[London,] 29 July 1868 

Dear Frep, 

I hope that the business with your eye is nothing serious. Small 
blood vessels will burst now and then, without any particular 
consequence. Have you consulted Gumpert about it? 

Unfortunately, the household will only go to the sea next week. 
And that is because of the Lafargue family, who wanted to join in 
and rent a Loncine, etc., together. Because of Lafargue’s ties with 

a Die Gartenlaube. Illustrirtes Familienblatt 

his hospital (where he has been operating for weeks as house 
surgeon) the departure has been delayed from day to day, despite 
my curses, threats and shouts, so that now it is to take place at the 
beginning of next week, when my wife will go orr with the rest, 
and Laura of course arguing that she will soon part completely 
from the ramity, etc. Tussy (highly delighted by your letter, I 
believe, she knows par coeur* your 6 letters to her 8) is hale and 
hearty again. Not so Jennychen, who is also worrying about all 
sorts of things, etc. If I nap MapE up My MIND Where on the continent I 
could just now depend with certainty upon a Loan (especially since I 
would, if necessary, have your guarantee), I would cross over and 
take Jennychen with me. But this is perhaps the best time of the 
year to find nobody at home. 

There have been all sorts of scandals here retatinc to Pyat, 
Frencu prancn”? and Generat Counc. On this tomorrow. Today 
only this. Schweitzer in his 2nd programme for the congress of the 
General Association of German Workers in Hamburg has an item 
about the International Working Men’s Association and another 
about my book.© The programme was printed in the Zukunft*'™ and 
elsewhere. On the other hand, A. Bebel, as president of the 
Workers’ Union meeting in Nuremberg, has sent an invitation to 
the General Council.’ We should send a delegate (Eccarius will 
go). That they will join the International Working Men’s 
Association and adopt our programme is already certain, he says. 
Finally, we have received an invitation from Vienna where the 
Austrian workers’ fraternal festival will be held, also at the 
beginning of September.’ We have sent to Fox, who is in Vienna, 
the authorisation to represent us there. 

About the private negotiations between Wilhelmchen and 
Schweitzer* I know no more than the former writes. Yet I know 
from another source that the influence of that cunning fox 
Schweitzer has grown to the same extent as Wilhelmchen has 
discredited himself among the workers by his over-close alliance 
with the South German provincial pettifoggers. It was evidently for 
this reason that Wilhelm found it necessary to set up a sort of 
cartel with Schweitzer, who is at present inside and who, 
moreover, was clever enough to have his title of nobility revoked 
by the Prussian court ‘for lése-majesté’.'° As far as I am 
concerned—I mean as memper of the Generar Councu.—I must 

a by heart-> See this volume, pp. 78-79.-¢ the first volume of Capital 
-4 ‘Programm der Generalversammlung des Allgemeinen deutschen Arbeiter- 
Vereins, stattfindend in Hamburg, vom 22. bis 25. August 1868’, Die Zukunft, 
No. 266, 10 July 1868. - © See this volume, p. 73. 

sg 

conduct myself impartially between the various organised groups of 
workers. It is their business and not mine whom they have as 
leader. As Secrerary ror Germany I must answer all those who apply 
to me in their official capacity as presidents, etc., of workers’ 
groups. In this sense, I have also written to Schweitzer (always wir 
AN EYE to the possible publication of the entire correspondence)."” 
Faced with the intrigues of the old ’48 democrats here, it was, 
however, high time to be able to display influence among the 
German workers in Germany. 

That you, poor devil, with your sore eye, should also have to 
water the Gartenlaube—and in this weather, too—really cries to 
the heavens.* 

My comments are confined to: 

Page 2 where I have put | x).'’? The Fact was actually this! For 
us the government sent, instead of the city censor, a special fellow 
from Berlin (Mr von St. Paul, etc.). When even this did not help, 
yet another tier of censorship, that of the Regierungsprasident of 
Cologne,” was added. Finally, the Berlin cabinet, driven wild, 
issued a sort of manifesto against us, apprising the world of all our 
offences, and concluding with the announcement that at the end 
of the quarter they would shut up our shop. I resigned because 
the shareholders—even if in vain, as it later turned out—tried to 
negotiate with the Prussian government. 

Page 3 (2x). It would perhaps be good to add here for the 
benefit of the philistines that the provisional government had 
invited me in writing to return to France.‘ 

Ditto page 3 (x3). You might add for the benefit of the 
democratic philistines that the Prussians expelled me par ordre du 
Muphti,’ after they had failed in the law courts.’ 

Finally, would it not be better, instead of the title: ‘A German 
Political Economist’, to have: ‘A German Socialist’? Both are 
‘hideous’, but the former probably more so. 

More tomorrow about affairs here. 

Salut. 
Your 
Moor