[London,] 20 March 1869 

Dear Fred, 

We all hope that, in your next letter, you will be sending us better 
news about Mrs Lizzie’s state of health. Tussy especially asks you to 
extend our deepest sympathy to her. It’s damned awful weather. 
Jennychen can’t get rid of her cold, and for the past few days I have 
been cold-wild and cough-confused. 

Next week (Friday or Saturday*) the children are going to Paris 
to the Lafargues. The business with Laura was this: she had a fall 
2 or 3 weeks before her accouchement. As a result of this fall, she 
had to keep to her bed until 1-2 weeks ago and only with difficulty 
avoided danger. 

I intend to have myself naturalised as an Englishman, so I can 
travel to Paris safely. Without such a journey the French edition of 
my book *” will never materialise. My presence there is absolutely 
necessary. Under Palmerston’s law you can, if you wish, slough off 
the Englishman again after 6 months. The law . provides no 
protection for the naturalised person with regard to illegalities 
committed in his country of birth before naturalisation, if he 
should return to that country. With this exception, a naturalised 
person is on the same footing as any Englishman vis-a-vis foreign 
GOVERNMENTS. I really cannot see why I should not visit Paris 
without the permission of M. Bonaparte, if I have the means to do 
so. 

My best thanks to Schorlemmer for the 2np Nostrum of Chemie.” 
Tomorrow, as a Sunday recreation, I shall start re-reading the 2nd 
part, the organic chemistry (and assume that this is where the 
changes are to be sought). 

As regards Louis Bonaparte, I am not in favour of printing the 
series from the Revue up to 1850 as an introduction *. On the one 
hand, I don’t wish to give Meissner new excuses for delay. On the 
other, it would be very easy, by patching in Facts that emerged 
later, to revise this section, but there is no hurry. In Brussels, De 

a 96 or 27 March -> H. E. Roscoe, Kurzes Lehrbuch der Chemie nach den neuesten 
Ansichten der Wissenschaft. Deutsche Ausgabe, unter Mitwirkung des Verfassers 
bearbeitet von Carl Schorlemmer. - ¢ See this volume, p. 241. 

Paepe has sought in vain for a French publisher for Louis 
Bonaparte. For such operations, these gentlemen demand money 
from the author. 

Blanqui, who is now in Paris, made very good jokes at Lafargue’s 
about Moilin’s* real quack Dutch. France, he said, is always 
ungrateful to its great men. Moilin, for instance, has solved the 
problem of the century in an unprecedentedly simple manner — 
and Paris goes about its business as though nothing had 
happened. 

Castille was a June insurgent, was transported as such to 
Cayenne, and returned after the general amnesty. He wrote the 
first edition of his book’ de bonne foi. In the meantime, the 
government bought him, and staged this second edition as the 
antithesis to Ténot’s writings. The changes made are: 1. the tone 
has become more bourgeois, sometimes  smart-alecky. 
2. Passages against the men of December“ have been removed. 
3. A few quietly apologetic phrases for Bonaparte have been 
patched in. Despite all this, the fonds* unchanged, and it remains 
as you say, a very satisfactory work. It is a very good thing when 
M. Bonaparte pushes back the writing of history to the period 
before 2 December. The struggle of the various parties, their 
mutual: Et tu Brute!‘ will help put a stop to the ‘revolutionism’ of 
the old scoundrels of 1848 and earlier. 

I sent to Beesly, by city post, with A FEW RANDOM Notes for him to 
read, Vermorel’s pamphlet that I also sent you (with the Castille). 
He sent it back to me with the enclosed note, which is as stupid as it is 
MAGISTERIAL and arrogant. It appears to me that positive philosophy 
may be equated with ignorance about everything positive. The 
other sheet enclosed was sent me by Borkheim for my ‘members 
RELATIONS’ .” 

Yesterday I found the report on the ‘miners’ guilds’,’ printed in 
full in the Social-Demokrat of last Wednesday. Whether the Zukunft 
has taken it I do not know.™' Possibly the report does not stand at 
that lofty stage of wisdom that alone can satisfy social policy. I 
have not yet received Wilhelm for this week. 

Apropos. In the very near future there will be a demonstration 
here for E. Jones. The business is sponsored by the Clerkenwell 
a See this volume, p. 242. - > H. Castille, Le massacres de juin 1848... - © in good 
faith-4 This refers to the coup d’état of 2 December 1851 - © basis - 
f Cf. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, III, 1, 77.-8 A. Vermorel, Les hommes de 
1848.-» See this volume, pp. 215.-i F. Engels, ‘Bericht itiber die 
Knappschaftsvereine der Bergarbeiter in den Kohlenwerken Sachsens’, Der 

Social-Demokrat, No. 33, 17 March 1869. -i The reference is to Demokratisches 
Wochenblatt. 

branch of the quondam Rerorm Leacue? Their leaders, Weston, 

Lucraft, etc. are memMBers of our General Councit. The festival 
committee offered me one of the 5 presidential chairs in 
Trafalgar Square, from which the masses are to be harangued. I 
refused the courtesy very politely. What I could not refuse, 
however, was to promise a small contribution to the demonstration 
Costs ON BEHALF OF MYSELF AND FRIENDS. It must be paid Tuesday 
next” If you and Moore want to take a share, it must be done by 
then. 
Addio. 

Your 
Moor 

who every day resembles more a ‘white’ washed Moor.