Marx to Engels in Manchester

[London,] 22 March 1851

Dear Engels,

I have had Pieper copy out the above splendid document for you. Under the pretext of having guaranteed the Mazzinian loan, Ruge demands money to convert it into ‘public opinion’. Among the ‘Prussians’ here, Bucher, Elsner, Zimmermann etc., there is great indignation at this ‘strong provisional arrangement’.

As for the ‘six’ who gave you such trouble, these six were Landolphe and Blanc, Willich and Schapper, Barthelemy and Vidil, in short the six matadors; Hungarians, Poles etc., the non-co-opted mob, did not figure.

In the 3rd letter Willich replies to nothing but his own spokesman of his thoughts.⁴ *N’a reçu ni lettre ni rien de la part des Becker et des Schramm.* Today the fellow will have a pleasant day. A fortnight ago Wolff met him at 2 o’clock at night in a whore-coffeehouse and shouted loudly: Ah! the virtuous Willich here! whereupon the virtuous one pissed off.

The actual contriver³ of the German central dodge[20] is the tireless, leathery corn-operator and grass-eater Struve. The fellow is simply plying his old trade, using cranioscopy, morality and suchlike allottria to draw attention to himself. A market-crier, on top of that with a hoarse laryngeal voice. The ass has, over the last 25 years, written a ‘democratic state lexicon’ and a ‘democratic world history’ 91, both nothing but the one Welcker-Rotteck translated into Struvian, the other a democratically paraphrased Rotteck!?!!! And Ruge has sunk so low that he has been prevented from printing this idiocy in Germany only by a compassionate police.

Stupid Kinkel has set about dispelling the philistines’ illusions. No better means of unmasking this ass than his falling into the hands of such experienced harlequins as Struve and Ruge. At all events, he is shedding the lion’s skin in this company.

Yours,
K. Marx

Jones was with me a few days ago and congratulates himself, especially after the latest revelations, that I saved him from taking part in the banquet.

⁴ Annoyance — * Has received neither a letter nor anything else from Becker and Schramm. —
³ Inventor — * of the central swindle.