etc. I hope that your health has been going on improving. Mrs Marx (who is rather ailing) and Tussy send their best love to you. As I do not know where to find you, I send this letter at haphazard. Old Leblanc, who will leave London for Paris, is still woefully beset by his marriage-mania.

Yours most devotedly,

Karl Marx

  1. ↑ Should be: 27.
  2. ↑ Engels' forecast based on an in-depth analysis of European policy in the Levant proved correct. The Russo-Turkish war began on 24 April 1877 and ended in defeat for Turkey. On 3 March 1878, the preliminary San Stefano Treaty (see Note 430) was signed, which granted complete sovereignty to Serbia, Montenegro and Romania.