Letter to Friedrich Engels, August 30, 1852

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MARX TO ENGELS

IN MANCHESTER

London, 30 August 1852 28 Dean Street, Soho

Dear Engels,

You will have seen from the documents I sent you how Kinkel-Willich are manoeuvring. They are ignoring their deposi- tion by the guarantors in their immediate vicinity and are endeavouring to obtain individual votes by stealth, which is partly why Schurz left for America immediately after the 12th. (A further object is to set up kindergartens there, of the Friends of Light.) What the gentlemen have in mind is at long last to play a real role in the administration of the funds', from which they threaten to resign if not given their way. The point d''''argenf is this. The chaps have spent £200, which would hardly be ratified here. Hence the attempt to obtain from America, directly and 'with the utmost dispatch', authority to make use of the funds or to co-opt a third colleague so that they may act as a properly constituted body. They have, after their usual fashion, set about things very artfully. First, they sent the documents to America and Switzerland, behind the backs of the London guarantors. Then the letters were delivered to the latter on the 26th (although dated 11 and 12), with the remark that silence would be taken for consent.

But since there is a possibility that the majority of the guarantors, even in America and Switzerland, might vote against these gentlemen, they have, on the quiet, called a meeting of guarantors (friends of Kinkel) for 14 or 15 September in Antwerp, in order to safeguard themselves against all eventualities by means of an alleged congress resolution.

The nature of their much-vaunted 'strong' organisations in Germany will be plain to you from the following.

As you know, Gebert has allegedly left for America. Tout le monde le croit'" But this is how things really stand.

At the beginning of this month Kinkel-Willich sent an emissary to Germany, i.e. Gebert', the tipsy journeyman tailor. In Magdeburg he assembled a so-called communist community; for 3 consecutive days discussions were held, 26-30 members taking part; in the chair was one Hammel'; during the debates Marx and Engels were attacked with much acrimony;—in addition to various administra- tive and organisational questions there arose the question of how and in what manner a printing-house might be set up. They succeeded in finding an impoverished printer of books with a business in or near Magdeburg and concluded an agreement with him. He placed his office at their disposal for propaganda, the name of the firm being retained. In return he was paid 100 talers down and given a bill of exchange for 350 talers, maturing in a year's time reckoning from now.

The police knew about everything, beginning with Gebert's departure, and had him followed everywhere. They had their informant at the loutish gathering in Magdeburg. They don't intend to pull him in until he has completed his mission and compromised as many people as possible. The affair is most unfortunate for our prisoners in Cologne. If Gebert is pulled in, etc., I think the time would be ripe to denounce the fellows publicly and to issue a warning about them, namely that, from a secure hiding-place, they are playing into the hands of the German governments, especially the Prussian, for the purpose of pseudo-agitation and self-aggrandisement. I notified Cologne immediately. I can tell you only by word of mouth how I found out about the business. Over here, too, secrecy of mails is somewhat problematic.

Willich is quite gone to the dogs. He can no longer borrow from anyone on the strength of the imminence of ''the great day''''. A few days ago his friend Schärttner told him coram publico''* that ''free''

grub and booze must now cease. He turned red as a turkey-cock and the implacable Schärttner, promptly suiting action to word, insisted on his paying cash for the pots he had just imbibed. However Willich still obtains some, if inadequate, sustenance by tumbling his old philistine of a landlady. That, too, has become notorious and no one any longer believes in the asceticism of this Sancho Panza. When, together with Johann, etc., he writes, 'the time of the pen is past, the time of the sword has come', this last should read IN PI.AIN GERMAN: 'The time of fencing has come.'

Techow, the revolutionary general, is only sailing for Australia in a few days, accompanied by Madame Stirner and his fiancée. As you know, he has for some time been staying here with the Stirner woman. But then his fiancée arrives, a person of substance. Upon becoming aware of this, the Schmidt woman declares she will stand down. But now the fiancée, on learning that Techow has been living with the Schmidt woman, declares she no longer wants him and sends for her potential fiancé, an East Prussian farmer. Nevertheless he lives in the same house as herself, and the fiancé (the other one) an hour away from London. Poor Buridan- Techow!

A few days ago Pyat (Félix) called a reunion of his French adherents and laid before them a programme which is now to be published. Needless to say, 'God' had had a hand in it. One of those present objected to 'Cod' finding lodgment in a revolution- ary programme. In conformity with gouvernement direct'^ Pyat put it to the vote'. 'God' got by with a majority of 7. L''''être suprême est sauvé encore une fois'. God doth not forsake his own, as the saying used to go. Now it is: God's own do not forsake him. One good turn deserves another.

For a long time General Vetter was not seen in London; no one knew where he had gone. The mystère has now been cleared up. Vetter was travelling on an American passport, in which he figures as a painter, accompanied by his mistress, a singer named Ferenczi. He passed for an artist. She gave concerts at all places of importance and thus he travelled from Genoa and Milan to Rome, Naples and Palermo. Mazzini-Kossuth had provided him with PASSWORDS and recommendations. This gave him access to clandes- tine circles in Italy, while his ostensible TRADE introduced him into

the higher cercles'? He came back here some time ago and submitted a report to the 'European' Central «Committee.

('Notabene': Darasz died and was buried last week.) In brief, to the great mortification of the 'pious' Mazzini, L''''Italie s''''est tout à fait matérialisée'. On n''''y parle que commerce', affaires', soies', huiles et autres misères mondaines'. Les bourgeois calculent d''''une manière terriblement positive les pertes que la révolution de Mars les a fait subir et ne pensent qu''''à se reprendre sur le présent'. Quant à l''''initiative insurrectionnelle ils sont heureux de la laisser aux Français', à ce peuple frivole et sensualiste'. La seule chose', dont ils ont peur', c''''est que les Français ne se hâtent trop'.

Tu penses bien', mon cher', quel coup de foudre pour l''''archange Mazzini'. Le général Vetter', nommé déjà comme commandant supérieur des forces Mazzini'-'Kossuthiennes leur a déclaré que les choses étant ainsi', il ne saurait mieux faire que de passer avec sa maîtresse en Amérique'. Au bout du compte', le malheureux Mazzini est convenu avec Kossuth de vouloir bien laisser aux Français l''''initiative insurrectionnelle'!

Not to the vile multitude', however, but to Bonaparte. I have had a letter from Paris about this and other matters:

'Kiss, Kossuth's ambassador, has entered into relations here, not only with the Orleanists, but also with the Bonapartists. Kiss is acquainted with Jerome's sons. On the strength of this formal acquaintanceship, he was able to bamboozle Kossuth into concluding with the French government an alliance favourable to Hungary. The whimsical agitator fell into the trap and to this end dispatched Kiss to Paris, provided with gulden''. Kiss enjoys himself in coffee and other houses, from time to time appears in the antechamber of Pierre Bonaparte, pulls the wool over the latter's eyes, writes splendid reports to Kossuth, and Hungary's liberation is no longer in doubt. These revolutionaries par excellence send agents to conclude a life and death alliance with a "'tyrant'"''''.''

Mais ce n''''est pas tout'.

I have it from a reliable source that that old fool Lelewel and Thaddäus Gorzowski have been here on behalf of the Polish 'Centralisation'. They submitted to Kossuth-Mazzini an insurrec- tionary plan of which Bonaparte's co-operation is the PIVOT. These old jackasses of conspirators are always putting their foot in it. They had, and continue to have, as agent here a certain Count Lanckoronski or some such. This lad (lives at 7 Harington Street, Hampstead Road) is a Russian agent, and their insurrectionary plan was done the honour of being amended beforehand in Petersburg.

Your

K. M.