FREDERICK ENGELS
[ON CERTAIN PECULIARITIES IN ENGLAND'S
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT]
Owing  to its eternal compromises, the kind of gradual, peaceful political development
that takes place in England gives rise to a situation full of
contradictions; because of its overwhelming  advantages this
situation can be practically tolerated within certain limits,
but  its logical absurdities cause much  anguish to the thinking mind. Hence, the need of all “state-supporting” parties
for a theoretical cloak, a justification, which, naturally, can
be provided only  through  sophisms,  distortions, and enfin
by  dubious  tricks. Thus, a literature is being cultivated in
the political field that repeats all the wretched hypocrisy and
untruthfulness of theological apologetics, and which also
transplants the theological intellectual vices to a mundane
soil. Thus  the soil of the specific liberal hypocrisy is fertilised, sown  and cultivated by  the Conservatives themselves.
And  thus is theological apologetics offered an argument,
produced by  ordinary minds, which it lacks in other lands.
What of it if the facts related in the gospel and the dogmas
preached in the New  Testament in general contradict each
other? Does  that make them untrue?  The English Constitu tion contains many  more  inconsistencies and constantly contradicts itself, but  continues to exist and, hence, is true!
The absence of crises since 1868 is also due to the expansion of the world market, which distributes the surplus
English, respectively European, capital in transport invest-

ment, etc., throughout the world and also among  a whole
mass of other branches of investment. This has made a crisis
impossible owing  to excessive speculation in railways, banking, etc., or in specifically American investments, or in
Indian trade, but  small crises, such as the Argentinian, have
become possible for the past three years. But  all this proves
that a giant crisis is in the making.
Written on  September 12, 1892 Translated from the German