Letter to Lion Philips, May 6, 1861

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MARX TO LION PHILIPS

IN ZALT-BOMMEL

London, 6 May 1861

9 Grafton Terrace, Maitland Park, Haverstock Hill

Dear Uncle,

First, let me express my heartfelt thanks for the great friendship you have again shown me and the delightful hospitality extended to me under your roof. So as to avoid all suspicion of flattery, I shall make only the most fleeting allusion to the enormous pleasure I derived from consorting with a man of your experience who, on the one hand, observes the passing world with so humane, unbiassed and original an eye and, on the other, has preserved intact the fire and impetuosity of youth.

My onward journey from Bommel went entirely according to plan. In Rotterdam I found Jacques on the pier, spent a couple of hours chatting with him and then, the self-same day, hurried on to Amsterdam, where my business was speedily settled the next day. August and family—this time with the addition of his wife's niece from Rotterdam—were well and happy. August entrusted me with a special mission, namely to shake up Monsieur Jacques a little on my return to Rotterdam, for he is suffering plus ou moins from 'world-weariness', an illness which may simply be attributed to the fact that, unlike the great majority of mankind, he is self-critical and has not yet succeeded in adopting any definite political standpoint such as might be satisfactory to himself. On my return journey from Amsterdam I got to Rotterdam at half past nine at night, and had to board the STEAMER for London at 7 o'clock the following morning (Sunday). In the short time I spent with Jacques it was not, of course, possible for me to answer all the questions he put to me or even touch very briefly on all the points he raised. Therefore, having previously consulted his employers, Jacques decided to continue our discussion in London. I arrived in the world capital on Monday and found the whole family well and cheerful. Jacques turned up last Wednesday and left again yesterday morning, to the great regret of my family who would have liked to keep him here longer. We have arranged to conduct a kind of political correspondence with one another.

You will recall, dear Uncle, how you and I would often remark in jest that nowadays the rearing of human beings lags far behind cattle rearing. Now, having seen the whole of your family, I must declare you to be a virtuoso at rearing human beings. Never in my life have I made the acquaintance of a finer family. All your children have independent characters, each one an individual, each with his own intellectual predilections, and all equally distinguished by their humane culture.

Here in London there is great consternation over the course of events in America. The acts of violence which have been perpetrated not only by the SECEDED STATES, but also by some of the CENTRAL or BORDER STATES—and it is feared that all 8 BORDER STATES, namely Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Maryland, and Delaware, will side with the secessionists—these acts of violence have rendered all compromise impossible. There can be no doubt that, in the early part of the struggle, the scales will be weighted in favour of the South, where the class of propertyless white adventurers provides an inexhaustible source of martial militia. IN THE LONG RUN, of course, the North will be victorious since, if the need arises, it has a last card up its sleeve in the shape of a slave revolution. For the North, the great difficulty is the QUESTION [of] HOW TO GET THEIR FORCES TO THE SOUTH. Even AN UNOPPOSED MARCH—in this season—of 15 MILES PER DAY, WOULD BE SOMETHING TRYING; but Charleston, the nearest attackable point, is 544 miles from Washington, 681 from Philadelphia, 771 from New York and 994 from Boston, and the three last-named towns are the main operational bases against the South. The distance of Montgomery, the seat of the SECESSIONIST CONGRESS, from those same places is 910, 1,050, 1,130 and 1,350 MILES RESPECTIVELY. A cross-country march would therefore seem to be QUITE OUT OF THE QUESTION. (Use of the railways by the NORTHERN INVADERS would merely lead to their destruction.) Hence, all that remains is sea transport and naval warfare which, however, might easily lead to complications with foreign powers. This evening the English government is to announce in the Commons what ATTITUDE it intends to adopt in such an eventuality.

For myself personally, developments in America are naturally RATHER damaging since transatlantic newspaper readers have neither eyes nor ears just now for anything save their own affairs. However, I have received an advantageous offer from the Vienna Presse which I mean to accept provided certain ambiguities are satisfactorily cleared up. I should have to write for it from London. My wife has a specific objection to our moving to Berlin, as she does not wish our daughters to be introduced into the Hatzfeldt circle, yet keeping them out of it altogether would be difficult.

I have today had an extremely amicable letter from Lassalle. He has still heard nothing more from von Zedlitz, the Police President, regarding my RENATURALISATION. The conflict between police and public in Berlin has now, so Lassalle tells me, entered a new phase.

With warm regards to you and yours from myself and the whole family,

Your affectionate nephew

K. Marx