F. Engels. Rapid Progress of Communism in Germany
1
[The New Moral World No. 25, December 13, 1844]
Hoping, as I do, that your countrymen will be glad to hear something on the progress of our common cause on this side of the channel, I send you a few lines for your paper.[3] At the same time, I rejoice in being able to show that the German people, though, as usual, rather late in mooting the question of Social Reform, are now exerting themselves to make up for lost time. Indeed, the rapidity with which Socialism has progressed in this country is quite miraculous. Two years ago, there were but two solitary individuals who cared at all about Social questions; a year ago, the first Socialist publication was printed.(1) It is true, there were some hundreds of German Communists in foreign countries; but being working men, they had little influence, and could not get their publications circulated among the "upper classes". Besides, the obstacles in the way of Socialism were enormous; the censorship of the press, no right of public meeting, no right of association, and despotic laws and secret courts of law, with paid judges to punish every one who in any way dared to set the people about thinking. And notwithstanding all this, what is the state of things in Germany now? Instead of the two poor devils vho wrote about Socialism to a public no ways acquainted with, or interested in the question, we have dozens of clever writers preaching the new gospel to thousands who are anxious to hear e>erything connected with the subject; we have several papers as radically Socialist as the censorship will allow, principally the Trler'sche Zeitung (Gazette of Trier), and the Sprecher (Speaker) of Wesel; we have a paper published under the free press of Paris,(2)
and there is no periodical, save those under the immediate influence of the governments, but comments every day, and in very creditable terms, upon Socialism and the Socialists. Our very opponents want the moral courage to speak their full minds against us. Even the governments are obliged to favour all legal movements in the direction towards Socialism. Societies are forming everywhere for ameliorating the condition of the working people, as well as for giving them the means to cultivate their minds, and some of the highest officers of the Prussian Government have taken an active part in those associations. In short, Socialism is the question of the day in Germany, and in the space of a year, a strong Socialist party has grown up, which already now commands the respect of all political parties, and is principally courted by the liberals of this country. Up to the present time our stronghold is the middle class, a fact which will perhaps astonish the English reader, if he do not know that this class in Germany is far more disinterested, impartial, and intelligent, than in England, and for the very simple reason, because it is poorer. We, however, hope to be in a short time supported by the working classes, who always, and everywhere, must form the strength and body of the Socialist party, and who have been aroused from their lethargy by misery, oppression, and want of employment, as,well as by the manufacturing riots in Silesia and Bohemia.[79] Let me on this occasion mention a painting by one of the best German painters, Hübner, which has made a more effectual Socialist agitation than a hundred pamphlets might have done. It represents some Silesian weavers bringing linen cloth to the manufacturer, and contrasts very strikingly cold-hearted wealth on one side, and despairing poverty on the other. The well-fed manufacturer is represented with a face as red and unfeeling as brass, rejecting a piece of cloth which belongs to a woman; the woman, seeing no chance of selling the cloth, is sinking down and fainting, surrounded by her two little children, and hardly kept up by ar old man; a clerk is looking over a piece, the owners of which a e with painful anxiety waiting for the result; a young man shows to his desponding mother the scanty wages he has received for his labour; an old man, a girl, and a boy, are sitting on a stone bench, and waiting for their turn; and two men, each with a piece of rejected cloth on his back, are just leaving the room, one of whom is clenching his fist in rage, whilst the other, putting his hand on his neighbour's arm, points up towards heaven, as if saying: be quiet, there is a judge to punish him. This whole scene is going on in a cold and unhomely-looking lobby, with a stone floor: only the manufacturer stands upon a piece of carpeting; whilst on the other side of the painting, behind a bar, a view is opened