Appendices
My dear Charles,
I was well rewarded yesterday for spending without murmuring a most dreary evening — the evenings are getting so long and chill — by the arrival of your article. It gave me much pleasure for it is wittily written, and I rejoice to think that it will give much satisfaction to Liebknecht. Liebknecht is a great enthusiast with regard to revolutionary France — so great an optimist indeed in this respect, that during the Franco-Prussian war etc. he even lost all discrimination in judging of Trouchu and Co.— therefore your praise of him in the Justice will sound like sweetest music to his ear and make him forget for a moment the troubles that lie so heavily upon him. He seems to me to be quite broken down by the last two years. With tears in his eyes he spoke to me of the struggles he and his family had passed through and which were yet in store for them. From all his sons he must part if he does not wish them to be shot or crippled, they must emigrate to America. 'My happiest time,' he said, 'was that spent in England' — and yet heaven knows, he did not lie on a bed of roses here! T often think of it with regret. But there was a fate that drove me to Germany, that has driven me on ever since and will shape my destiny to the end.— When I heard of the Amnesty,[518] my first thoughts were with you all — I already saw you hopelessly restlessly tossed on a small skiff on the wild ocean of Paris. But what must be must be.' To which I said Amen. There is a Providence (or rather a fate) that shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we will! — I quite agree with you in thinking that the men of the Commune should never forget how boldly the German socialists fought for the cause of the vanquished, and that therefore by writing your article you have paid a debt of gratitude, and I think now that if Bebel and Liebknecht have evinced less sympathy for the Nihilists [242] of Russia, it is because they have had altogether false notions on the subject and have had the misfortune of meeting with a quantity of Russian humbugs calling themselves Nihilists, with which the Continent swarms.
Fortunately for Liebknecht he has had his eyes opened now by Papa and Hartmann, who has interested him deeply and has shown him the importance of the Russian movement and the unparalleled grandeur of the true Nihilist heroes. The soi-disant* Nihilists that in-fest the Continent, Hartmann said, are nearly always fellows whose only reason for leaving Russia is that they will not work, and that they can find ways and means to live without working elsewhere — numbers of them are not refugees.
Pardon this endless letter in which I have not yet found time to mention that which lies nearest your heart. My object is to make it last until I shall hear the welcome sound of the postman's knock — shall get a letter from you, or read an article written by you. It is only since you are gone, my dear Charles, that I feel how dear you are to me and how lonely life would be without you! I was not quite well this morning and yesterday, having horrid fits of sickness — but when they are over I am all right again — my misgivings will come but too true!!! The children are blooming like roses and I can see that Harryb
is daily gaining strength. He begins to grow wonderfully fond of and interested in all that the Wolfc does, and follows him about from room to room, calling for him when away. Little Edgar is a very sun-beam of brightness, in his delightful joyousness he constantly reminds me of our poor little Carod and I tremble lest anything should happen to this lovely child — you alarmed me by telling me of your neural-gia — I hope Tussy's cordial has spelled it away.
Your
Jenny
How is it I only receive one copy of the Justice when your articles are in it? Do not forget to send two.
2. From Jenny Longuet's Letter to Charles Longuet. 27 October 1880 .
... I was very glad to see that the notes on Eastern affairs are bearing such good fruit. Pelletan of late has written the most childish trash on the subject, every line giving evidence of the darkest ignorance. Your article is written in the simple, clear, elegant style for which French prose is famous, and which makes the stuff of treaties go down quite pleasantly. But how is it you are so stingy? Why not send me four copies of your own articles always — or at least three. Now again, I have no number to send my correspondent Collet, who would send more matter, if he saw that some use was made of the information given. From Papa it is impossible to get a paper returned, besides if returned, I could not send it to anyone, as it would be marked all over with blue pencil marks. That is the reason why I could not at once send your last article to Parnell. If he were to take an interest in the Justice — a great end would be gained. Notes direct from him would be invaluable at this crisis.[5] ' [9] Your article on the Treaty of Berlin, [376] Papa has not seen yet, therefore I cannot give you his opinion. He told me last Sunday, shocked at the ignorance displayed by Pelletan on Eastern affairs, that he would order the 'blue books'[89] and write to you himself on the subject. Good-bye.
