Appendices
My Dear Karl,
A thousand thanks for the letter[42] and the SPECIE. I have not got Rheinländer's address, since you took your address book away with you. But, so as to lose no time, I have, none the less, written to him and directed the letter to Mark Lane, care of Gänsewinkel. I could not think of anybody who might be able to tell me his address, which is not indicated in his letters. If you think the letter might fail to reach him by this means, you had better write to him yourself. I shall at once betake my HUMBLE BEING to Baccalaureus and make my report. We have indeed learned of late to distinguish true and loyal friends from shams. What a difference between the lesser folk and the GRANDEES. Lassalle, by the by, has grown fearfully stupid and narrow-minded; even that modicum of lawyer's acumen he had has gone to the devil, and Heraclitus has made him hellishly DULL and dark.b None of his raisonnements' is valid, each overturning the last. Nothing could have given me greater pleasure than the news about your book. Russia has always been good ground for you.[643] In the long run, everything is going better than I had sometimes dared to hope in my hours of solitude. One becomes so beset by doubts and fears and in the end one despairs of everything, particularly when one thinks of the universal duplicity, baseness and cowardice — the Germans' behaviour with regard to the Humboldt CASE[644] alone is enough to
2. Jenny Marx to Engels. 14 August 1860
make them worthy of being liberated, KICKED and Jena-ed[645] by Bonaparte. Oh, what a crew! Just a few lines today. A thousand greetings from your dear, good, cheerful children and your
Jenny
1835-1871, Moscow, 1983
2
JENNY MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London, 14 August 1860] Dear Mr Engels,
Moor has asked me to say that, if you possibly can, you should concoct an article3 for him by Fridayb or Saturday. Several have, alas, already fallen by the way, and even today's still seems to me problematical.0 ANYTHING WILL DO. Maybe some chat about the attack on Venice — no matter what.
This week I hope to start copying the pamphlet/ The thing is taking ages, and I'm afraid Karl is making too thorough a job of it.
My pet bugbear is the 'analysis of Techow's letter'[56] and that, I should say, is where the snag lies. Everything else is making better headway.
Every day Schily and Becker send us piles of fresh documents, which are being incorporated into the thing. And I'm sorry to say that nothing has been done about finding a publisher yet. But the whole business is to be completed this week. 'And he who disbelieves it is mistaken.'6
Warm regards from the girls and myself.
Yours,
Jenny Marx
4. Jenny Marx to Louise Weydemeyer. 11 March 1861
3. Jenny Marx to Engels. After 5 October 1860
Dear Mr Engels,
Another proof-sheet" has just arrived, which Moor must look over at once and send back to the City. He has therefore asked me to tell you — in haste, as the last post goes soon — that the highly welcome £5 note has been safely received.
With warm regards from us all.
Yours,
Jenny Marx
4
JENNY MARX TO LOUISE WEYDEMEYER
Hampstead, 11 March 1861
My dear Mrs Weydemeyer,
Your kind letter arrived this morning and, so you can see how delighted I was to get it, I am sitting down straight away to write to you at some length since, from your friendly lines, I conclude that you like to hear from us, and that your recollection of us is as cordial as is ours of you. Indeed, how could such old party comrades and friends, on whom fate has imposed much the same joys and sorrows, the same sunny and gloomy days, ever become strangers, even though time and oceans have separated us? And thus from afar I hold out my hand to you as to one who is a plucky and loyal fellow fighter and fellow sufferer. Yes, my dear Mrs Weydemeyer, our hearts have often been heavy and troubled and I can imagine only too well what you have latterly had to endure, what struggles and worries and deprivations, having often been through the same thing myself. But suffering tempers us and love keeps us going.
During our early years here, we did indeed suffer bitterly, though today I will not dwell upon the many dark memories, the many losses we had to endure, nor upon the dear, sweet loved ones who have gone to their rest and whose images we always bear silently and with profound sorrow in our hearts.[3] Let me tell you today about a new period in our lives which, along with much that is sad, has, nevertheless, brought many a bright moment. In 1856, I and our three remaining girls(1) made a trip to Trier. My dear mother's delight on my arrival with her little grandchildren was indescribable but, alas, of short duration. The truest and best of mothers fell sick and, at the end of eleven days' suffering, her dear, weary eyes, having rested once more in benison on myself and the children, closed for ever. Your dear husband, who knew my affectionate mother, will best be able to gauge my sorrow. After our dearly loved one had been laid to rest, I left Trier, having arranged for the division between my brother Edgar and myself of what little my dear mother had bequeathed to us. Up till then, we had been living in 3 wretched furnished rooms in London. With the few hundred talers that my mother left, after all the sacrifices she had already made on our behalf, we settled into the small house we still occupy, not far from lovely Hampstead Heath[646] (a name that you, as the translator of The Woman in White,b will no doubt recall). It is indeed a princely dwelling compared with the holes we lived in before and, although it was furnished from top to bottom for little more than £40 (in which SECONDHAND RUBBISH played a leading role), I felt quite grand at first in our SNUG PARLOUR. All the linen and what little else remained of earlier finery were redeemed from 'Uncle's'd and I again had the pleasure of counting the damask table napkins which are, besides, all of old Scottish descent. Although the glory did not last for long — for soon one thing after another had to make its way back to the 'POP-HOUSE' (as the children call the mysterious shop with its three golden balls)—we did, nevertheless, revel in our domestic comfortableness. Then came the first American crisis and halved our income.