Manchester, 9 November 1869 

Dear Moor, 

That is quite a bit of impudence with the vaudeville about the 
Régence.* I would scarcely have expected the Empire to put up with 
something like this. But we see what can be done with pluck, 
though of course, our Guidos and Wilhelms?” will not take this as 
their example. 

The Réforme, just like Réveil and Rappel, is rather weak, though 
a certain amount of declamation can be excused at the moment. 
The fellows are confused, however. Among them, particularly 
Raspail. The idea of selecting a provisional government at this 
very date is as good as a joke against Bonaparte, but otherwise, 
naturally, nonsense. Bonaparte is supposed to be ill again; things 
appear to be drawing to an end for him physically, too. 

Schweitzer’s turnabout immediately to adopt the Basle decision 
on landed property and to behave as though he and Lassalle had 
always preached this, is extraordinarily bare-faced,** but very 
ingenious vis-a-vis the simple souls a la Wilhelm. But what should 
they do when confronted by this blackguard, who has enough 
brains always to behave correctly as far as theory is concerned, and 
who knows that they are completely at a loss as soon as a 
theoretical point comes up. Incidentally, I did not see the 
Volksstaat here. 

I did not expect Monsieur Carey‘ to be such an amusing bit of 
reading. I find his cock-and-bull stories of natural sciences read 
very well and provide plenty of occasions for laughter. I would not 
have dared consider the man so stupid and uninformed. For 
instance, he has disintegrated carbon, and it consists of carbonic 
acid and cinpers! Ditto, water disintegrates into vapour. Geology 
proves that plants and even ferns were in existence long before 
any animal! The disintegration of metals is a mere trifle for 
him—in voltaic batteries the tin and copper of which they consist 
are disintegrated! And a hundred other things. Ditto, his historical 

a Apparently, La Régence de Decembrostein, Paris, 1869. - > reference to Guido Weiss 
and Wilhelm Liebknecht - © H. Ch. Carey, Principles of Social Science. First edition 
was published in 1858-59. Engels used the 1868-69 edition. 

fables. The fellow imagines that, in South Lancashire, among 
other places the Forest of Rossendale (a dense industrial district), 
the rental is so high only because the ground here is extremely 
productive of corn! I am making you a whole pile of marginal 
notes, etc., and as soon as I have read the rent theory I shall write 
my opinion of it and return the book to you. He naturally explains 
the origin of rent with just such a nonsensical cut-throat theory as 
Ricardo, and also his idea of how it took place is as absurd as the 
way all economists imagine such things. Yet this does not affect 
the theory of rent itself. What Carey means by the‘best land’can 
be seen from the fact that, according to him, even today in the 
Northern States it is only profitable in exceptional cases to cultivate 
the so-called best land! 
Post closing. Best greetings to all. 

Your 

Vaudeville to be returned tomorrow.