| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 22 August 1889 |
ENGELS TO HERMANN ENGELS
IN ENGELSKIRCHEN
Eastbourne, 22 August 1889
4 Cavendish Place
Dear Hermann,
The statement of account received with thanks; no doubt it will be correct.
Would you be so kind as to forward the enclosed note to young or now, I suppose, old Caspar[1] —I don't know whether he lives in Krefeld or Barmen. As I learn from R. Blank, whom I ran into here a week ago, things aren't going too well with those chaps; if so, I am sorry.
I have been here a fortnight but am, alas, having more rain than I can do with. Ever since the English have begun holding their naval manoeu- vres in August, the weather during that month has been truly atrocious and yesterday the words of the old song came true here:
On 21 August, just gone by, In storm and rain there came a spy, Who tidings to the prince did give, etc.[2]
In consequence of which three big warships sailed past this morning, but we still await the famous naval battle which is to take place in the Channel, before our very eyes.
I shall probably be staying here another fortnight or three weeks, if the rain isn't too bad, for
'Back to my home I cannot go', the place being full of whitewashers, paperers, painters and other work- men, who make three-quarters of the rooms uninhabitable and, once they're in the house, you never know when you'll be rid of them again. This is because in England large-scale industry has ruined the crafts but has not been able to find anything else to put in their place. For a long time now the Germans have not had the sole prerogative of providing shoddy wares in return for good money; the Londoners have a positively stunning aptitude for this. In America, however, it's altogether different. So far as ordinary, everyday business dealings are concerned, in which no speculation is involved, America is, I believe, the most reliable country in the world—the only one in which you will still find 'good workmanship'.
I trust you are all well. Much love to Emma[3] and to the children and grandchildren, as well as to the rest of the Engels-kirchen, from
Your old
Friedrich