{[Manchester,] 22 January 1852 

Dear Marx, 

Herewith the 7th article for the Tribune. The eighth, etc., will be 
done tomorrow evening, and today I shall get something ready for 
Weydemeyer. In his case, I am for a start restricting myself to 
England,” being unable to bring myself to read German 
newspapers and do something on Germany. Could you not 
perhaps persuade Lupus, who, I hope, is fit as a fiddle again, to 
send off something ‘From the German Empire’'*?—Weerth will 
produce something for Weydemeyer next week; this week he 
cannot. I hope to see him here the day after tomorrow and he 

@ We have had the Napoleon of peace (Louis Philippe’s nickname) - > Louis 
Bonaparte - © What then? - 4 in the most philistine manner - © pity - £ when they 
talk nonsense 

may come up to London in a week or a fortnight’s time since, out 
of sheer impatience, he is once again champing at the bit. 

The Pacific having arrived from New York yesterday, there’s a 
chance that tomorrow might bring the numbers* promised me by 
Weydemeyer—but I am not counting on this since he may have 
waited for the regular English Mar steamer. By the way, he should 
not send so many, 50 copies is too much and will probably cost a 
mint of money, and who are they all to be sent to? I will find out 
what the charges are and if needs be—that is, if he can’t arrange 
the business more cheaply through parcels consignment agen- 
cies—10 copies would be quite sufficient; for he cannot after all 
count on subscribers in Europe. A few in London, perhaps; 
otherwise maybe only in Hamburg. And that would also call for an 
agency, which would not pay for itself. 

I trust you'll soon be sending me an article to translate for the 
Tribune. 

Jones has written to me asking for contributions. I shall do my 
best and have given him my word." All this means that any spare 
time I might have for swotting is frittered away piecemeal, and 
that’s bad. I must see how I can arrange things and diddle the 
office. Jones mentions a dirty trick Harney played on him *° and 
says he was cheated out of £15, concerning which you would be 
able to tell me more—what is all this? He was, of course, very Busy 
and his letter consists largely of unfinished sentences and 
exclamation marks. 

As to Pieper’s popce in the matter of the bill, the whole 
stratagem was, of course, perfectly plain to me, and Monsieur le bel 
homme will have realised that he needs rather more cunning to 
conjure eight pounds out of my pocket. Being well aware how he 
stood financially on 2 January, I chaffed him about his supposed 
shortage of money, warned him against dishonest and unsound 
bill-brokers in London, declared that the bill must be dispatched 
as quickly as possible, and finally advised him to have it cashed 
through Weydemeyer—in which case, it would again pass through 
your hands and, upon the arrival of the notification of payment, 
which would, of course, come to you or me, it would quite 
spontaneously give rise to a further discounting transaction with 
this youthful trading house. I owe him 2 pounds, for which he 
also asked; this I also promised to repay, but not before the 
beginning of February. 

That the good Louis Napoleon must go to war is clear as day 
and, if he can come to an understanding with Russia, he will 

4 of Die Revolution - » Mr Handsome 

probably pick a quarrel with England. This would have its good 
and its bad aspects. The French notion that they could conquer 
London and England in 5 hours is a very harmless one. But what 
they can do now, is carry out sudden raids with 20, or at the most 
30 thousand men, which, however, would nowhere be very 
effective. Brighton is the one town seriously threatened; South- 
ampton, etc., are safeguarded, not so much by fortifications as by 
their situation on deep inlets navigable only at high tide and with 
the help of local pilots. The greatest errecr a French landing could 
hope to achieve would be the destruction of Woolwich, but even 
then they would have to take damned good care not to advance on 
London. In the case of any serious invasion, the combined forces 
of the Continent would inevitably give the English at least a years 
notice, whereas 6 months would suffice to place England in a state 
of readiness against any attack. The present alarums are being 
deliberately exaggerated—with the greatest help from the Whigs. 
All the English have to do to safeguard themselves for the time 
being is to recall a dozen ships of the line and srzamers, fit out 
another dozen of both kinds which are lying in port half 
completed, recruit 25,000 more troops, organise volunteer rifle 
battalions equipped with Minié rifles and, in addition, some militia 
and some training for the Yeomanry. But the alarums serve a very 
good purpose; the government had really excelled itself in 
allowing things to go to wrack and ruin and this will cease. And 
then, if it comes to the point, they will be so well armed that they 
will be able to repulse any attempt at a landing and at once 
retaliate. 

Otherwise, so far as I can see, there are only 2 prospects open 
to Louis Napoleon if he wants to start a war: 1. against Austria, 
i.e, against the entire Holy Alliance, or 2. against Prussia, if the 
latter is dropped by Russia and Austria. However, the second is 
very doubtful and, as for his picking a quarrel with the Holy 
Alliance, this is most questionable. Neither England nor the Holy 
Alliance will abandon Piedmont, Switzerland and Belgium to him. 
The business is becoming so prettily entangled that in the end 
pure chance must decide. 

And 4 l%intérieur, what splendid goings-on! Attempted assassina- 
tions almost a daily occurrence and the measures taken ever 
prettier. If only Mr de Morny, who still to some degree plays a 
virtuous hero, were at last thrown out, and if only the noble one? 
were to confiscate the property of the Orleans.’ 

It would hardly be possible to pave the way for a Blanqui 
government more surely than does this jackass. 

Your 
F. E.