into a luxuriously furnished counting-house, with splendid curtains and looking-glasses, where some clerks are writing, undisturbed by what is passing behind them, and where the manufacturer's son, a young, dandy-like gentleman, is leaning over the bar, with a horsewhip in his hand, smoking a cigar, and coolly looking at the distressed weavers. The painting has been exhibited in several towns of Germany, and, of course, prepared a good many minds for Social ideas. At the same time, we have had the triumph of seeing the first historical painter of this country, Charles Lessing, become a convert to Socialism. In fact, Socialism occupies at this moment already a ten times prouder position in Germany than it does in England. This very morning, I read an article in a liberal paper, the Cologne Journal,(3) the author of which had for some reasons been attacked by the Socialists, and in which article he gives his defence[80]; and to what amounts it? He professes himself a Socialist, with the only difference that he wants political reforms to begin with, whilst we want to get all at once. And this Cologne Journal is the second newspaper of Germany in influence and circulation. It is curious, but, at least in the north of Germany, you cannot go on board a steamer, or into a railway-carriage, or mail-coach, without meeting somebody who has imbibed at least some Social idea, and who agrees with you, that something must be done to reorganise society. I am just returning from a trip to some neighbouring towns, and there was not a single place where I did not find at least half-a-dozën or a dozen of out-and-out Socialists. Among my own family — and it is a very pious and loyal one — I count six or more, each of which has been converted without being influenced by the remainder. We have partisans among all sorts of men — commercial men, manufacturers, lawyers, officers of the government and of the army, physicians, editors of newspapers, farmers, etc., a great many of our publications are in the press, though hardly three or four have as yet appeared; and if we make as much progress during the next four or five years as we have done in the past twelve months, we shall be able to erect forthwith a Community. You see, we German theorists are getting practical men of business. In fact, one of our number has been invited to draw up a plan of organisation and regulations for a practical Community, with reference to the plans of Owen, Fourier, etc., and profiting of the experience gained by the American Communities and your own experiment at Harmony,(4) which I hope goes on prosperously. This plan will be discussed by the various localities and printed with the amend-ments. The most active literary characters among the German Socialists are: — Dr. Charles Marx, at Paris; Dr. M. Hess, at present at Cologne; Dr. Ch. Grün, at Paris; Frederick Engels, at Barmen (Rhénan Prussia); Dr. O. Lüning, Rheda, Westphalia; Dr. H. Püttmann, Cologne; and several others. Besides those, Henry Heine, the most eminent of all living German poets, has joined our ranks, and published a volume of political poetry, which contains also some pieces preaching Socialism. He is the author of the celebrated Song of the Silesian Weavers, of which I give you a prosaic translation, but which, I am afraid, will be considered blasphemy in England. At any rate, I will give it you, and only remark, that it refers to the battle-cry of the Prussians in 1813:—"With God for King and fatherland!" which has been ever since a favourite saying of the loyal party. But for the song, here it is[81]: —
Without a tear in their grim eyes,
They sit at the loom, the rage of despair in their faces; "We have suffered and hunger'd long enough; Old Germany, we are weaving a shroud for thee And weaving it with a triple curse.
"We are weaving, weaving!
"The first curse to the God, the blind and deaf god
Upon whom we relied, as children on their father;
In whom we hoped and trusted withal,
He has mocked us, he has cheated us nevertheless.
"We are weaving, weaving!
"The second curse for the King of the rich,
Whom our distress could not soften nor touch;
The King, who extorts the last penny from us,
And sends his soldiers, to shoot us like dogs.
"We are weaving, weaving!
"A curse to the false fatherland,
That has nothing for us but distress and shame,
Where we suffered hunger and misery —
We are weaving thy shroud, Old Germany!
"We are weaving, weaving!"
With this song, which in its German original is one of the most powerful poems I know of, I take leave from you for this time, hoping soon to be able to report on our further progress and social literature.