[265] This meant a return to a more frugal way of life and debts. These last were necessary if our daughters' education, but recently begun, was to continue along the same lines as before. And this brings me to the highlight of our existence — the brighter aspect of our lives — our dear children. I am convinced that, if your dear husband was fond of the girls even as small children, he would be truly delighted with them, now that they are well-grown, blooming young damsels. Even at the risk of your regarding me as a very complacent and indulgent mother, I cannot resist singing the dear girls' praises. They are both endowed with exceptionally warm hearts, are gifted and have becoming modesty and maidenly good manners. Little Jenny will be seventeen years old on the 1st of May. She is a girl of great charm and very attractive appearance, with her thick, shiny dark hair and equally dark, shining, gentle eyes and dark, Creole-like complexion, which has, however, acquired a genuine English bloom. Her childlike face, round as an apple, wears a sweet and good-natured expression and, when the smiling lips part to reveal her nice teeth, one forgets her not very beautiful little snub nose. Little Laura, who was fifteen years old last September, is perhaps prettier and has more regular features than her elder sister, whose very opposite she is. As tall, slender and finely built as little Jenny, she is in all other respects lighter, more radiant and transparent. The upper part of her face might be described as beautiful, so lovely is her curly, wavy chestnut hair, so sweet the dear, greenish sparkling eyes, which flicker like eternal feux de joie, so noble and finely shaped is her forehead; however, the lower part of her face is somewhat less regular, nor is it as yet fully developed. A truly blooming complexion distinguishes both sisters, and both are so little given to vanity that I sometimes cannot help feeling secretly surprised, the more so since the same could not be said of their mother in her earlier days, whilst still in pinafore dresses. At school they have always carried off the first prize. They are completely at home in English and know quite a lot of French. They can read Dante in the Italian and also know a bit of Spanish; only German is their weak point and, although I do everything in my power to impose an occasional German lesson upon them, they never really bow to my wishes and neither my authority nor their respect is very much in evidence. Little Jenny has a special talent for drawing and her pastels are the finest adornment of our rooms. Little Laura so neglected drawing that, to punish her, we stopped her taking lessons. On the other hand, she practises the piano with great zeal and sings German and English duets with her sister most delightfully. Unfortunately, it was only very belatedly, some eighteen months ago, that the girls were able to begin their musical education. To obtain the money for it was quite beyond us, nor did we possess a piano; indeed, the one we have got now and which I have hired is a veritable rattle trap. The girls make us very happy with their sweet, modest behaviour. But their little sister is the idol and spoilt darling of the entire household.
The baby had only just been born when my poor, dear Edgar departed this life, and all the love we felt for the dear little boy, all our tenderness towards him, was transferred to his little sister, whom our elder daughters tended and nursed with almost maternal solicitude. Indeed, a more delightful child can hardly be imagined — pretty as a picture, guileless and with a whimsical sense of humour. A particular characteristic is her charming way of talking and story-telling. The latter has been learned from the Grimm Brothers, who are her companions by day and by night. We all of us read her the fairy tales until we can read no more, but woe betide us if so much as a syllable is left out in Rumpelstiltskin or in King Thrushbeard, or in Snow-White. The child, who has already absorbed English with the air she breathes, has also learnt German from these fairy tales and speaks it exceptionally grammatically and precisely. She is a real PFT of Karl's and dispels many a care with her laughter and chatter. In the domestic sphere 'Lenchen' still remains my staunch, conscientious companion. Ask your dear husband about her, and he will tell you what a treasure she has been to me. For sixteen years now she has weathered storm and tempest with us.
Last year we suffered intense provocation in the shape of an infamous attack by the 'well-rounded character' and the vile behaviour of the entire German, American, etc., press. You would not believe how many sleepless nights and worries the whole business has caused us.fi47 The case against the Nationalzeitung cost a great deal of money and, when Karl had finished his book,l he was unable to find a publisher. He had to have it printed at his own expense (£25) and, now that it has come out, it is being hushed up by the base, cowardly, venal press. I am exceedingly glad that you liked the book. Your opinion of it agrees almost word for word with that of all our friends. Needless to say, the silence quite deliberately maintained by the press has meant far fewer sales than we might rightfully have expected. In the meantime, we shall have to be content with the great encomiums of everyone who matters. Even opponents and enemies have acknowledged it as highly important. Bücher called it a compen-dium of contemporary history, and Lassalle writes to say that, as a work of art, it has given him and his friends indescribable pleasure, its fund of wit having occasioned them endless glee and delight. Engels considers it to be Karl's best book,a as does Lupus. Congratulations are flooding in from all sides, and even that old cur Ruge has called it a 'good piece of nonsense'. I wonder whether a similar silence is being maintained in America. It really would be too infuriating, the more so since all the newspapers there have opened their columns to stupid lies and calumnies. Perhaps your dear husband can do something about making the book known.
