Letter to Laura Lafargue, February 2, 1887

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To Laura Lafargue in Paris

London, February 2, 1887

My dear Laura,

I had finished Bel Ami on Monday night and was ruminating over the picture of Parisian journalism exhibited in it, thinking it must be exaggerated, when lo — on Tuesday morning your letter and Paul’s unroll to me a scene — from life — of Bel Ami, and so I must take off my hat to Guy de Maupassant. Well, this will do. Faut-il donc être canaille pour avoir un journal quotidien à Paris!

This is now the second time that our friends have made a daily paper— for others. And this time worse than the first. Lissagaray was a free lance, acting on his own hook for his own advancement, and might be left to die his own political death. But here the Possibilists step into the bed ready made for them; not only do they get a daily of their own but they get it through a victory over us. And as the Cri is bought for the cancans, the scandale and the feuilletons only, and the public which decide on its success or otherwise only take in the leaders because they are not compelled to read then, the high-falutin of Pyat, the dead dullness of Labusquière, the arrant and arrogant ignorance of Marouck will pass muster quite as much as the leaders of Guesde. Guebhard will still be paid in hard cash for his cornes and Séverine and Labruyère auront toujours de quoi se payer de bons déjeuners.

As to the Voie du Peuple—horrible dodging title!—I suppose it will go the way of the Citoyen after the coup d’état, and disappear after a few spasmodic efforts. If there was any hope of a man with 100,000 fr., that should have been turned to account in time; now when our people arrive defeated and turned out of doors, I am afraid that individual will be still harder to find.

The lesson to be drawn from this is the same as before, that a weekly organ which belongs to us is worth ten times as much as a daily one which we make for others, to be kicked out when it suits them and to make room for M. Brousse & Co. And this seems now to be the established function of our people in the daily press, and no doubt it will be repeated for a third time and exactly with the same results. Anyhow I hope that our ex-grands hommes from the grand journal will now condescend to pay a little more attention to the Socialiste which is after all their refuge during the entr’actes of their grand political drama. I have given Nim your message, she thanks you very much and remains on the tiptoe of expectation, as the penny-a-liner used to say 30 years ago.

Tell Paul that I had already rummaged in my head the advisability of reducing the strength of my eye lotion, and after his letter, have doubled the quantity of water contained in it which seems to answer very well. I shall also use his hot water application and expect that between the two my remnant of conjunctivitis will disappear.

Edward was to lecture again to-night at Farringdon Hall (for the Clerkenwell Branch of the League) on his American tour. He and

Tussy have had there two crowded nights on Wednesdays. But he has got a sore throat, and maybe Tussy will have to replace him. He intended to speak out about the Anarchists tonight and expected a crisis. How it will be now I do not know. He has already been invited by one Radical East Club to lecture there.

The Cri affair will finally decide Hyndman & Co, if ever they were undecided with regard to the support to give to the Possibilists. Séverine’s blagues about attempts to kick out all other factions will be explained as the usual intolerance of the Marxists and no doubt the whole will be traced back to ‘the hand that broke up the International’, by which they mean, taking Eccarius’ word for it, your humble servant. That is a thing which cannot be helped and is utterly indifferent to me. But it has been always our fate—and now our Paris friends share it—that the more we show that we are ready to work together with honest and sincere people so long as they stand on a truly working men’s platform— no matter how imperfect—the rogues and adventurers whose company we decline denounce us as intolerant, domineering and exclusive. I hope that our Paris friends will have occasion to convince themselves that Brousse is no worse than Hyndman. Both have united round themselves all candidates they could lay hands upon.

Pumps is a deal better but—apart from the special troubles she has gone through—her stomach is much out of order and she suffers from sleeplessness. Nevertheless she is much more cheerful, she was on the sofa yesterday and this morning.

Fortin writes to say that he is quite agreeable to our plan and will send you the 2 last chapters of the 18th Brumaire. He sends me a resolution they have passed, on the war question. When the style of commercial letter-writing becomes ampoulé it is something terrible.

Nim and little Lili who is here for a few hours—the children are with the old Roshers—send their love, and I ditto.

Yours affectionately

F. Engels

The Prussian government papers are awfully riled at the 6,000 Mark handed over to the Election Fund out of the profits of the Sozialdemokrat, they say it’s a lie: 1) such profits were never made, 2) if they had been made they would have been stolen by the managers of the paper. E pur si muove.

I enclose the cheque for £12.—which Paul writes for.