ENGELS TO MARX” 

Barmen, 22 February-7 March 18454 

Dear Marx, 

After much writing here and there I have at last received your 
address from Cologne and at once sit down to write to you. The 
moment I heard of your expulsion” I thought it necessary to 

@ 3 February - > Rheinische Jahrbiicher - © Mathilde - 4 In the original the first date is 
written at the beginning of the letter and the second at the end of it. 

open a subscription list, so that the extra expense you have 
incurred thereby should be shared out communist-fashion between 
us all. The thing has made good progress and three weeks ago I 
sent fifty odd talers to Jung; I also approached the Disseldorfers, 
who have collected the same amount, and in Westphalia, too, I 
have instigated through Hess the agitation necessary to that end. 
Meanwhile the subscription list here has not yet been closed. 
Kottgen, the painter, has been dragging his feet and thus I am not 
yet in possession of all the money we can expect. However, I hope 
everything will have come in within a few days, and then I will 
send you a bill on Brussels. Since I don’t, by the way, know 
whether this will be enough to enable you to set up house in 
Brussels, I shall, needless to say, have the greatest pleasure in 
placing at your disposal my fee for my first English piece,* some 
of which at least I hope will soon be paid me, and which I can 
dispense with for the time being as my old man? is obliged to keep 
me primed. At least the curs shan’t have the satisfaction of seeing 
their infamy cause you pecuniary embarrassment. The fact that 
you should have been compelled to pay your rent in advance is 
the height of turpitude. But I fear that in the end you'll be 
molested in Belgium too,*’ so that you'll be left with no alternative 
but England. 

However, not a word more of the vile business. Kriege will 
already be with you by the time this arrives. The fellow’s a capital 
agitator. He will tell you a great deal about Feuerbach. The day 
after he left here I received a letter from Feuerbach—we had, after 
all, written to the fellow.*! Feuerbach maintains that until he has 
thoroughly demolished the religious piffle, he cannot concern 
himself with communism to the extent of supporting it in print, 
and also that, in Bavaria, he is too much cut off from the 
mainstream of life to be able to do so. However, he says he’s a 
communist and that his only problem is how to practise 
communism, There’s a possibility of his visiting the Rhineland this 
summer, in which case he must come to Brussels and we'll soon 
show him how. 

Here in Elberfeld wondrous things are afoot. Yesterday we held 
our third communist meeting in the town’s largest hall and leading 
inn.” The first meeting was forty strong, the second 130 and the 
third at least 200. All Elberfeld and Barmen, from the financial 
aristocracy to épicerie,, was represented, only the proletariat being 

a F. Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England. - > Friedrich Engels senior, 
Engels’ father - © grocers 

excluded. Hess gave a lecture. Poems by Miller and Püttmann 
and excerpts from Shelley were read, also an article from the 
Bürgerbuch on existing communist colonies.* The ensuing discus- 
sion lasted until one o’clock. The subject is a tremendous draw. All 
the talk is of communism and every day brings us new supporters. 
The Wuppertal communism is une vérité,” indeed, already almost a 
force. You have no idea how favourable the soil is here. The most 
stupid, indolent, philistine people, hitherto without any interest in 
anything in the world, are beginning almost to rave about 
communism. How long it will still be tolerated I do not know, but 
the police at any rate are completely at a loss, themselves not 
knowing where they stand, and just at a time when the chief 
swine, the District President, is in Berlin. But should they impose a 
ban, we'll find some way round it and if we can’t, we'll at least 
have stirred things up so mightily that every publication represent- 
ing our interest will be voraciously read here. As I shall be leaving 
at Easter, it is all to the good that Hess should settle here and at 
the same time publish a monthly at Badeker’s in Elberfeld; 
Kriege, I believe, has a prospectus of this.” In any case, as I have 
probably told you already, I shall be going to Bonn.‘ My projected 
journey to Paris has now fallen through, there no longer being 
any reason for me to go there, but anyhow I shall be coming to 
Brussels instead, the more so since my mother and two sisters“ will 
be visiting Ostend in the summer. I must also pay another visit to 
Bielefeld and the communists there** and, if Feuerbach doesn’t 
come, I shall go to him and then, provided I have the time and 
the money, visit England once again. As you see, I have a good 
deal ahead of me. Bergenroth told me that he, too, would 
probably be going to Brussels in a few weeks or so. Together with 
some Diisseldorfers, he attended our second meeting, at which he 
spoke. Incidentally, standing up in front of real, live people and 
holding forth to them directly and straightforwardly, so that they 
see and hear you is something quite different from engaging in 
this devilishly abstract quillpushing with an abstract audience in 
one’s ‘mind’s eye’. 