Yours sincerely,
An old friend of yours in Germany [The New Moral World No. 37, March 8, 1845]
Barmen, Feb. 2nd, 1845[82]
Since I last addressed you, the cause of Communism has been making the same rapid progress as during the latter part of the year 1844. A short time ago I visited several towns on the Rhine, and everywhere I found that our ideas had gained, and were daily gaining more vantage ground than when I last left those places. Everywhere I found fresh proselytes, displaying as much energy in discussing and spreading the idea of Communism as could possibly be desired. A great many public meetings have been held in all the towns of Prussia, for the purpose of forming associations to counteract the growing pauperism, ignorance and crime among the great mass of the population.[83] These meetings, at first supported, but when becoming too independent, checked by the Government, have, nevertheless, forced the Social question upon the public attention, and have done a great deal towards the dissemination of our principles. The meeting at Cologne was struck so much by the speeches of the leading Communists, that a committee for drawing up the rules of the association was elected, the majority of which consisted of thorough Communists. The abstract of rules was, of course, founded upon Communist principles; organisation of labour, protection of labour against the power of capital, &c, and those rules were adopted almost unanimously by the meeting. Of course the sanction of Government, which is necessary in this country for all associations, has been refused; but since those meetings have been held, the question of communities has been discussed everywhere throughout Cologne. At Elberfeld, it was pronounced as the fundamental principle of the association, that all men had an equal right to education, and ought to participate in the fruits of science. The rules of the association, however, have not yet been confirmed by the Government, and in all probability they will share in the lot of the Cologne rules, as the parsons got up an association of their own as soon as their plan, to make the Society a branch of the town mission, had been rejected by the meeting. The liberal association will be prohibited, and the parsons' association will be supported by Government. This, however, is of the little importance as the question having been mooted once, is now generally discussed throughout the town. Other associations have been formed at Munster, Cleve, Düsseldorf, etc., and it remains to be seen what the results will be. As to Communist literature, a collection of papers relating to this subject has been published by H. Püttmann, of Cologne, containing among the rest, an account of the American communities, as well as of your own Hampshire Establishment, which has done very much towards annihilating the prejudice of the impracticability of our ideas.[84] Mr. Püttmann, at the same time, has issued the prospectus of a quarterly review,[85] the first number of which he intends issuing in May next, and which will be exclusively dedicated to ttie promulgation of our ideas. Another monthly periodical[86] will be commenced by Messrs. Hess of Cologne, and Engels of Barmen, the first number to be published on the first of April next; this periodical will contain facts only, showing the state of civilised society, and preaching the necessity of a radical reform by the eloquence of facts. A new work by Dr. Marx, containing a review of the principles of Political Economy, and politics in general, will be published shortly. Dr. Marx himself has been forced by the French Conservative Government, to quit his abode at Paris.[87] He intends to go to Belgium, and if the vengeance of the Prussian Government (which has induced the French Ministers to expel Marx) follows him even there, he must go to England. But the most important fact which has come to my knowledge since my last, is, that Dr. Feuerbach, the most eminent philosophical genius in Germany at the present time, has declared himself a Communist. A friend of ours lately visited him in his retired country seat, in a remote corner of Bavaria, and to him he declared his full conviction that Communism was only a necessary consequence of the principles he had proclaimed, and that Communism was, in fact, only the practice of what he had proclaimed long before theoretically. Feuerbach said, he had never been delighted so much with any other book, as with the first part of Weitling's Guarantees.[3] I never dedicated, he said, a book to anybody, but I feel much inclined to dedicate to Weitling
my next work. Thus the union between the German philosophers, of whom Feuerbach is the most eminent representative, and the German working men represented by Weitling, an union which, a year ago, had been predicted by Dr. Marx,b is all but accomplished. With the philosophers to think, and the working men to fight for us, will any earthly power be strong enough to resist our progress?
An old friend of yours in Germany
W. Weitling, Garantien der Harmonie und Freiheit.— Ed.
K. Marx, Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law. Introduction (see present edition, Vol. 3, pp. 175-87).— Ed.
Ill
[The New Moral World No. 46, May 10, 1845]
Dear sir,
Having been unable, for a time, from certain causes, to write you on the state of affairs in Germany, I now continue my reports, hoping that they will interest your readers, and follow each other more uninterruptedly than heretofore. I am glad of being enabled to tell you that we are making the same rapid and steady progress which we made up to my last report. Since I wrote to you last, the Prussian Government have found it unsafe to continue their support to the "Associations for the Benefit of the Working Classes". They have found that everywhere these associations became infected with something like Communism, and therefore they have done everything in their power to suppress, or at least obstruct, the progress of these associations. On the other hand, the majorities of the members of those societies, being composed of middle-class men, were totally at a loss with regard to the steps they might take to benefit the working people. All their measures — savings-banks, premiums and prizes for the best workers, and such like,— were instantly proved by the Communists to be good for nothing, and held up to public laughter. Thus the intention of the middle classes, to dupe the working classes, by hypocrisy and sham philanthropy, has been totally frustrated; while to us it gave an opportunity which is rather rare in a country of patriarchal police government: thus the trouble of the matter has been with the Government and the moneyed men, while we have had all the profit.
