Letter to Laura Lafargue, December 19, 1891

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 19 December 1891


First published, in the language of the original (English), in: F. Engels, P. et L. Lafargue, Correspondance, t. III, Paris, 1959 and in full in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVIII, Moscow, 1940
Published in English in full for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 49


ENGELS TO LAURA LAFARGUE

AT LE PERREUX

London, 19 December 1891

My dear Laura,

Today I have just the time to inform you that the box with the usual pudding, cake, etc., has been safely forwarded by the usual in- strumentality yesterday and hope will reach you safely and in time.

20th December. You see I had not 'just the time' yesterday, for the dinner-bell called me off, it being 5.20 and only ten minutes to spare before closing of mail — so I thought it better to wait till today.

Schorlemmer cannot come this Christmas, and Pumps and family, whom I saw at Ryde for a few days last week, are in the same posi- tion. So then it struck me; would it not be a bit of a change and rest for you and Paul to come over and take possession of the top front bedroom for a week or so? Surely you must want some interruption of that restless sort of life which Paul's election 33° and its consequences have thrown you both into. And the bright skies of Paris must make you long for a good old-fashioned London fog such as is now overhang- ing me. So I do hope you will make up your minds, and if Paul should have engagements up to Christmas, you might come first, and he fol- low next week to spend at least the passage from '91 to '92 with us.

In the meantime I must not forget 'the compliments of the season' and the old-established form in which I ought to present them to you, namely the enclosed bit of pink paper which I hope you will do me the kindness to accept.

Schorlemmer is still suffering from deafness but hopes to be cured, if he can keep free from colds this winter. So I have not the heart to press him, especially as his ear-doctor says he always comes back from London worse than he went.

I am glad Paul has deposed a motion on the separation of Church and State. In his first speech, it appears to me as if the violent inter- ruptions from all sides had prevented him from developing clearly and unmistakably what he intended to say, and that the Dumays and Radicals 14? and even Floquet tried to use that as a peg to hang on their cheap criticisms. This motion will re-establish clearness.[1]

My dear Laura, the fog is getting so perfect that I must give up writing in order not to ruin my eyes — writing by gas-light being still strictly prohibited. So in the hope of soon learning that you are get- ting ready for the road, and with kind regards from Louise, I remain

ever yours,

F. Engels

  1. ↑ On 17 December 1891 Paul Lafargue, on behalf of the French Workers' Party, submitted to the Chamber of Deputies a bill on the separation of the Church from the State, which was, by and large, based on the decree of the Paris Commune of 2 April 1871. It envisaged the cancellation of the cults budget, the confiscation of Church property, with the means thus obtained to be used for popular education and social security, and a ban on the building of churches and the involvement of workers in religious societies. The bill was published in Le Socialiste, No. 66, 26 December 1891.
    Lafargue's maiden speech in the Chamber of Deputies (8 December 1891) was a substantiation of his bill on a full amnesty for persons charged with political of fences. The speech was repeatedly interrupted by noise and heckling from bour geois deputies. It was published verbatim in Le Socialiste, No. 65, 19 December 1891.