Dear Mr Engels, 


How can you imagine that I would have been angry with you 
over that little drinking spree? I was very sorry not to have seen 
you again before you left, for that would have enabled you to see 
for yourself that I was only somewhat sulky in respect of my liege 
lord. Besides, such interludes often have quite salutory effects, but 
this time pére Marx must have caught a bad chill during his 
nocturnal philosophic excursion with ‘the archbishop’s nephew’,” 
for he fell seriously il] and has up till now stayed quietly in bed. 
He may perhaps be able to get up a little today and apply himself 
to the articles for America.‘ However, I don’t think he is as much 
restored as he imagines. For three nights he rambled in his speech 
and was very poorly. He asks you to convey his regards to Weerth 
and to tell him that he was very annoyed with him for having 
written no more than 2 words when forwarding Reinhardt’s letter 
from Paris, and that he must above all fulfil his duty as a former 
editor of the Neue Rheinische and send out to America some 
articles from stock.? As for that insufferable man,’ here, word 
for word, is what pére Marx says now: 

‘Ever drunk as a lord; boasting about his insinuating ways with 
women, meaning his being kicked out of bars; from the outset 
raucously inciting the English public in streets and alleyways, 
PARLOURS, Omnibuses and Ha’PENNY STEAMBOATS, to take part in the great 
debates between Kinkel and Ruge; dragging every German by the 
ear to the Cranbourne Hotel; one of the most pompous ranters of
the Emigrés’ Club,” and hence also crudely venting his spleen on 
the out-of-the-way little church of the N. Rh. Z. Should he ask 
Weerth’s protection, the latter must tell him to look for a post in 
one of the seven ministries to be set up by Kinkel, which should 
not present any difficulty in view of his great services to the great 
and only revolutionary party and of his influence on Kinkel’s pair 
of court scribes, Meyen and Oppenheim. Generally speaking, 
should Weerth be approached by any of the blackguards, he must 
give them to understand that he, too, belongs to the “small, 
incorrigible, separatist church” of the N. Rh. Z, as Meyen put it 
when writing to America.’ 

So much for my exalted patient, ‘old Crosspatch’. 

Yesterday a very nice letter arrived from Cluss in Washington, 
from which Kinkel’s boundless turpitude again emerges. Unfortu- 
nately I cannot enclose it as Freiligrath took it away with him 
yesterday. We shall send it tomorrow. Pass on bits of it to Weerth. 

Freiligrath has a new story about Kinkel’s toadyism towards the 
democratic grocers here, which I shall now treat you to. 
Freiligrath applies to a blind German democratic merchant here 
for a position. He acquaints him with his commercial testimonials, 
whereupon the cross-eyed cheesemonger tells him: ‘I have had the 
privilege of making Professor Kinkel’s acquaintance. I attended 
one of his lectures, after which the Professor called on me and at 
once offered to come to my house of an evening and read aloud 
free of charge the best German poetic works. I, of course, 
declined this exceptional offer, not being in a position adequately 
to reward a man like Professor Kinkel for such services. In 
addition, the gentleman would have had the expense of the 
omnibus fares, since he lives some distance away. Nevertheless, the 
Professor came and read aloud to me from German poets.— 
Amongst which a few little things by yourself, Mr Freiligrath— 
whereupon he told me that you were really a man of commerce 
and had already held a position, etc., etc. The Professor’s wife* 
also called on me and offered to sing and play to me.’— Doubtless 
the Professor’s wife would also have obliged with dances and poses 
plastiques” had she not been dealing with a blind connoisseur. 

The future president of the German Republic, who goes chasing 
after the grocers here in order to read them his divine poetry and 
sometimes snatch a bite of supper, all but outshines the French 
Krapulinski. 

Johanna Kinkel - » living sculpture - © Louis Bonaparte (called after a character 
in Heine’s ‘Zwei Ritter’) 

2. Jenny Marx to Weydemeyer. 9 January 1852 569 

It will also interest you to hear that your former chief, General 
Willich, has received a sound thrashing at the hands of the 
inferior refugees, since the latter are unable to grasp the 
difference between themselves and the superior refugees, and 
disapprove of the way the large revolutionary funds are being 
administered in the interests of the great men. It would further 
appear from Cluss’ letter that Kinkel has used Willich’s mystirica- 
vions and Schramm’s letter to provide proof in America of their 
‘connections with Cologne. It will soon be time to come out with 
the true story. Kinkel has apparently been putting about in 
America too that Marx’s party presents prizes for vice in order not 
to become moral heroes. Musch sends Frederick his love. The girls 
have already gone to school. You will, perhaps, remember that 
Pieper made the boy a present of his fine travelling bag. Yesterday 
he threatened to take it back and buy him something else instead. 
This morning the boy hid the bag, and just now he said: ‘Moor,* 
I’ve hiddened it well and if Pieper asks for it, I’ tell him I’ve 
given it to a poor man.’ The slyboots! 

Adieu. 
Warmest greetings 
Jenny Marx