Hardly had I finished copying the manuscript,b while it was still being printed, when I suddenly became very unwell. A most frightful fever took hold of me, and the doctor had to be called in. On 20 November he arrived, examined me carefully and at length and, after a long silence, came out with the following words: * My dear Mrs Marx, I am sorry to say, you have got the smallpox— the children must leave the house immediately.* You can imagine the horror and distress of the household on hearing this pronouncement. What was to be done? Undismayed, the Lieb-knechts offered to take the children in, and by midday the girls, laden with their small belongings, had already betaken themselves into exile. As for me, I became hourly more ill, the smallpox assuming horrifying proportions. My sufferings were great, very great. Severe, burning pains in the face, complete inability to sleep, and mortal anxiety in regard to Karl, who was nursing me with the utmost tenderness, finally the loss of all my outer faculties while my inner faculty — consciousness — remained unclouded throughout. All the time, I lay by an open window so that the cold November air must blow upon me. And all the while hell's fire in the hearth and ice on my burning lips, between which a few drops of claret were poured now and then. I was barely able to swallow, my hearing grew ever fainter and, finally, my eyes closed up and I did not know whether I might not re.main shrouded in perpetual night!
But my constitution, aided by the most tender and constant care, got the better of it and now here I sit, once more in perfect health, but with a face disfigured by scars and a dark red tinge — quite à la hauteur de la mode couleur de 'Magenta'? It was not till Christmas Eve that the poor children were allowed to return to the paternal fold for which they had been yearning. Our first reunion was indescribably touching. The girls were profoundly moved and could scarcely refrain from weeping over my appearance. Five weeks before, I didn't look too bad alongside my blooming daughter's. Since I was by some miracle still without a grey hair in my head and had still kept my teeth and figure, I was habitually considered to be well-preserved — but how changed was all this now! To myself I looked like a rhinoceros, a hip-popotamus, which belonged in a zoological garden rather than in the ranks of the Caucasian race. But do not be unduly alarmed! Things are no longer quite so bad today, and the scars are beginning to heal. Scarcely had I been able to leave my bed than my dear, beloved Karl fell ill, laid low by excessive anxiety, worry and troubles of all kinds. For the first time, his chronic liver complaint became acute. However, God be praised, he recovered after four weeks' suffering. In the meantime, we had again been temporarily reduced to half pay by the Tribune(2); instead of earning something from the book, a bill of exchange had to be paid. On top of that, there was the huge expense occasioned by this most frightful of all maladies. In short, you can imagine how things have been with us all this winter. As a result of all this business, Karl decided to make a foray into Holland, the land of his fathers, and of tobacco and cheese. He wants to see if he can wheedle some SPECIE out of his uncle. At the moment, therefore, I am a grass widow, waiting to see whether the great Dutch expedition will be successful. On Saturday, I got the first letter expressing some hopes and containing 'sixty gulden'. Such an affair is not, of course, quickly concluded and calls for careful manoeuvres, diplomacy, and proper management. Still, I hope that Karl will get something out of that country and leave it the poorer.
As soon as he meets with some SUCCESS in Holland, he intends to make a little clandestine trip to Berlin[278] in order to spy out the terrain and, perhaps, arrange for a monthly or weekly publication. Recent experience has shown us only too plainly that we cannot possibly manage without an organ of our own. Should Karl succeed in setting up a new party organ, he will assuredly write to your husband, asking him to send reports from America. Hardly had Karl left when our faithful Lenchen also fell ill and is still laid up. However she is on the mend. My hands are completely full therefore, and this letter has been written in the greatest HURRY. But I neither could nor would remain silent, and it bas done me good to pour out my heart for once to our oldest and most loyal friends. So, I will not apologise for having written to you in such great detail and about anything and everything. My pen ran away with me, and I can only hope and wish that these scribbled lines may give you a little of the pleasure that I got when I read yours.
I immediately attended to the matter of the bill of exchange and arranged everything just as though my lord and master were here.
My girls send their love and kisses to your dear children — one Laura to the other — and in my thoughts I embrace each of them. To you yourself, my dear friend, I send my most affectionate greetings. In these hard times, you must be plucky and keep your head unbowed. The world belongs to the brave. Keep on being your dear husband's loyal, unwavering support, while remaining yourself pliable in mind and in body, the loyal, 'unrespectable' comrade of your dear children, and let us have word of you from time to time.
Your very affectionate
Jenny Marx
How often have I thought of the lovely potato soup you used to give me in Frankfurt. Unfortunately, it cannot be made here. There is no cream, and an egg beaten up in a drop of milk is not half as good. Which reminds me of Dronke, and so I shall have to start another sheet in order to give you some news of old friends. Engels is in Manchester, as before. His father is dead, he has inherited, but is engaged in a law-suit with his partner, is in the clutches of the lawyers and by no means out of the wood financially.
Lupus makes a livelihood by giving lessons in Manchester. He is just the same as ever — a decent, hardworking chap of simple habits. He is held in very high regard up there, and his main battles are fought with his landlady who, he being a bachelor of long standing, now cuts down his tea, now depletes his sugar, now interferes with his coal supply. Dronke has had a real stroke of luck, having obtained a commission agency through Gamier-Pages which earns him nearly £1,000 a year. He has become an out-an-out philistine, boastful and repulsive; he has not behaved
5. Jenny Marx to Engels. Before 16 March 1861
nearly as well towards Karl or any of his oldest friends as might have been expected. He has a penchant for that fat philistine Freiligrath, who is still living comfortably off his post as MANAGER of a rotten bankrupt firm. He has changed considerably for the worse and has not treated us in a friendly manner![4] For political and diplomatic reasons an open breach with him is to be avoided. We maintain a factitious relationship. I have broken completely with the distaff side of the family. I am not fond of half MEASURES. So, I don't see anybody just now. Pieper has gone away and is living as a teacher in Bremen — he has come down badly in the world and become a slovenly flibbertigibbet. Yesterday, Dr Eichhoff arrived here from Berlin. He is the first refugee from the régime of 'handsome William' as the Berliners call their present sovereign. Imandt is a married man in Scotland.— Red Wolf a teacher in some God-forsaken spot — turned philistine—
aussi* married, 3 children. And that is all I can remember in haste about our old acquaintances.
