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Special pages :
Letter to Friedrich Engels, November 28, 1860
| Author(s) | Karl Marx |
|---|---|
| Written | 28 November 1860 |
First published in English in full in The Letters of Karl Marx, selected and translated with explanatory notes and an introduction by Saul K. Padover, Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1979
Published in English in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 42
MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London,] 28 November 1860
Dear Engels,
My wife is now out of danger. Tell Lupus straight away, and give him my warm regards. The thing will drag on for a long time, and, as Allen says, when she is well again, she must go away at once for at least 4 weeks.
As for myself—the danger of infection being greatest for 10 days as from yesterday—I had myself revaccinated yesterday. Ditto Lenchen. A circumstance that has been of great help to me was having an appalling toothache. The day before yesterday, I had a tooth pulled out. While the fellow (Gabriel, he's called) did, in fact, pull out the root, after causing me great PHYSICAL PAINS, he left in a splinter. So, the whole of my face is sore and swollen, and my throat half closed up. This physical pressure contributes much to the disablement of thought and hence to one's powers of abstraction for, as Hegel says, pure thought or pure being or nothingness is one and the same thing.
Well, during these ten days, the isolation will have to be more stringent than ever.
I cannot write, of course, while in this state and, since the bill of £50 drawn on Dana 2 l/2 months ago[1] has in any case not been properly worked off—my wife had all manner of NERVOUS COMPLAINTS even before her illness, so that sundry matters were left undone and hence I'm in a great fix—I would ask you, at least during the next fortnight, to do as much writing as possible. Under the present circumstances it might seem to be appropriate to write to my old lady.[2] But ever since she allowed the Prussian corporalc to marry into the family, all INTERCOURSE has ceased in consequence of certain remarks passed by me. There has been an appalling spate of dunning from all quarters. To alleviate it, in some quarters at any rate, I have handed out the greater part of the £10. I wouldn't write about all this to you, who already do all you can and more, but que faire? But what's to be done? Moreover, all avenues are closed to me, for, strangely enough (due perhaps to the improvement), I cannot leave the house, since at the very time when I should be seeing as little of her as possible (which, of course, she can't be told), my wife wants me to be near her all the time.
Allen is of the opinion that, if she hadn't been twice vaccinated, she would not have pulled through. As things are, he considers even the SMALL POX to be a blessing. For, so he told me yesterday, he thought her nervous condition was such that this ailment was preferable to a nervous fever or something of that kind, which might otherwise have afflicted her.
The poor children are very scared. Allen is going to vaccinate them and the whole Liebknecht family on Friday.
You will probably be getting Herr Vogt on Friday.[3] There was some delay last week, because / was unable to complete the revision of the final sheets on time.
My best thanks for the wine. Even before it arrived, Allen had prescribed wine for me, along with another medicine of a less pleasant kind.
Your
K. M.