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Special pages :
Letter to Karl Marx, July 5, 1864
| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 5 July 1864 |
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 41
ENGELS TO MARX
IN LONDON
Manchester, 5 July 1864
Dear Moor,
When I wrote to you on 3 June, saying I would settle the business of the money on the 4th,[1] this can only have related to the money in the bank, about which I did actually make arrangements straight away. It didn't occur to me that you would want any more money for the present, and we had in fact agreed that you would write and say if you did wish to have any more; hence I simply left it on deposit with that philistine Steinthal, who does, after all, pay 5%.
But to SETTLE the matter of the legacy from the 3rd to the 4th of June would have been promising more than I or anyone else could do. I believe I also wrote and told you that this might be a fairly lengthy business, depending as it did on all sorts of legal formalities (ADVERTISING a request to Lupus's undeclared creditors, payment of estate duty, etc.) which can't be hurried along. However, I'll leave no stone unturned to wind up the affair quickly.
But this is not, of course, to say you won't get an approximate share of the bequest as soon as you want it. You'll be getting a minimum of £600—I hope more—so we'll be able to send you another £350 or so, and I shall see to it that you actually get it this week. I shall also badger Borchardt to send in his bill, for this is partly why much still remains to be settled.
If only you'd dropped me a couple of lines before now, I should have been able to procure the £350 for you at any time, i.e. within
a day or two. Today I can't do anything. I've been slaving away at the office all day, arguing with lawyers and G. Ermen (the DEED OF PARTNERSHIP isn't ready yet, and until then G. E. refuses to recognise my right to act as a partner[2]), on top of which I've had Dronke here. Now it's nearly 7 o'clock, and I've still had no DINNER, nor have I yet finished work. So you see how things are. Many regards.
Your
F. E.
- ↑ See this volume, p. 535.
- ↑ After the death of Engels' father in March 1864, his brothers proposed that he should renounce his title to the family concern in Engelskirchen in their favour. One of their arguments was that he had lived abroad since 1849. By way of compensation, he was to receive £10,000 to consolidate his legal and financial standing with the Ermen & Engels firm in Manchester, of which Engels hoped eventually to become a co-owner. His brothers' proposal infringed Engels' rights, since under English law the transfer of a deceased co-owner's title was highly complicated and problematic. Engels had lengthy talks with Gottfried Ermen on the terms of his continued collaboration with the firm (see this volume, pp. 134-35). It was not until 25 September 1862 that a contract was signed providing for Engels' eventual partnership. He became a co-owner in 1864 (see this volume, p. 548).