Well, then, that's what I call gossip! But now, and for the last time, farewell.
5
JENNY MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London, before 16 March 1861]
My dear Mr Engels,
How can I thank you for all the love and devotion with which you have stood by us for years now in our sorrows and afflictions? I was so happy when I saw there was five times as much as I had expected, that it would be hypocritical not to admit it, and yet my joy was as nothing compared with Lenchen's! How joyously her almost lifeless eyes lighted up when I ran upstairs and told her: 'Engels has sent £5 for your COMFORTS.'
also
6. Jenny Marx to Engels. Between 21 and 24 March 1861
It seems to me that the inflammation has gone down a bit — yesterday the doctor also thought her somewhat better, though she is still dangerously ill. The only question is whether she may not get too weak and whether some kind of haemorrhage or gangrene won't set in. The worst thing is that we are not yet allowed to give her any tonic, for all STIMULANTS likely to aggravate the inflammation must be avoided. We have all had some really anxious days and nights, and I myself have been doubly anxious since I don't really know how Karl is getting on, whether he is in Berlin, or where he is.[278] There was no letter again today.
Poor Lupus, how sorry I am for him, lying there helpless and in great pain, deprived of solicitous nursing and wholly à la merci of a rapacious LANDLADY, though in fact his afflictions are largely his own fault. What's the point of such awful pedantry, such conscientiousness? You ought to take the old gentleman more in hand and, above all, wean him from GIN and BRANDY, those arch-enemies of gout. Excuse this hasty note; there is so much to do and think about and today I have still to fit in a trip to town where a pawn ticket is due — BUT NEVER MIND, SO long as we pull Lenchen through, and my beloved Karl soon sends good tidings.
Warm regards from the girls and from your
Jenny Marx
6
JENNY MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London, between 21 and 24 March 1861]
My dear Mr Engels,
Hitherto I have sent you so many epistles of complaint that I now feel impelled to bring you BETTER NEWS for once. First, so far as it is humanly possible to say, Lenchen will recover. The doctor is very satisfied with her condition and extremely optimistic. The rambling, singing, weeping and raving that so alarmed us has subsided to a great extent, and a MUTTON CHOP has just been taken
7. Jenny Marx to Engels. Beginning of April 1861
up to her. Your help enabled me to give her all the COMFORTS, a constantly warm room, wine, and even the luxury of eau de Cologne, which is such a great help in an illness like this, particularly in view of the frequent fainting fits. Besides this good news, I can at long last report the safe arrival of a letter from Moor.[42] He has been in Berlin since Sunday3 and is staying with Lassalle, who welcomed him with the greatest affability. At one dinner he sat between the daughter of Babylonb (shades of Weerth') and the indescribably ugly Ludmilla/ I wish him joy! Apart from that, he doesn't go into any details, for he was in a hurry to send off 50 talers to me. He simply says that prospects are good and that he won't come home empty-handed. I only fear that his home-coming may be somewhat further delayed. With warmest regards from us all.
Yours,
Jenny Marx
7
JENNY MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London, beginning of April 1861]
Dear Mr Engels,
I find it incomprehensible that Moor shouldn't have written to you yet. I had thought you were quite au courant withe the Marx FAMILY AFFAIRS, and even hoped I might learn further details from you, since this time my dear lord and master's letters to me are quite exceptionally prone to the 'lapidary style'. So far, I have had to content myself with the most sketchy outlines and the driest of FACTS; however, I do know a little more than you, and hence will hasten to pass on that modicum, the more so since it is, in the main, most satisfactory. To begin at the beginning. The unclea has fallen in with all the son's[648] proposals and, as soon as Karl arrives in Bommel, will settle the financial business. Now, as to the rumours in the papers, they are all wrong, as you no doubt supposed, nor has it ever remotely occurred to Karl that the family might move to and settle down in Berlin. What he did propose to effect there, however, was his renaturalisation.M2 I don't quite understand this and don't know why Karl should be in such a hurry to become a Royal Prussian 'subject' again. I'd rather have remained a 'stray groschen'b (red Wolffs' late-lamented threepen-ny bit) a while longer. Negotiations over this have prolonged his stay in Berlin. The government wanted to settle the matter by according him Berlin citizenship with which Karl refused to be satisfied, and thus the whole business has dragged on from day to day. Today Karl writes to say that he doesn't expect to hear for certain before the 12th and until then must continue to be bored stiff. Little Izzy still seems addicted to drivelling and the speculative notion. In other respects, he really gave proof of the utmost friendship for Karl, whose inseparable companion he has been. Now, Moor would have proceeded straight from Berlin to Bommel, had he not received from his mother an invitation, which has left him undecided whether or not he should go to Trier. If he does go there, it means yet more delay before he comes home, and he could hardly be here before a fortnight is out.