London, 15 June 1885 

My Dear Old Fellow, 

I was delighted to get your letter; it is indeed a damned shame that 
we should be so far apart. However the time will doubtless come 
when the likes of us will again be able to travel about untroubled by 
too great a pressure of work or the harassments of the continental po- 
lice. Then J shall pack my bags and pay you a visit. 

Meanwhile the world goes very gently on its way, though it may 
well speed up a bit shortly. Old William‘ would long since have kicked 
the bucket had he not been informed from on high that the angels’ 
drill still left something to be desired and, in particular, that when or- 
dered to goose-step they were still failing to throw their legs in the air 
as prescribed in the regulations. Accordingly he could not yet be re- 

* See this volume, p. 291. - ” written in December 1847-January 1848 
- © William I 

ceived with the appropriate honours. That is why he has now des- 
patched Frederick Charles to carry out an inspection. *'! It is hoped 
he will be able to report that Field-Marshal Michael Archangel has 
succeeded in training the heavenly host to the standard of perfection 
sought by the Prussians, in which case old William will doubtless 
make haste to take the heavenly guard-mounting parade in person. 

You are quite right, radicalism in France is rapidly becoming more 
and more threadbare. There is only one man left who has yet to be- 
come so and that is Clemenceau. If he gets in he’ll shed a whole mass 
of illusions, above all the illusion that nowadays a bourgeois republic 
can govern in France without thieving and causing others to thieve. 
It is just possible that he will then go further. But that is not neces- 
sary. All that is necessary is that this last sheet-anchor of the bour- 
geoisie should show what he is capable of — which, given his present 
point of view, is nothing. 

Here in England the cause is progressing pretty well, even if not in 
the form that is customary at home. Since 1848 the English parlia- 
ment has unquestionably been the most revolutionary body in the 
world and the next elections will mark the beginning of a new epoch, 
even though it may not necessarily manifest itself as quickly as all 
that.* Workers will appear in Parliament in growing numbers, each 
one worse than the last. But that is necessary over here. All the scoun- 
drels who at the time of the International played at being bourgeois- 
radical philistines must appear in Parliament for what they are. 
Whereupon the masses will become socialist here too. Industrial over- 
production will do the rest. 

The rumpus in the German party came as no surprise to me. *’* In 
a philistine country like Germany the party must also have a philis- 
tine ‘educated’ right wing °”° which it will shed when the time comes. 
In Germany philistine socialism dates back to 1844 and was criticised 
in the Communist Manifesto. It is as immortal as your German philis- 
tine himself. So long as the Anti-Socialist Law?’ remains in force, 
I am not in favour of our provoking a split, since there is no parity of 
weapons. Should these gentlemen, however, themselves bring about a 
split by attempting to suppress the proletarian nature of the party and 
replace it with a crudely aesthetic form of sentimental philanthropy 

* See this volume, p. 367. 

without guts or substance, then we shall just have to take it as it comes. 

I am still engaged in dictating the third volume of Capital. It is 
a magnificent book and as a work of science puts even the first one in the 
shade. As soon as | have it in a ms. other people can also read, I shall 
be able to devote some time to sorting the papers. I shall then look 
out your things. '? Until that time— round about the autumn— I 
shall have absolutely no chance to turn my hand to anything else. 
The second volume has been printed and I shall probably be able to 
send you a copy in a fortnight or so. 

Marx’s daughters have been keeping well so far. Mme Lafargue’s 
husband is back in jail for another 4 months (for non-payment of a 
fine), *#°? while Mrs Aveling is working hard at propaganda over 
here, though it may be some time before there is any great success. 

I have taken out another five pound money order for you, of which 
you have doubtless already been advised. I trust it will prove wel- 
come. Well then, take care of your health so that you can join in the 
little bit of fun that is bound to come pretty soon. I have been keeping 
well so far, though the doctors say I’m unlikely to be able to mount 
a horse again— hence unfit for active service, dammit! 

For the rest I remain 

Ever your old friend 

F. Engels