Letter to Friedrich Engels, January 29, 1861

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MARX TO ENGELS

IN MANCHESTER

[London,] 29 January 1861

Dear Engels,

When misfortunes come, they never come singly, as you will see from the enclosed letter from Dana. They have protested a bill for £30 I drew on them at 2 months' date on 10 December and, furthermore, have cancelled all articles for the next 6 weeks. Yesterday I went straight to Freiligrath, of course, and, if he is to have adequate security, about the only way out is for him to try and discount a bill which I shall give him on myself at 3 months. How I shall continue to make SHIFT here I can't imagine, for the rates, school, house, GROCER, butcher and God knows what else are denying me any further RESPITE. What a dirty trick it was of Dana's to refer in his statement of accounts to the critical period of 1858/59 when my contributions were reduced to 1 article per week purely as an exception — an agreement that was in any case rendered null and void years ago per usum and, what's more, explicitly by letter. Now he is deducting all the articles they didn't print last year. Conversely, allowing his incorrect assumption that the agreement of 1858/59 remains in force, he would still not have the right to condemn me to IV2 months' idleness. And yet there's no action I can take against the chaps, since I'm entirely dependent on them. I really don't know what to do, though I have long seen this crisis looming up.

Lassalle's letter also enclosed. In his present missive, he shows no sign of remembering the impression Vogt's rubbish had made on him. Still, it is better to see the light late rather than not at all. As to his proposed revival of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung—la Hatzfeldt, about whom I enclose a memorandum for you, has 300,000 talers at her disposal — I would, circumstances being what they are, clutch even at this straw, but the tide in Germany hasn't risen high enough yet to bear our ship. The thing would prove abortive from the very outset.

Toby has again written to Borkheim, inquiring whether it was true that he had never heard about our £90 refugee affair. I was despised in Germany, he said, hence the universal silence. Even the great L. Walesrode has declared that no one need reply to such scurrilities, etc. En passant, I should be grateful if you would send Borkheim—seeing that he contributed £12 to Herr Vogt—a reply to his letter. It is a point upon which he is very touchy.

Bücher and Rodbertus, who had been on the list of deputies for Berlin, were struck off by infuriated Little Germans following the publication of their statement. The latter is bad, but the way Bücher serves G. K. (Gottfried Kinkel) in the last issue of the Hermann is good.

Mr Kolatschek wrote yesterday asking for a complimentary copy of Herr Vogt in order to review it. This has been sent. There have been relatively large sales of the pamphlet in Petersburg and Riga; on the other hand, nothing (maybe 6 copies) in Cologne.

The story Lassalle tells about Zabel is a good one.

Salut.

Your

K. M.

The swinish Times didn't take your amnesty piece. Nor did the Standard. Now get the thing into the Guardian, which you should send down here and from which I shall take it and arrange through Borkheim for it to appear in the swinish Hermann, etc., and elsewhere.