But not only these meetings were taken profit of for Communist agitation: at Elberfeld, the centre of the manufacturing district of Rhénan Prussia, regular Communist meetings were held. The Communists of this town were invited by some of the most respectable citizens to discuss their principles with them. The first of these meetings took place in February, and was more of a private character. About forty or fifty individuals assisted, including the attorney-general of the district, and other members of the courts of law, as well as representatives of almost all the leading commercial and manufacturing firms. Dr. Hess, whose name I have had more than once an opportunity of mentioning in your columns, opened the proceedings by proposing Mr. Koettgen, a Communist, as chairman, to which no opposition was made. Dr. Hess then read a lecture on the present state of society, and the necessity of abandoning the old system of competition, which he called a system of downright robbery. The lecture was received with much applause (the majority of the audience being Communists); after which Mr. Frederick Engels (who some time ago had some papers on Continental Communism[3] printed in your columns) spoke at some length on the practicability and the advantages of the Community system.b He also gave some particulars of the American colonies and your own establishment at Harmony in proof of his assertions. After which a very animated discussion took place, in which the Communist side was advocated by the foregoing speakers and several others; while the opposition was maintained by the attorney-general, by Dr. Benedix, a literary character, and some others. The proceedings, which commenced about nine o'clock in the evening, were continued until one in the morning.
The second meeting took place a week after, in the large room of the first hotel in the town. The room was filled with the "respectables" of the place. Mr. Koettgen, chairman of the former meeting, read some remarks on the future state and prospects of society, as imagined by the Communists, after which Mr. Engels delivered a speech0 in which he proved (as may be concluded from the fact, that not a word was offered in reply), that the present state of Germany was such as could not but produce in a very short time a social revolution; that this imminent revolution was not to be averted by any possible measures for promoting commerce and manufacturing industry; and that the only means
F. Engels, Progress of Social Reform on the Continent (see present edition, Vol. 3, pp. 392-408).— Ed.
See pp. 243-55 of this volume.— Ed. See pp. 256-64 of this volume.— Ed.
to prevent such a revolution — a revolution more terrible than any of the mere subversions of past history — was the introduction of, and the preparation for, the Community system. The discussion, in which some gentlemen of the profession of the bar, who had come from Cologne and Düsseldorf for the purpose, took part on the Communist side, was again very animated, and prolonged till after midnight. Some Communist poems, by Dr. Müller of Düsseldorf, who was present, were also read.
A week afterwards a third meeting took place in which Dr. Hess again lectured, and besides, some particulars about the American communities were read from a printed paper.(5) The discussion was repeated before the close of the meeting.
Some days afterwards a rumour was spread through the town that the next meeting was to be dispersed by the police, and the speakers to be arrested. The mayor of Elberfeld, indeed, went to the hotel-keeper, and threatened to withdraw the licence, if any such meetings in future should be allowed to take place in his house. The Communists instantly communicated with the mayor about the matter, and received, the day before the next meeting, a circular directed to Messrs. Hess, Engels and Koettgen, by which the provincial Government, with a tremendous amount of quotations from ancient and written laws, declared such meetings to be illegal, and threatened to put a stop to them by force, if they should not be abandoned. The meeting took place next Saturday,(6)
the mayor and the attorney-general (who after the first meeting had absented himself) were present, supported by a troop of armed police, who had been sent by railroad from Düsseldorf. Of course, under such circumstances, no public addresses were delivered: the meeting occupied themselves with beef-steaks and wine, and gave the police no handle for interference.
