Manchester, 11 April 1860 

Dear Emil, 

What do you think G. Ermen’s latest proposals are? 

1. He wants to buy mother out by instalments and assume sole 
control of the business. 

2. Under the terms envisaged in the contract I am to stay on 
with him as clerk for another four years! 

At so cheap a price does the fellow think to buy us out of our 
inheritance in the firm of Ermen & Engels and obtain my grateful 
assent to my own degradation vis-a-vis himself. 

The negotiations were quite amicable. The proposals affecting 
myself I turned down flat, whereupon he held out the prospect 
that I might become a partner in four years, whereupon | 
demanded guarantees before I could consider the matter and told 
him that we were all of the opinion that, if there was to be a 

4 An alias used by Marx in some of his letters. 

parting of the ways, it would mean division in kind and 
competition. This surprised him greatly, and the matter progressed 
no further. He had imagined that we in Barmen were urgently in 
need of money (as to which I enlightened him) and wanted to exploit 
the opportunity. In short, he was very disappointed by the 
conversation and will doubtless make some other approach. More 
when I see you. 

After this affair, we can be more certain of Charles? than ever; 
he actually believes that we two will be able to make Gottfried” do 
anything, perhaps even retire into private life. 

Your 
F. Engels