Your loving
Jenny
3. From Jenny Longuet's Letter to Charles Longuet. 31 October 1880 .
... I had the Justice with your two articles in it last night, and feel quite elated to see what excellent use you have made of the matter I sent you. Your article on the frontier must create a sensation, what you disclose is quite new in France, and even little known in England, because intentionally suppressed. And then the form you give to heavy stuff is so amusing and sarcastic, that even the French reader will not consider the matter too dry. The pity is, that you always send me one copy, and that I am not able to send a paper to Collet, which would keep my correspondence with that short-armed but long-sighted individual alive and procure for you an abstract of the intrigues now going on, and save you the trouble of reading blue books[89] yourself: I also want the first article(1) on the Berlin Treaty [3 7 6]
for Collet. Papa was greatly pleased with your article — he had often grumbled at childish notes in the Justice on the delays caused by the Turks etc.— delays in reality skilfully brought about by the Russians! Papa also liked your article on Girardin and relished the quotation sur le mâle et l'âneb from Proudhon.— But I am sure you relished still more the pleasure of quoting the name of your master than the quotation itself!!! Am I right?
I am sorry to think you should have taken the trouble to translate what I sent you on Ireland. I never intended you to do that, fancying that you would take parts here and there and scribble down in an hour at most some sort of correspondence. As you make such a serious matter of it, I shall not send any more of my productions. They would only waste your time. My intention had been to save your time by reading much matter referring to Ireland for you. It is so long ago since I sent you my letter, that I do not remember what I wrote, but fancy the news will be too stale now.
I have not read Roy's articles. Papa considers the second one to
4. Jenny Longuet to Charles Longuet. 23 November 1880
be superior to anything that has hitherto been published on Littré.
Love and kisses from all.
Your
Jenny
JENNY LONGUET T O CHARLES LONGUET
IN PARIS
[London,] 23 November 1880
My dear Charles,
I was just going to write to Papa to ask him to send you a copy of the Capital, when I heard from Mama that a volume had already been sent you.a To-day, being Sunday, Johnny and I paid our usual visit at Maitland Parkb (I have only time to go there once a week) and so I had at length an opportunity of asking Papa's opinion of your latest productions. He seemed very pleased at the publication of Bright's opinion on the Irish question, considering it most opportune and wondering how you had got hold of that interesting document. Liebknecht's letter he thinks will do really good service. You have made Liebknecht's style sound quite elegant, which is not its general characteristic. As to your own article in answer to Massard, Papa also much approved of it, though I must add that his praise is rather more qualified than was mine.— First, he does not agree with you as to the greatness of the fact of the 4 août,[520] declaring that a careful study of the history of that event diminishes it wonderfully in importance and shows that only minor points were conceded. As to the revolutionary side of the struggle for the limitation of the working day, he thinks you have passed it over without notice in your answer to those revolu-tionists of the fire and sword.— From the Capital you will see that the fight of the English working class assumed more than once the character of a revolution, and that the governing classes only granted what they dared not refuse. If Massard and Co. thirst for fight, they will derive much satisfaction by a perusal of the history in England of the limitation of the working day! Apropos, as to the question of the fixation of a minimum salary, it may perhaps interest you to know that Papa did all he could to persuade Guesde to omit it from their programme,[68] explaining to him that such a measure, if adopted, would, according to economical laws, produce the result of making of this fixed minimum a maximum. But Guesde stuck to it, on the plea that it would give them a hold on the working classes if it did nothing else. Guesde, you see, is opportunist like the rest of them."
Papa is much surprised to see the want of judgment the French radical press is evincing in its treatment of General Farre who, he considers, acts like a man who knows that judged by his compères* Cissey would be saved, qu'ils s'entendraient comme larronsen foire.c If the Press by its foolish noise gets Farre revoked, Papa thinks they will have lost the best man in the Gambettist camp.
I have not yet received the promised series of your articles. As I suppose I shall have to wait for some time before you carry out that good intention of yours, will you in the meantime, nay by return of post, send me your last article containing Bright's letter, ...d
5. Jenny Marx to Jenny Longuet. 20 August 1881
5
JENNY MARX TO JENNY LONGUET
IN ARGENTEUIL
London, 20 August 1881 41 Maitland Park Road, N. W.
