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Special pages :
Letter to Friedrich Engels, February 25, 1862
| Author(s) | Karl Marx |
|---|---|
| Written | 25 February 1862 |
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 41
MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London,] 25 February 1862
Dear Engels,
My prolonged silence is due, not to anything 'intrinsic', but to the sordid state of affairs which I didn't want to bore and plague you with.
As you know, on New Year's Day, I was able to SETTLE only that part of my debts which couldn't, or so it seemed, be put off any longer (e. g. my LANDLORD, to whom I shall owe a whole year's rent by the end of next month). Most of the money went on debts upon which bills had been drawn.
The Vienna 'Presse', as was only to be expected in view of the present rotten state of affairs in Germany, has not turned out to be the milch-cow it should have been. I am supposed to receive £1 per ARTICLE. But since the fellows only print perhaps one article in four, and quite often none at all, damn-all comes of it except loss of time and annoyance at having to write on spec, whether or no the gracious editorial board condescends to accord the article its imprimatur.
I had to give way in my lawsuit with Koller,[1] the main reason being that, as soon as the SOLICITOR wanted a £30 advance since the case went to a SUPERIOR COURT, I was not, of course, able to produce that sum. I had to pay/the SOLICITOR £5 for himself and for the COUNSEL he had retained, and also come to an arrangement with Koller whereby I am to pay him £18 by monthly instalments of £2; I paid him the first £2 on the last day of January, and have to pay the next £2 at the end of February, but what with, I don't know.
During the past 2 months the Presse has printed so little of my stuff that I have no balance there worth mentioning.
What makes the situation even PLEASANTEK is that for nearly 2 months now little Jenny has been undergoing medical treatment. The child has grown visibly thinner. Jenny is now already old enough to feel the full strain and also the stigma of our circumstances, and I think this is one of the main causes of her
physical indisposition. (Apropos. Yesterday Allen prescribed wine for her, and I'd therefore be grateful if you could send down a few bottles.) For instance, unbeknown to us, she called on Mrs Young to see whether she mightn't go on the stage.
TAKE ALL IN ALL, leading such a dog's life is hardly WORTH WHILE. As regards the copies of Urquhart's paper,[2] I haven't yet been able to get hold of them. Write and let me know with which issue to begin, and Collet will do what is necessary. Herewith the chap's denunciation of Bakunin,[3] whom I haven't seen. He is living at Herzen's place.
Have you by any chance inquired whether Lassalle's opus[4] did in fact go off to August Philips?
Salut.
Your
K. M.