London, 9 February 1886 
My dear Laura, 

Our clever folk of the Social Democratic Federation ?°° scorn to 
rest on their laurels. Yesterday they must needs interfere in a meeting 
of the unemployed— who count now by hundreds of thousands-—— 
in order to preach La Révolution— revolution in general, and ask 
the mass to hold up their hands, those who were ready to follow 
Mr Champion to— well to what he does not know himself. Hyndman 
who can only overcome his personal cowardice by deafening himself 
by his own shouts, went on in the same strain.°? Of course you know 
what a meeting at 3 p. m. in Trafalgar Square consists of: numbers of 
the poor devils of the East End who vegetate in the borderland be- 
tween working class and lumpen proletariat, and a sufficient admix- 

@ Wochenblatt der N.Y. Volkszeitung-* Adolf Sorge jun. 

ture of roughs and ’Arrys to leaven the whole into a mass ready for 
any ‘lark’ up to a wild riot 4 propos de rien.” Well just at the time when 
this element was getting the upper hand (Kautsky who was there °*° 
says das eigentliche Meeting war vorbei; die Keileret ging los und so ging 
ich weg”) the wiseacres above-named took these roughs in procession 
through Pall Mall and Piccadilly to Hyde Park for another and 
a truly revolutionary meeting. But on the road the roughs took mat- 
ters into their own hands, smashed club windows and shop fronts, 
plundered first wine-stores and baker’s shops, and then some jewel- 
lers’ shops also, so that in Hyde Park our revolutionary swells had to 
preach ‘le calme et la modération’*! While they were soft-sawdering, 
the wrecking and plundering went on outside in Audley St. and even 
as far as Oxford Street where at last the police interfered. 

The absence of the police shows that the row was wanted, but that 
Hyndman and Co. donnaient dans le piége’ is impardonable and 
brands them finally as not only helpless fools but also as scamps. They 
wanted to wash off the disgrace of their electoral manoeuvres *°° and 
now they have done an irreparable damage to the movement here. 
To make a revolution— and that 4 propos de rien,“ when and where 
they liked — they thought nothing else was required but the paltry 
tricks sufficient to ‘boss’ an agitation for any vile fad, packing meet- 
ings, lying in the press, and then, with five and twenty men seemed 
to back them up, appealing to the masses to ‘rise’ somehow, as best 
they might, against nobody in particular and everything in general, 
and trust to luck for the result. Well I don’t know whether they will 
get over it so easily this time. I should not wonder if they were arres- 
ted before the week is out. English law is very definite in this respect: 
you may spout as long as you like, so long as nothing follows; but as 
soon as any ‘overt acts’ of rioting ensue, you are held responsible for 
them, and many a poor devil of a Chartist, Harney and Jones and 
others, got two years for less. °*° Besides, n’est pas Louise Michel qui 
veut. 7+ 

At last I have got nearly the whole of the ms. of the English transla- 
tion of Volume I in my hands, the small remnant Edward has promised 
for Sunday.” °° I shall go at it this week — the only thing that keeps 
me from it is the revision of a translation (English) of my old book on 

a b 

over nothing-° the meeting proper was over; the fight started, so I went away - 
calmness and moderation-‘ fell into the trap-° for nothing-' not ev- 
eryone who wishes to can be Louise Michel-& of. Capital-> 14 February 

c 

the English working class* by an American lady who has also found 
a publisher for it in America— strange to say! This I do in the eve- 
nings and shall—-unless much interrupted— finish this week. As 
soon as I see my way to fix a date for the printing to begin, I shall go 
and see Kegan Paul, and if we do not come to terms with him, go 
somewhere else, we have hints and offers from more than one. Our 
position in this respect is much improved. After that,— Volume III, ° 
and no more interruptions tolerated. 

We thought it very strange that Bernstein should have recommend- 
ed a fellow like Quarck* and asked him. Here is his reply which 
I give you literally so that there can be no mistake: 

‘Von einer Quarck-Empfehlung bin ich mir gar nichts bewusst, wie sollte ich einen 
Mann empfehlen den ich gar nicht kenne? Es ist möglich dass ich auf eine Anfrage einmal 
geantwortet, der Mann set kein Parteigenosse, aber es liege nichts gegen ihn vor, aber auch 
nur möglich... Sollte da nicht eine Verwechslung vorliegen? Ich selbst kenne Quarck gar 
nicht, habe auch noch nie mit ihm korrespondiert. Also wie gesagt, ich bestreite nicht 
absolut, uber Quarck einmal Auskunft erteilt zu haben, aber empfohlen habe ich ihn 
nicht. © 

Pardon me that I bother you again with this affair, but I wish to 
have this extract forwarded to Paris in the original German. As to the 
rest I write to Paul about it. Otherwise I wish Deville every happiness 
in his new ménage' and hope it will not interfere too much with his 
regularity of habits. If once settled down in a new routine, he prom- 
ises to be the best and happiest of husbands. 

The people here go on much as usual. Edward has taken a hall in 
Tottenham Court Road where he preaches twice every Sunday to an 
attentive and on the whole reasonably well paying audience — it 
interferes rather with his after-dinner port, but it’s a good thing for 
him as it defeats Bradlaugh’s plan to ruin him as a public lecturer; he 
also goes now and then to provincial towns for 3 lectures on a Sun- 
day! and one the Saturday evening. Bax is something like Paul, writes 

" The Condition of the Working-Class in England -° Florence Kelley-Wisch- 
newetzky -° of Capital-‘ See this volume, pp. 384-85. - ‘ ‘I am totally in 
the dark about Quarck’s recommendation. How could I give a recommendation to a 
person of whom I know nothing at all? It is possible that I could have answered a query 
to the effect that the man is not a party member, but nothing can be held against him, 
but this is only a possibility... Hasn’t there been a mix-up? I myself do not know 
Quarck at all and have never corresponded with him. So, as I’ve already said, I can- 
not say for certain that I haven’t given some information about Quarck, but J have ne- 
ver recommended him.’ - ' marriage 

charming articles often enough in The Commonweal, but utterly unac- 
countable when an idea runs away with him. For practical agitation 
poor Bax is most dangerous, being utterly inexperienced; throws the 
ideas of the study, quite raw, into the meeting-room; has the feeling 
that something must be done to set the ball rolling, and does not 
know what; withal very nice, very intelligent, very industrious, so 
that we may hope he will outlive his zeal. 

Yours affectionately, 
F. E.