[278] Lassalle's head seems to be filled with dreams of a great newspaper; he also maintains that he could contribute 20,000 talers to it. But what a risky venture for Karl — a daily paper, and on the countess's own ground, too!ri I myself feel small longing for the fatherland, for 'dear', beloved, trusty Germany, that mater dolorosa of poets — and as for the girls! The idea of leaving the country of their precious Shakespeare appals them; they've become English to the marrow and cling like limpets to the soil of England. It's a good thing your warrant has been withdrawn1'; thus you're free to go, after all. I assume that Schily and Imandt will be in the same category as yourself. Yesterday I had news of the former through Rheinländer. For months the poor fellow has been so ill and miserable that he finds it difficult even to write and it costs him a tremendous effort to drag himself from one place to another. His friends, it seems, had pretty well given him up and believed him to be consumptive. He now pins his faith on Morrison's pills, that worst of all quack medicines. The extent of the havoc wrought by these poisonous pills may be gauged from the fact that he actually feels somewhat drawn to the National Association.[24] (At its last meeting here, Hans Ibeles" and Rudolf Schramm had a fearful set-to— Schramm launched a furious onslaught upon the reverend gentleman who, replying with priestly unction, was accorded the laurels by a good-for-nothing audience made up of clerks, Islington choristers, etc.) Rheinländer had also had a letter from Schily with news about la Moïse.(1) Sauernheimer,' the general, who had for many years been her lover, was getting married; to protect himself against Mrs Hess, who had threatened to create a public scandal in the church, he surrounded himself with a number of policemen. Mrs H. was not allowed into the church and had to content herself with parading in all her finery outside the church door. She is said to lead a very gay life and for a change, when things are bad, to do sewing for a German tailor. From time to time, she calls on Schily who can never forget having often seen her tipsy in Geneva. Besides this tragi-comical affair, he also relates that in Paris Mirés is said to have advanced Eugénie[11] vast sums for the Pope,c and that 'little Mathilde',' too, is in bad odour.
I was most interested to hear from you about the Lancashire STRIKES, since it's impossible to get a clear idea of what's going on from the newspapers.M9 At any rate, inopportune though this opposition on the part of the English workers may be, and unedifying as are its results, it is a heartening manifestation by comparison with the Prussian workers' movement and the social question in the shape it assumes over there — namely, Schulze-Delitzsch, cum the capital-loving Straubingers,[650] their savings banks and distress funds!
As regards Lenchen's health, it is improving steadily, if only very slowly. She is still very, very weak, but is already spending hours out of bed, and today she even walked up and down outside the house in the sunshine.
I am glad to hear that poor Lupus is back on his feet again. Please give him my warmest regards; similarly the girls ask me to send you their most cordial regards with this gossipy scrawl.
Let us hear from you again soon. With warm regards,
Yours, J e n ny Marx f Gottfried Kinkel; an allusion to Johanna Kinkel's book Hans Ibeles in London. -
8. Jenny Marx to Berta Markheim. 6 July 1863
Apropos. I really cannot resist depicting for you a little scene from life in London. A week ago last Wednesday, immediately after dinner, I saw a vast concourse outside our door; all the children of the neighbourhood had gathered round a man who was lying flat on his face outside our house. Never in my life have I seen anything like it. No Irishman, in the depths of degradation, could equal this skeleton. Moreover, the man, clad in filthy rags, appeared to be unusually tall. When I arrived on the scene, neighbours had already brought out food and SPIRITS, but in vain. The man lay there motionless, and we thought he must be dead. I sent for a POLICEMAN. When the latter had arrived and taken a look at him, he at once addressed him as 'Yoi MKAN IMPOSTOR!' and dealt him a blow that sent his hat flying, after which he picked him up like a PARCEL and shook him. And who did I find staring straight at me with perplexed, despairing eyes?—the Laplander[3]! You can imagine my horror. He went staggering off and I sent after him with some money which, however, he refused. He said to Marian: 'No, please, I don't need money', and set it down on a stone, then called out to the POLICEMAN, 'THAIS FOR YOUR ATTENTION.' Sad, is it not?
8
JENNY MARX TO BERTA MARKHEIM
IN FULDA
London, 6 July [1863]
My dear Mrs Markheim,
On Saturday, just as we were about to sit down at table, I received a letter addressed in an unfamiliar hand. Being more used to getting disagreeable letters than cheerful ones, I resolved to put aside this strange luncheon guest. But the children said 'open it, there may be something nice inside', and how pleasantly surprised I was, how moved and grateful when I found it was an indirect token of your existence and your affection, and that you had again been thinking of me with love, loyalty and sympathy, without so much as a reminder on my part.
I am certain that it will be some sort of satisfaction to you to learn that your unexpected contribution has helped us — indeed made it possible — to send little Jenny to a seaside resort, a course which, in the doctor's opinion, has, alas, again become a sad necessity. The poor child is again suffering from a most obstinate cough, which has failed to respond either to medicines or to the warm summer weather but which will, I trust, be banished by sea air and bathing."
The other two are cheerful and well. Laura now accompanies her Papa on many of his visits to the British Museum, to which end she has been given a TICKET. The little one b has just moved out of the 'spelling' stage into that of 'reading with obstacles'—not exactly a race. Grimm's fairy tales are a great delight to her and Snow-White, Sleeping Beauty, King Thrushbeard and Brother Merry are now the heroes of her childish fantasies.