These measures, however, could not but serve our cause: those who had not yet heard of the matter were now induced to ask for information about it from the importance ascribed to it by the Government; and a great many of those who had come to the discussion ignorant or scoffing at our proposals, went home with a greater respect for Communism. This respect was also partially produced by the respectable manner in which our party was represented; nearly every patrician and moneyed family of the town had one of its members or relatives present at the large table occupied by the Communists. In short the effect produced by these meetings upon the public mind of the whole manufacturing district was truly wonderful; and in a few days afterwards those who had publicly advocated our cause were overrun by numbers of people who asked for books and papers from which they might get a view of the whole system. We understand that the whole proceedings will shortly be published.
As to Communist literature, there has been exhibited a great activity in this branch of agitation. The public literally long for information: they devour every book published in this line. Dr. Püttmann has published a collection of essays,[3] containing an excellent paper by Dr. Hess, on the distress of modern society, and the means of redressing itb; a detailed description of the distressing state of the working people of Silesia, with a history of the riots of last spring; some other articles descriptive of the state of society in Germany; and, finally, an account of the American and Harmony communities (from Mr. Finch's letters and that of "One who has whistled at the Plough"c), by F. Engels. The book, though prosecuted by the Prussian Government, met with a rapid sale in all quarters. A number of monthly periodicals have been established: the Westphalian Steamboat,d published at Bielefeld, by Liming, containing popular essays on Socialism and reports on the state of the working people; the People's Journal," at Cologne, with a more decided Socialist tendency; and the Gesellschaftsspiegel (Mirror of Society), at Elberfeld, by Dr. Hess, founded expressly for the publication of facts characteristic of the present state of society, and for the advocacy of the rights of the working classes. A quarterly review, the Rheinische Jahrbücher (Rhenish Annals), by Dr. Püttmann, has also been established; the first number is now in the press and will shortly be published.
On the other hand, a war has been declared against those of the German philosophers, who refuse to draw from their mere theories practical inferences, and who contend that man has nothing to do but to speculate upon metaphysical questions. Messrs. Marx and Engels have published a detailed refutation of the principles advocated by B. Bauerf; and Messrs. Hess and Bürgers are engaged in refuting the theory of M. Stirner: — Bauer and Stirner being the representatives of the ultimate consequences of abstract German philosophy, and therefore the only important philosophical opponents of Socialism — or rather Communism, as in this country the word Socialism means nothing but the different vague, undefined, and undefinable imaginations of those who see that something must be done, and who yet cannot make up their minds to go the whole length of the Community system.
In the press are also — Dr. Marx's Review of Politics and Political Economy; Mr. F. Engels' Condition of the Working Classes of Great-Britain[3]; Anecdota, or a Collection of Papers on Communism[88]; and in a few days will be commenced a translation of the best French and English works on the subject of Social Reform.[89]
In consequence of the miserable political state of Germany, and the arbitrary proceedings of her patriarchal governments, there is hardly a chance of any but a literary connection between the Communists of the different localities. The periodicals, principally the Rhenish Annals, offer a centre for those who, by the press, advocate Communism. Some connection is kept up by travellers, but this is all. Associations are illegal, and even correspondence is unsafe, as the "secret offices" [90] of late have displayed an unusual activity. Thus it is only by the newspapers that we have received the news of the existence of two Communist associations in Posen and the Silesian mountains. It is reported that at Posen, the capital of Prussian Poland, a number of young men had formed themselves into a secret society, founded upon Communist principles, and with the intention of taking possession of the town; that the plot was discovered, and its execution prevented: this is all we know about the matter. This much, however, is certain, that a great many young men of aristocratic and wealthy Polish families, have been arrested; that since (more than two months) all watch posts are doubled and provided with ball cartridge; and that two youths (of 12 and 19 years respectively), the. brothers Rymarkiewicz, have absconded, and not yet been got hold of by the authorities. A great number of the prisoners are youths of from 12 to 20 years. The other so-called conspiracy, in the Silesian mountains, is said to have been very extensive, and also for a Communist purpose: they are reported to have intended to take the fortress of Schweidnitz, to occupy the whole range of mountains, and to appeal from thence to the suffering workpeople of all Germany. How far this may be true, nobody is able to judge; but in this unfortunate district, also, arrests have taken place on the depositions of a police spy; and a wealthy manufacturer, Mr. Schlöffel, has been transported to Berlin, where he is now under trial, as the supposed head of the conspiracy.