My darling little Jenny,
Our trip went off wonderfully well, thanks to Helen's" energy and circumspection. I still don't know how she managed to drag all the BAGS AND BAGGAGES about or to cart this old bundle of bones from place to place. At Folkestone she actually contrived to get hold of a SLEEPING COUPÉ in which we lay and slept like in our own beds. At Boulogne I sent you and Moor a telegram. Moor never got his. What is more, the ship only sailed at 6 o'clock so we didn't arrive here until 11. I came upon Moor and Tussy COSY in the PARLOUR. Tussy propped up with cushions on the sofa. Her crazy mode of life has left her in such a weak and feverish state that she can walk no better than I do. Radford has proved a faithful friend. He brought her JELLIES and DAINTIES every day, took her out in CABS, rushed in despair to Mrs Anderson who, in her stead, sent another lady WHO DID HER NOT MUCH GOOD. I trust the modern young Aesculapus [sic] will make an impression on her. Although I never ceased grieving for one moment at Argenteuil and left you IN TEARS AND SORROWS, the memory of you and your love and kindness remains nevertheless as the richest treasure of my heart, on which and I shall feed like a MISER. NO more, *as I am poor even in thanks.
Poor Longuet! He frightened me quite. He looked so ill and stared at me with such big eyes.
The darling Harry and my poor Johnny. He will not much regret old granny.* I was so unjust to the dear child when he rushed about screeching — a peculiarity of childhood and part of its hap-piness.
Adio.
a Demuth 20 1881
Apropos: I only gave you 110 frs and the TICKETS are marked 70 per
TICKET, so you had to make up the amount. THANKS AND KISSES TO ALL OF
YOU FROM OLD GRANNY.
NOTES
AND INDEXES
Endnotes
[518] The Communards were amnestied in July 1880.— 469
[242] Nihilists—Russian intellectuals of humble origin (the 1860s). They flatly refused to accept the ruling ideology, morality and way of life. Nihilism was not a compre-hensive philosophy; the only thing its proponents shared was their rejection of things as they stood. The term 'nihilism' was later applied by the reactionary press to all revolutionaries at the moments when the class struggle began to mount.—
[5] The originals of this letter and that of 13 December 1879 (present edition, Vol. 45, p. 427) are kept in the family archive of Lord Walstone, who presented photocopies of them to the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in 1968. The addressee was Lord Walstone's father, the English archaeologist Charles Walstone, who held his father's surname, Waldstein, at the time.— 5
[9] At the Reichstag elections on 30 July 1878, shortly before the promulgation of the Anti-Socialist Law (see Note 16), the Social-Democrats won 437,158 votes.— 8
[520] Probably a reference to 4 August 1789, when, pressed by the mounting peasant movement, the French Constituent Assembly solemnly removed feudal duties and taxes, which had by that time been abolished, to all practical purposes, by the in-surgent peasants. However, the laws that were later promulgated abrogated only the personal duties without redemption fees. The abolition of all feudal duties without redemption payments was not carried out until the time of the Jacobean dictatorship by the law of 17 July 1793.— 473
[68] A reference to the Programme électoral des travailleurs socialistes, the preamble to which was dictated by Marx to Jules Guesde (see present edition, Vol. 24, p. 340). The theoretical part was followed by a minimum programme in-corporating an economic and a political section. The election programme was widely discussed at workers' meetings and adopted as the official programme of the French Workers' Party (see Note 195) at its national congress in Le Havre in November 1880.—43, 148, 342, 386, 447, 474
[376] The international congress attended by representatives of Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy and Turkey and chaired by Bismarck was held in Berlin between 13 June and 13 July 1878. The congress ended with the signing of the Berlin Treaty revising the terms of the San Stefano preliminary treaty of 1878 that terminated the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 to the detriment of Russia and the Slav peoples of the Balkans. The territory of self-governing Bulgaria defined by the San Stefano Treaty was more than halved; the Bulgarian districts south of the Balkans were to form an autonomous province called Eastern Rumelia and remain under the Sultan; and the territory of Montenegro was significantly curtailed. The Berlin Treaty confirmed the article of the San Stefano Treaty that returned to Russia the part of Bessarabia lost in 1856 but it also sanc-tioned the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary.— 319,
[89] A reference to the publications of official documents by the governments of various countries, which Marx called the Blue Books after the publications of the British Parliament.—61, 471, 472