My dear Karl had a great deal of trouble with his liver this spring. However, despite all the setbacks, his book is now making gigantic strides towards completion.' It would have been finished sooner, had he kept to his original plan of limiting it to 20 or 30 sheets.'[1] But since the Germans really believe only in 'fat' books,' and the far more subtle concentration and elimination of all that is superfluous counts for nothing in the eyes of those worthies, Karl has added a lot more historical material, and it is as a volume of 50 sheets that it will fall, like a bomb, on German soil. Alas for our German soil! Abroad, one feels almost ashamed of being a German — and as for the honour of being 'Prussian'! Could anything be more pitiful than the spectacle presented by Prussia? It is difficult to say which is the more deplorable, the king, the ministers, the camarilla — or the servile populace and, above all, the miserable, cowardly, toadying, silent press! One often feels tempted to turn away in disgust from all politics, and indeed I wish we could observe the scene purely as 'amateurs'; but for us, unfortunately, it always remains a vital question.
Karl hopes to go to Germany in September. Perhaps he will see Dr. K.f then, too, and will be in your vicinity as well. Do, please,
9. Jenny Marx to Berta Markheim. 12 October 1863
let me have some direct news from you before long. With most heartfelt and grateful good wishes from us all and, especially, from
Your
Jenny Marx
9
JENNY MARX TO BERTA MARKHEIM
IN FULDA
Hampstead, 12 October 1863
My dear Mrs Markheim,
On writing the date, I now see to my great dismay that I have let more than a month go by without answering your last kind letter. I got it just after we returned home from Hastings r'4H and, for many petty and mundane reasons, failed to reply at once and, as you know, nothing is more dangerous in correspondence than procrastinating instead of responding to the first warm impulse of the heart and at once setting one's pen at a canter, lest the nib become encrusted with ink. I am not only pleading on my own behalf today, I must also put in a word for my lord and master, who in this respect has a much blacker list of sins with which to reproach his guilty conscience. He has, of course, received Dr Kugelmann's letter," and I really have no excuse to offer for his failure to write, other than to say that, in general, he is one of the worst correspondents the world has ever known and often keeps his oldest and best friends waiting for months, even years. If he now treats Dr K. in the same manner as he does his oldest and best friends, he (Dr K.) must be good enough to make allowances for such dilatoriness, and I trust that you, my dear Mrs Markheim, will put in a good word on his behalf. Should he not write very soon, it will, I imagine, be because he hopes to see him in person in the not too distant future; just as it is his intention to
10. Jenny Marx to Engels. Beginning of November 1863
visit Frankfurt and call on you. For we have recently learned that an old aunt of Karl's," his late father's only sister, is living in Frankfurt and would love to see him again after so many, many years.b
Our stay in Hastings, a delightful and beautifully situated spot, where we spent our time either beside, upon or in the sea, has done us all a great deal of good, particularly our ailing little Jenny, whose cheeks have again filled out and grown rosy.
Her cough has not quite gone, but it seldom recurs and then only in very mild form, and she has also got her appetite back. Touch wood, touch wood! And I only hope we shall spend a less wretched winter than the last one.
We are closely following the course of events in our fatherland but, with the best will in the world, I cannot share your opinion nor give myself up to sanguine hopes. Perhaps the prolonged anxiety and dismal experiences of the immediate past have clouded my mind and obscured my vision so that I see everything in darker colours and paint things grey on grey.[1]"l
I hope I shall soon hear from you again and, in sending you my family's warmest greetings, I bid you farewell for today.
Yours ever,
Jenny Marx
10
JENNY MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London, beginning of November 1863] 9 Grafton Terrace
Dear Mr Engels,
Moor sends you herewith the 'MOST NOBLE Daoud Bey's" Free Press. It will amuse you a lot. Karl, alas, cannot write himself. For the past week he has been very unwell and is tied to the sofa.
11. Jenny Marx to Engels. About 24 November 1863
2 boils appeared on his cheek and back. The one on his cheek responded to the household remedies one normally uses for such things. The other, on his back, has assumed such dimensions and is so inflamed that poor Moor is enduring the most frightful pain and gets no respite either by day or by night. You can imagine, too, how depressed this business makes him. It seems as though the wretched book will never get finished/ It weighs like a nightmare on us all. If only the LEVIATHAN were LAUNCHED! With warmest regards from us all.
Yours,
Jenny Marx
11
JENNY MARX TO ENGELS
IN MANCHESTER
[London, about 24 November 1863]
My dear Mr Engels,
It's so long since we heard from you that Karl has an ardent desire for news of you. For a week now, he would seem to have been out of danger. The good, strong wine and enormous meals have enabled him to withstand the pain and the debilitating effect of the heavy discharge of pus. Unfortunately, he can't sleep at all and is still having very bad nights. The doctor*(1) is very satisfied with the way the complaint is progressing and hopes that the suppuration will stop in 4 to 6 days. He is now getting up from time to time and today has been conveyed from the sickroom to the living-room.
He sends you the enclosed circular from the Workers' Society as well as a letter from the 'Chair'''[52]—this little thing will divert the man 'who for 15 years has fought and suffered for the working
12. Jenny Marx to Wilhelm Liebknecht. About 24 November 1863
class'[11] (presumably he means drinking champagne with the red-haired beauty b. 1805(1)') from a course acceptable to the police to one that is unacceptable to the police/'''b Write soon. With warm regards from us all.