The associations of German Communists of the working classes in Switzerland, France and England continue to be very active; though in France, and some parts of Switzerland, they have much to suffer from the police. The papers announce that about sixty members of the Communist association of Geneva have been expelled from the town and canton. A. Becker, one of the cleverest of the Swiss Communists, has published a lecture delivered at Lausanne, entitled, "What do the Communists Want?"[3]
which belongs to the best and most spirited things of the sort we know of. I dare say it would merit an English translation, and I should be glad if any of your readers were acquainted enough with the German language to undertake it. It is, of course, only a small pamphlet.
I expect to continue my reports from time to time, and remain, etc.
An old friend of yours in Germany
Published in The New Moral World Nos. 25, 37 and 46, December 13, 1844, March 8 and May 10, 1845
Endnotes
[79] A. The riot of the Silesian weavers took place on June 2-4, 1844, and was described by Marx in his article, "Critical Marginal Notes on the Article 'The King of Prussia and Social Reform. By a Prussian"', and by Engels in his reports "News from Prussia", and "Further Particulars of the Silesian Riots" (see present edkion, Vol. 3). Soon after the Silesian events, in the second half of June 1844, there w£s a rising of textile workers in Prague, which led to workers' uprisings in a number of other Bohemian industrial areas, including Reichenberg (now called Libérée) and Böhmisch Leipa (now called Ceska Lipa). The workers' movement, which was accompanied by the wrecking of factories and the destruction of machinery, was suppressed by government troops.
[80] The reference is to the article "Ein 'socialistischer' Spuk", which was published unsigned in a supplement to the Kölnische Zeitung No. 314, November 9, 1844.
[81] The translation was made by Engels after the earlier version of Heine's poem "Die Schlesischen Weber". Unlike the text first published in the newspaper Vorwärts! No. 55, July 10, 1844, the first stanza of this translation has an additional line, the third. A later version, edited by the author, with the additional, fifth stanza, was published in 1847.
[82] In The New Moral World the letter was dated February 22. But Engels reports on events which he witnessed or took part in between February 2 and 22, in particular the communist meeting at Elberfeld on February 8, not in this, but in the lollowing article of the series (see pp. 237-38 of this volume). Hence either the dating is a misprint, or else was deliberately changed by the editors in order to disguise the time lag between the writing of the article and its publication.
[83] The reference is to the " Associations for the Benefit of the Working Classes" which were formed in a number of Prussian towns in 1844-45 on the initiative of the German liberal bourgeoisie, which had been alarmed by the rising of the Silesian weavers, in the summer of 1844 (see Note 79). They hoped by this means to divert the German workers from militant forms of struggle. But despite the efforts of the bourgeoisie and the governmental authorities to give these associations an innocent and philanthropical appearance, their establishment only gave fresh impetus to the urban masses' political activity and drew the attention of broad sections of German society to the social question. The scope of the movement to establish such associations was especially great in the towns of the industrial Rhine province, where the antagonisms between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat were acute and Prussian absolutism was faced with a radical-democratic opposition. The révolu-tionary-democratic intelligentsia used meetings called to set up associations and discuss their statutes for the purpose of popularising radical ideas and counteracting the influence of the clergy and the liberal bourgeoisie. Seeing that the associations had taken so unlooked for a direction, the Prussian Government hastily cut short their activity in the spring of 1845 by refusing to approve their statutes and forbidding them to continue their work. In Elberfeld in November 1844 an Educational Society was founded. From the very beginning its' organisers had to fight attempts by the local clergy to bring it under their influence and give its activity a religious colouring. Engels and his friends wished to use the society's meetings and its committee to spread communist views. The statute of the society was not approved by the authorities and the society itself ceased to exist in the spring of 1845.