I am to request you once more on Hess’ behalf—and do so on 
my own as well—-to send Püttmann something for his quarterly.‘ 
It’s essential that we all appear in the very first issue, so that the 

a F, Engels, ‘Description of Recently Founded Communist Colonies Still in 
Existence’. - > a reality - ¢ This refers to the Gesellschaftsspiegel. - 4 See this volume, 
p- 19. - © Apparently, Elise and Hedwig. - f Rheinische Jahrbiicher 

thing acquires some character. In any case, without us it will never 
so much as materialise. 

25 February 

Yesterday evening we got news that our next meeting was to be 
broken up by gendarmes and the speakers arrested. 

26 February 

Yesterday morning the chief burgomaster* forbade Mrs Ober- 
meyer to permit such meetings on her premises, and I received a 
tip to the effect that if the meeting was held notwithstanding, 
arrest and prosecution would follow. We have now of course given 
it up and can only wait and see whether we shall be prosecuted, 
though this seems hardly likely as we were wily enough not to 
provide a pretext, and the whole dirty business could only lead to 
the government’s being made a terrible fool of. In any case the 
public prosecutors and the entire district court were present and 
the chief prosecutor himself took part in the discussion. 

7 March 

Since writing the above I have spent a week in Bonn and 
Cologne. The people in Cologne are now permitted to hold their 
meeting in connection with the Association.** As regards matters 
here,” a rescript has come in from the Disseldorf government 
whereby further meetings are forbidden. Hess and Kottgen have 
protested. Won’t do any good, of course, but these people will see 
from the tone of the protest that they can’t get the better of us. 
Hess is once more tremendously sanguine because in all other 
respects everything is going so famously and we have made really 
tremendous progress. The good fellow is always full of dreams. 

Our Gesellschaftsspiegel will be splendid, the first sheet has 
already been censored and everything passed. A mass of 
contributions. Hess is living in Barmen, in the Stadt London. It 
seems unlikely that Bergenroth will come to Brussels in the 
immediate future, though someone else will, whose name I won’t 
mention as this letter will probably be opened. If it can somehow 
be managed, I too shall come to see you again in April. At the 
moment my chief problem is money, since the meeting caused 

a Johann Adolph Carnap 

some family ructions, after which my old man made up his mind 
to support me only as regards my ‘studia’ but not as regards 
communist aims of any description. 

There’s a whole lot more I should tell you if I knew of a safe 
address in Brussels, which in any case you must send me. Much of 
what has happened here could be harmful to a great many people 
if perused in a cabinet noir.’ I shall stay here, then, another four 
weeks and leave for Bonn at the beginning of April. Anyhow, 
write to me again before then, so that I know how things are with 
you. Most of the money has been collected, though I don’t yet 
know what it amounts to; it will be sent off directly. My 
manuscript* will be leaving any day now. 

The Critical Criticism has still not arrived!*© Its new title, The 
Holy Family, will probably get me into hot water with my pious and 
already highly incensed parent, though you, of course, could not 
have known that. I see from the announcement that you have put 
my name first. Why? I contributed practically nothing to it and 
anyone can identify your?” style. 

Let me know by return whether you are still in need of money. 
Wigand is due to send me some in about a fortnight’s time and 
then all you have to do is dispose of it. I fear that the outstanding 
subscriptions will not amount to more than 120 or 150 francs. 

Apropos, we here are planning to translate Fourier and, if at 
all possible, to produce a ‘library of the best foreign socialist 
writers’.*” Fourier would seem to be the best to start off with. 
We've found people to do the translation. Hess has just told me 
about a Fourier glossary brought out in France by some Fourierist 
or other. You will know of it. Could you send me particulars at 
once and, if possible, post me a copy. At the same time 
recommend what French writings you think suitable for transla- 
tion for our ‘library’. But look sharp; the matter is urgent, as we 
are already negotiating with a publisher.“ How far have you got 
with your book? I must now get down to my. manuscript, so 
goodbye for the present and write directly about the points I have 
mentioned. 

Your 
F. E. 

Greetings to Kriege and Burgers. 
Is Bernays there? 

a F. Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England. - > The manuscript is 
damaged here, but the text is decipherable. - ¢ Julius Theodor Badeker 

[On the fourth page of the letter] 

A Madame Marx. Bois Sauvage, Plaine S Gudule, 
Chez Monsieur J. B. Lannoy, Bruxelles