Yours,
Jenny Marx
12
JENNY MARX TO WILHELM LIEBKNECHT
IN BERLIN
[London, about 24 November 1863]
My dear Mr Liebknecht,
When I last wrote to your dear wife, I had little conception of the horrifying days lying immediately ahead of us. For 3 weeks my beloved Karl was desperately ill, for he was suffering from one of the most dangerous and painful illnesses — a CARBUNCLE on his back. I need add nothing to those few lines. You and your dear wife know how much you mean to us. Nor, even if I wanted to, could I tell you in detail all we went through during these weeks, so I will say no more and, at the behest of my beloved husband, now on the road to recovery, pass on to you the enclosed circular, issued by the Workers' Society.''[52] Aside from the interest attaching to Polish affairs, it was, I believe, sent into the world to put a stop to the 'pro-police movement' on the part of certain persons. ' The 'Chair' at once swallowed the thing hook, line and sinker, and asked for 50 copies for distribution to the communities.d Karl is sending it to you to make you au fait with the matter.
All the same, now that I have executed my task, let me just tell you how our family afflictions began. Karl had already been ailing for months, he found it intensely difficult to work and, in an attempt to find some alleviation, smoked twice as much as usual, and took three times as many pills of various kinds — BLUE AND AMIBILIOUS, etc. About 4 weeks ago he got a boil on his cheek; though it was very painful, we got the better of it with the usual household remedies. Before it had quite gone, a similar one erupted on his back. Although it was inordinately painful and the swelling grew daily worse, we were foolish enough to believe we would be able to get rid of it with poultices, etc. Also, in accordance with German ideas, my poor Karl almost completely deprived himself of food, even eschewing the miserable 4 ALE,(2) and lived on lemonade. At last, when the swelling was the size of my fist and the whole of his back misshapen, I went to Allen. Never shall I forget the man's expression when he saw that back. He waved me and little Tussy out of the room, and Lenchen had to hold Karl while he made a deep, deep incision, a great gaping wound from which the blood came pouring out. Karl remained calm and still, and did not flinch. Then began a round of hot poultices, which we have now been applying night and day every 2 hours, like clockwork, for the past fortnight. At the same time, the doctor ordered 3-4 glasses of port, and half a bottle of claret daily, and four times as much food as usual. The object was to restore the strength he had lost so as to help him withstand the frightful pain and the debilitating effect of the heavy discharge of pus. That is how we have spent the last fortnight — I need tell you two no more. Lenchen also fell ill from worry and exertion but is a little better again today. Whence I myself drew strength, I cannot tell. The first few nights I was the only one to sit up with him, for a week I took it in turns with Lenchen, and now I sleep on the floor in his room, so as to be always at hand. How I feel, now that he's recovering, you wûll be able to guess.
He sends you both his cordial regards, as do my poor daughters. Please write, both of you, as soon as you can and as much as you can. He greatly enjoys getting letters. Please excuse my writing so incoherently.
Your old friend,
Jenny Marx
Works, Second Russian Edition, Vol. 30, Moscow, 1963
13. Laura Marx to Engels. 10 June 1864
13
LAURA MARX TO ENGELS[654]
IN MANCHESTER
London, 10 June 1864 1 Modena Villas, Maitland Park, N.W.
Dear Sir,
I have been commissioned by Dr Marx to acknowledge the receipt of the second half of the banknotes the first half of which arrived here Yesterday. Also to express his thanks for the photographs received this morning.[11]
As to the Biography which You intend writing, he says that as You have the necessary papers etc., You can commence it at once, while he writes to Dr Eisner for further materials.[621]
I think I have now said all I have been requested to say.
I am, dear Sir,
Obediently Yours,
L. M. Secretary
F. Engels Esq.
14. Jenny Marx to Karl Friedrich Moritz Eisner. Middle of June 1864(1)
We assume you are the author of the fine obituary of our late, dear friend W. Wolff, which appeared in the Breslauer Zeitung.b
My husband is anxious to write a detailed biography of him, but has no material whatever on the earlier phases of our friend's life.'[121] You would be doing him a great service if you could help him in this respect by passing on to him in as much detail as possible everything you know about Wolff, especially his childhood and the earlier part of his life. We have been on the closest terms with him ever since 1845. Hence what we are concerned with is rather the earliest period of his life. My husband, who has just recovered from a grave and very wearisome illness, has directed me to ask you, Sir, as an old and trusted friend of the deceased, to do us this kindness, and I hope that you will soon pass on to us everything you can call to mind about our dear, dear Wolff. With cordial regards from my husband and myself.