[84] The reference is to the annual Deutsches Bürgerbuch für 1845, established in Darmstadt by the radical publicist H. Püttmann in December 1844. Besides several articles of the German or "true" socialist trend which was then emerging, the journal carried works by such révolu tionary-democratic writers as W. Wolff and the poet G. Weerth- It also contained Engels' essay "Description of Recently Founded Communist Colonies Still in Existence" (see pp. 214-28 of this volume and Note 75). The next issue of the Deutsches Bürgerbuch, which appeared in Mannheim in the summer of 1846, contained Engels' translation of "A Fragment of Fourier's on Trade", which he made in summer and autumn 1845, with an introduction and a conclusion censuring for the first time the tendencies inherent in "true socialism" (see pp. 613, 642-43 of this volume). The "true Socialists" and the publications spreading their views, among them the Deutsches Bürgerbuch, were later criticised in detail by Marx and Engels in The German Ideology and other works (see present edition, Vol. 5).
[85] What is meant is the prospectus of H. Püttmann's projected journal Rheinische Jahrbücher zur gesellschaftlichen Reform. Only two issues appeared, the first in Darmstadt in August 1845, the second in the small town of Bellevue, on the German-Swiss border, at the end of 1846. Marx and Engels used them to spread their communist views in Germany. The first issue carried the texts of Engels' speeches at meetings in Elberfeld on February 8 and 15, 1845 (see pp. 243-64 of this volume), and the second contained his article "Festival of Nations in London" (see present edition, Vol. 6). It was for this journal that Marx prepared in the spring of 1845 a long article on the German economist List (see pp. 265-93 of this volume). However, the journal was dominated by the "true Socialists", and Marx and Engels afterwards severely criticised it in The German Ideology (see present edition, Vol. 5).
[86] The reference is to the monthly" Gesellschaftsspiegel. Engels helped to organise this publication and compile its prospectus (see pp. 671-74 of this volume), but did not become one of its editors. The journal, which began to appear in 1845 in Elberfeld, edited by M. Hess, carried in January 1846 Marx's article "Peuchet: On Suicide" (see pp. 597-612 of this volume). But articles by "true Socialists" predominated.
[87] On January 16, 1845, the French authorities decided to banish from France Marx, Heine, Bürgers, Bakunin and other contributors to Vorwärts! The Prussian Government had already made repeated attempts to persuade the Guizot cabinet to close down the paper, and had launched a campaign against it in the reactionary press. Under pressure from public opinion the French Government was forced to annul its decision to expel Heine. But, on February 3, Marx was obliged to leave Paris and settle in Brussels. Before his departure, on February 1, 1845, Marx concluded a contract with the Darmstadt publisher K.F.J. Leske for the publication of his two-volume work Kritik der Politik und Nationalökonomie (see the Appendices to this volume).
[88] The reference is to the collection Neue Anekdota, which was published in Darmstadt in May 1845. It contained newspaper articles by M. Hess, K. Grün, O. Lüning and others, written mainly in the first half of 1844, which had been banned by the censor. Soon after the publication of the collection, Marx and Engels made a number of severely critical remarks about its contents, as can be seen from Griin's letters to Hess.
[89] The reference is to the projected publication in German of the "Library of the Best Foreign Socialist Writers", which, as we learn from Engels' letters to Marx from Barmen in February and March 1845, was repeatedly discussed by the two friends. A list, written by Marx, of authors whose works he proposed for inclusion in the "Library" is still extant (see p. 667 of this volume). But the project was not realised. The only work completed was "A Fragment of Fourier's on Trade" compiled by Engels with an introduction and a conclusion by him (see pp. 613-44 of this volume).
[90] "Secret offices" or "black offices" were establishments under the postal departments in France, Prussia, Austria and a number of other countries to deal with the inspection of correspondence. They had been in existence since the time of the absolute monarchies in Europe.
[3] Here and elsewhere Engels quotes Reichardt's reviews of C. Briiggemann's book, Preussens Beruf in der deutschen Staats-Entwickelung, und die nächsten Bedingungen zu seiner Erfüllung, Berlin, 1843 and A. Benda's Katechismus für wahlberechtigte Bürger in Preussen, Berlin, 1843. Both reviews were published in the Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, Heft VI, May 1844.