London, 15 December 1882 

Dear Moor, 

Herewith the appendix on the Mark.’ Be so kind as to return it on 
Sunday so that I can revise iton Monday -——I didn’t get the final revi- 
sion done today. 

* Julius II-* an innocent-° a saint-4 Should read ‘so much per minute’.- 
© duties-£ F. Engels, “The Mark’. 

I consider that the view here put forward concerning rural condi- 
tions in the Middle Ages and the second phase of serfdom from the 
middle of the 15th century onwards is, on the whole, incontrovertible. 
I have read all the passages in Maurer that relate to this, finding 
therein almost all my propositions—and, what’s more, substantiated, 
also, precisely the opposite, but either unsubstantiated or drawn 
from a period which happens not to be the one under discussion. This 
applies in particular to Fronhéfe, Vol. 4, conclusion. These contradic- 
tions are due in Maurer’s case |. to the habit of adducing, indiscrimi- 
nately and side by side, documentary proof and examples from any 
and every period, 2. to a residue of legalistic prejudice which invari- 
ably trips him up when it comes to understanding a process of develop- 
ment, 3. to his gross underestimation of force and the role it plays, 4. to 
the enlightened presupposition that, since the dark Middle Ages, 
things must have changed steadily for the better; this prevents him 
from perceiving, not only the antagonistic nature of true progress, but 
likewise individual setbacks. 

As you will see, the thing isn’t all of one piece, but is a proper 
paste-and-scissors job. The first draft was all of one piece, but unfor- 
tunately it was wrong. Only by slow degrees have I mastered the 
material, which is why there’s so much patchwork. 

Incidentally, the general reintroduction of serfdom is one of the rea- 
sons why no kind of industry could develop in Germany in the 17th 
and 18th centuries. First, there was the division of labour in the 
guilds which was the reverse of that in manufacturing; instead of 
being divided within the workshop, labour is divided among the 
guilds. Here in England, there was migration to those parts of the 
country where there were no guilds. This was prevented in Germany 
by the transformation of country folk and the inhabitants of 
agricultural market towns into serfs. But it was also this which even- 
tually proved the undoing of the guilds the moment they encountered 
competition from foreign manufactures. I shall not mention here the 
other reasons that contributed to the suppression of German manu- 
factures. 

Today has again been all fog and gaslight. Hartmann’s battery 
probably a Farure where lighting is concerned, being useful at most 
for telegraphy, etc.* More about this as soon as anything definite has 
been established. 

* See this volume, pp. 381-82, 391. 

Look after yourself, and let’s hope the weather will soon be such 
that you will be allowed out. 

Your 
F.E.