Yours,
Jenny Marx, née von Westphalen
NOTES
AND INDEXES
Endnotes
[643] This refers to Marx's book A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, which was published in 1859 and soon became known in Russia (see this volume, pp. 157, 193-94).—567
[644] Jenny Marx evidently means Wilhelm von Humboldt's abortive attempt to introduce a modicum of constitutionalism. The onslaught of reaction forced him to resign the post of Minister of the Interior, which he had held from January to December 1819, and retire from politics altogether.—567
[645] Jenny Marx has 'gejenant', the past participle form of the 'jenaen', which she coined from the name of the town of Jena. On 14 October 1806 Napoleon's army routed Prussia's forces near Jena, compelling Prussia to surrender.—568
[56] r><' This refers to Techow's letter to Schimmelpfennig of 26 August 1850, in which Techow gave a distorted rendering of a conversation he had had with Marx (see Marx's Herr Vogt, present edition, Vol. 17, pp. 75-99).—22, 52, 58,
[646] 641' From December 1850 to the autumn of 1856 the Marx family lived at 28 Dean Street, Soho, and after that at 9 (later 46) Grafton Terrace, Maitland Park, Haverstock Hill.— 570
[265] On 21 March 1857 Marx received a letter from Charles Dana, editor of the New-York Daily Tribune, informing him that in view of the economic recession only one of his articles a week would be paid, whether published or not, while the others would only be paid if published. In October of the same year, Dana informed Marx that, for the same reasons, the Tribune had discharged all its correspondents in Europe except Marx and B. Taylor, and was requesting Marx to confine himself to one article a week.— 252, 570
[4] This refers to the refusal by Freiligrath, former member of the Communist League and an editor of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, to help Marx unmask the Bonapartist agent Carl Vogt. In a statement published in the Augsburg Allgemeine Zeitung on 15 November 1859, he declared that he had nothing to do with the accusations levelled at Vogt. In so doing, he virtually dissociated himself from the attempts to establish the author of the anonymous anti-Vogt flysheet Zur Warnung, which had been launched by Karl Blind and was falsely attributed to Marx by Vogt. Marx deals with the matter in Herr Vogt (present edition, Vol. 17) and in his letters to Engels of 19 and 26 November 1859, and to Fieiligrath of 23 and 28 November 1859 (present edition, Vol. 40).—3, 9, 11
[648] Presumably an allusion to the Prodigal Son.— 579
[24] 14 The German National Association (Deutscher National-Verein) was the party of the German liberal bourgeoisie favouring the unification of Germany (without Austria) under the aegis of the King of Prussia. The Association was set up in Frankfurt am Main in September 1859. Its supporters were nicknamed Little Germans.—10, 160, 164, 192, 200, 319, 342, 383, 393, 511, 580
[650] Straubingers—travelling journeymen in Germany. Marx and Engels used the term to denote German artisans and also certain participants in the working-class movement who were still swayed by guild prejudices and the petty-bourgeois illusion that it was possible to return from capitalist large-scale industry to small handicraft production.— 580
[654] 'This letter was written in reply to one from Engels dated 9 June 1864 (see this volume, pp. 539-40).—588
[621] 1 In connection with Marx's work on the biography of Wilhelm Wolff (see Note 617) Marx's wife had written, on his behalf, to the journalist K. F. M. Eisner requesting him to send whatever information he had on Wolffs youth (see this volume, p. 589). Eisner failed to do so.—545, 588, 589
[121] Marx is dispelling Lassalle's suspicion that the persons named had something to do with the accusations levelled at him. Lassalle (see Note 74).—90
[42] This letter by Marx has not been found.—15, 17, 33, 34, 40, 71, 77, 104, 118,
[3] The German Workers' Educational Society in London was founded in February 1840 by Karl Schapper, Joseph Moll and other members of the League of the Just (an organisation of German craftsmen and workers, and also of emigrant workers of other nationalities). After the reorganisation of the League of the Just in the summer of 1847 and the founding of the Communist League, the latter's local communities played the leading role in the Society. During various periods of its activity, the Society had branches in working-class districts in London. In 1847 and 1849-50, Marx and Engels took an active part in the Society's work, but on 17 September 1850 Marx, Engels and a number of their followers withdrew because the Willich-Schapper sectarian and adventurist faction had succeeded in temporarily increasing its influence in the Society and caused a split in the Communist League (see present edition, Vol. 10, pp. 483 and 632). In the late 1850s, Marx and Engels resumed their work in the Society. It existed until 1918 when it was closed down by the British government.—3, 94, 103, 232, 342, 517, 533
[278] M a rx stayed at Lion Philips' in Zalt-Bommel, Holland, from 28 February to 16 March 1861. Thence he went to Berlin, where he stayed until 12 April. During that visit to Germany, he also went to Elberfeld, Barmen, Cologne and Trier. He returned to London on 29 April.—266, 299, 574, 577, 579
[11] 1 ' Marx followed the movement for the emancipation of peasants in Russia using a variety of sources, among them the Prussian Allgemeine Zeitung. In the present case, he presumably drew on an article 'Rußland und Polen', reprinted in the Allgemeine Zeitung of 6 December 1859 (No. 340) from the Neue Hannoversche Zeitung, and the article by the Allgemeine Zeitung's St. Petersburg correspondent 'Zur russischen Leibeigenschaftsfrage und die Finanz-Verhältnisse des Staats', Allgemeine Zeitung, No. 3 (supplement) and No. 5 (supplement), 3 and 5 January, 1860.—4
[1] An excerpt from this letter was first published in English in: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Correspondence. 1846-1895. A Selection with Commentary and Notes, Martin Lawrence Ltd., London [1934]. Marx began his letter on a form of the General Bank of Switzerland under the letter from Freiligrath, who was manager of the bank's London branch.— 3
[52] An allusion to the fact that, during the 1859 Italian war, Lassalle in effect supported Napoleon Ill's interference in Italy's affairs, camouflaged as struggle for its 'liberation', and was in agreement with Vogt on this issue. Lassalle set forth his views on the problem in the most concentrated form in his pamphlet Der italienische Krieg und die Aufgabe Preußens. Eine Stimme aus der Demokratie, published anonymously in Berlin at the beginning of May 1859. In it, he also backed the Prusso-Bonapartist policy of neutrality for the German states in the Italian war and favoured the defeat of Austria, which Prussia should exploit to unite Germany from above.—20