London, 7 Décembre 1881 

My dear, sweet Jennychen, 

You will, assuredly, find it quite natural that I should not feel in 
the mood for ‘writing’ at the moment and hence only now be sending 
you this brief note. Since I haven’t yet even left the sick room, there 
was no gainsaying the doctor’s interdict on my attending the funeral. 
Moreover I resigned myself, for only the day before her death our 
dear departed * had told her nurse, apropos some neglected formality: 
“WE ARE NO SUCH EXTERNAL PEOPLE! 

Schorlemmer came up from Manchester of his own accord. 

I still have to paint my chest, neck, etc., with iodine and, when reg- 
ularly repeated, this produces a somewhat tiresome and painful in- 
flammation of the skin. The said operation, which is only being per- 
formed to prevent a relapse during convalescence (now complete 
apart from a slight cough), is therefore doing me sterling service just at 
this moment. There is only one effective antidote for mental suffering, 
and that is physical pain. Set the end of the world on the one hand 
against a man with acute toothache on the other. 

It now gives me extraordinary happiness to recall that, despite nu- 
merous misgivings, I ventured on the trip to Paris. Not only because 
of the time itself that she, of undying memory, spent with you and the 
little ones’-— ‘barely’ marred by the image oF A CERTAIN DOMESTIC BULLY 
et Mirabeau de la cuisine, but also the reliving of that time during the fi- 
nal phase of her illness. There can be no doubt that during that 
phase the presence of you and the children could not have distracted 
her to such good purpose as her mental preoccupation with you all! 

Her resting-place is fairly close to that of dear ‘Charles’.4 

It is a comfort to me that her strength gave out before it was too 
late. Because of the highly unusual location of the growth— which 
meant that it was moveable, not static— the really typical and un- 
bearable pain did not set in until the very last days (and even then 

@ Jenny Marx-? Jean, Henri, Edgar and Marcel Longuet-* and kitchen Mira- 
beau-* son of Charles and Jenny Longuet 

could still be kept within limits by the injection of morphine which 
the doctor had intentionally held in reserve for the end, since with 
protracted use it ceases to have any effect). As Dr Donkin had predict- 
ed, the course of the illness assumed the form of a gradual decline, as 
in the weakness that comes of old age. Even during her last hours, 
there were no death agonies, a gradual falling asleep, her eyes larger, 
lovelier, more luminous than ever. 

Apropos. Engels —as always the truest of friends——has sent you 
at my request a copy of the Irish World in which an Irish bishop de- 
clares himself against landownership (private). This was one of the 
last items of news passed on to_your mamma, and she thought you might 
get it into a French paper so as to horrify the French clericals. At all 
events it shows that such gentlemen are able to pipe any tune they 
like. 

(In La Justice of 2 December 1881 a certain laddie by the name of 
B. Gendre seeks, under the title ‘Le catholicisme socialiste en Allemagne’, 
to assuage his chauvinism by taking aw sérieux,” like Laveleye before 
him, the fanciful statistics of our friend R. Meyer (in his book Emancipa- 
tionskampf des 4. Standes\. The fact is that, since the German 
Empire came into being, the so-called Catholic socialists have only 
once elected a deputy to the Reichstag and that, from the moment of 
his election, he ‘figured’ only as a ‘member of the Centre’.??° As to 
the numerical strength of the Catholic labour unions, on the other hand, 
our R. Meyer accords France a number disproportionately greater 
even than that he accords Germany.) 

Have just received La Justice of 7 Décembre and see that, under the 
rubric Gazette du jour, there is an obituary, which says inter alia: 

‘On devine que son (il s'agit de votre mére) ‘mariage avec Karl Marx, fils d’un avocat de Tréves, 
ne se fit pas sans peine. J/ y avait a vaincre bien des préjugés, le plus fort de tous était en- 
core le préjugé de race. On sait que Pillustre socialiste est d’origine israélite.” 

Toute cette histotre* 1s a SIMPLE INVENTION, THERE WAS No préjugés a vaincre.: * I 
suppose, I am not mistaken in crediting Mr Ch. Longuet’s inventive 
genius with this literary * ‘enjolivement’.’ *The same writer when 
speaking of the limitation of the working day and the factory acts, 

* real name Varvara Nikitina- seriously -° ‘One may suppose that her’ (this refers to 

your mother) ‘marriage to Karl Marx, son of a Trier barrister [Heinrich Marx], did not 
take place without difficulties. A great many prejudices had to be overcome, the strongest of all 
being racial prejudice.The illustrious socialist is known to be of Jewish origin.’-“ The 
whole thing-° prejudices to be overcome -‘ embellishment 

mentioned in another number of the Justice—‘Lassalle and Karl 
Marx’, the former having never printed or spoken a syllable on the 
matter in question. Longuet would greatly oblige me in never men- 
tioning my name in fis writings. 

The allusion to your Maman’s occasional anonymous correspon- 
dence (in fact in behalf of Irving) ??° I find indiscreet. At the time she 
wrote to the Gazette de Francfort (she never wrote to the Journal de 
Francfort— as the Justice calls it—-, a simply reactionary, and philis- 
tine paper) the latter (the Gazette) was still on more or less friendly 
terms with the socialist party. 

As to the ‘von Westphalen/ sj’, they were not of Rhenish, but of* 
Brunswickian origin. * The father of your mother’s father* was the 
factotum of the * notorious * Duke of Brunswick’ (during the ‘seven 
years’ war’). As such he was also overwhelmed with favours on the 
part of the British government and married a near relative of the Ar- 
gyll’s.« His papers relative to the war and politics have been published 
by the Minister v. Westphalen.¢ On the other hand,* ‘par sa mére,”* 
* your mother descends from a small Prussian functionary' and was 
actually born at Salzwedel in the Mark. All these things need not be 
known, but knowing nothing of them, one ought not to pretend cor- 
recting * d’autres* ‘Biographies’. 

* And now, my dear child, send me a long description of the doings 
of Johnny et Co. I still regret that Henry was not left to us at the time 
he went on so well. He is a child who wants a whole family’s atten- 
dance being singly, exclusively concentrated upon him. As it is, with 
so many other little ones requesting your care, he is rather an impedi- 
ment. 

With many kisses to you and your ‘little men’? 

Your devoted father, 
K. M. 

I was rather disagreeably affected by Meissner’s communication, 
that a new third edition of the Capital Vol. I has become necessary. 
I wanted indeed to apply all my time — as soon as I should feel myself 
able again — exclusively to the finishing of the 2nd volume.??’ 

* Christian Heinrich Philipp von Westphalen-° Ferdinand-° Jeanie Wishart of 
Pittarow -° Ch. H. Ph. von Westphalen, Geschichte der Feldzüge des Herzogs Ferdinand von 
Braunschweig-Liineburg.-© through her mother~‘ Julius Christoph Heubel-* other - 
» Jenny Longuet’s four sons 

Please write a few words in my name to Reinhardt. I could not find 
his address. He was an acquaintance of Mama’s.**