London, 15-16 March 1886 

My dear Laura, 

You complain of the weather, and you are in Paris! Look at us 
here -— nothing above freezing-point for the last ten days, a cutting east 
wind, of which you don’t know which is the worst, the north-east or 
the south-east,— and to-night a fresh couche de neige* on streets and 
roofs. Nim is at her second cold, but it’s getting better, I had one too, 
Pumps and Percy are in the same boat too, fortunately the children 
are well. However there must be an end to this some time, only I wish 
it would come. 

The English Capital is at last getting into shape and form. 
T have the whole ms. here and begun revising. Saving the Ist chapter 
which will require a severe overhauling, the first 200 pages of the orig- 
inal German are ready to go to press. I saw Kegan Paul last week, 
declined his proposals of two years ago and submitted mine. They 
were accepted in principle. This, with a man like Kegan Paul who is 
on all hands described as extremely slipping, means very little, and 
I expect there will be a tussle with him yet. But that matters nothing at 
all, because our position in the market has improved wonderfully and 
we have at least one other good firm who will be glad to take it on 

2 cover of snow 

very favourable terms. As soon as the thing is concluded I will let you 
know. 

The book will be published end of September so as not to come out 
in the dead season, and this gives me time to do the revising work thor- 
oughly. Practically 300 pages of the original are revised, but the last 
500 I have not as yet looked at, and there are some very difficult 
chapters there. And it would never do to hurry over them. 

Broadhouse-Hyndman goes on translating ‘from the original Ger- 
man’ in To-Day. °?’ He has in the sixth monthly number just finished 
Chapter I. But his ‘original German’ is the French translation now, 
and he insists on proving that with French he can play ducks and 
drakes quite as much as with German. The thing does so little harm, so 
far, that Kegan Paul never even mentioned it. But it has done this 
good that I have got Moore and Edward to finish their work. You 
have no idea how difficult it is to get hold of this To-Day. I have paid 
in advance but have to dun them almost every month for my copy, 
moreover it comes out at all times of the next month. Tussy last year 
went and paid for a copy to be sent to you but as far as I have heard it 
was never sent! However there is nothing whatever in it except — 
Christian Socialism! 

You will have seen from Justice — that at least you do receive in ex- 
change for the Soctaliste— how Hyndman keeps up his alliance with 
Brousse and even ignores the new proletarian party in the Cham- 
Ber. "2 

To me, this appearance of a parti ouvrier* in the Palais Bourbon, is the 
great event of the year. The ice is now broken with which the Radi- 
cals *? had so far succeeded to cover the working masses of France. 
These Radicals are now forced to come out in their true colours, or 
else follow the lead of Basly. The latter they will not do for long, nor 
willingly. Whatever they do, they must alienate the masses and drive 
them to us, and that quick. Events move rapidly, the Decazeville af- 
fair could not come more opportunely than it has done. C’est coup 
sur coup.” And a very good thing it is that this takes place not in Paris 
but in one of the darkest and most reactionary and clerical corners of 
la province. | am exceedingly curious to learn how the affair has ter- 
minated to-day in the Chamber.° But whatever is done, must turn 
out to our benefit. 

a 

workers’ party -* One follows upon another. -° See this volume, p. 428. 

The reappearance of France on the scene of the proletarian move- 
ment ‘comme grande puissance’* will have a tremendous effect every- 
where, especially in Germany and America; in Germany I have done 
my best to let them know the full importance of the event, and sent 
Basly’s speech> to Bebel; Camélinat‘ will follow as soon as I get it 
back from Kautsky. How furious Longuet must be that his old friend 
and as he believed protégé Camélinat has turned his back upon 
him! 

At the same time, our Paris friends have done whatever they 
could to pave the way so that the event, when it came, found a ¢errain 
préparé.* Their action since the elections has been perfectly correct — 
their attempt to rally all revolutionary proletarian elements, their 
forbearance towards the Possibilists,?°’ their limiting their attacks to 
those points and facts which showed Brousse and Co. as simple ob- 
stacles to union — all this was just what it should have been. And they 
are now reaping the fruits: Brousse has been driven into a position 
where he must find fault with Basly and Co. and thereby sever the 
last bond which still united him to the movement of the masses. Savozr 
attendre ‘“— that is what our friends have learnt at last, and that will 
carry them through. Paul will be, if he likes, in the Palais Bourbon be- 
fore Longuet. 

A citoyen Hermann has applied to me for an addressed adhesion to 
what I suppose is your meeting on the 18th.°°° I send it‘ to you here- 
with 1) to be sure that it falls into the proper hands and 2) that you 
and Paul may look over and mend my rickety French. 

Now good night, it’s one o’clock and I must look over some papers 
yet to get them out of the way of to-morrow. Kind regards to Paul. 

Yours most affectionately, 
F. Engels 

16th March. Just seen the ordre du jour adopted by the Chamber.” 
It sounds rather different to all previous ordres du jour voted under 
similar circumstances. It is a decided victory for us, and Freycinet too 

“‘as a great power’-° E.J. Basly’s speech in the Chamber of Deputies on 
11 February 1886 (Le Cri du Peuple, No. 837, 12 February 1886).-° Z.R. Ca- 
mélinat’s speech in the Chamber of Deputies on 11 March 1886 (Le Cri du Peuple, 
No. 866, 13 March 1886).-¢ fertilised soil-° To be able to wait-' F. Engels, 
‘On the Anniversary of the Paris Commune’.-* Order of the Day-" ‘Régle- 
ment de l’ordre du jour’, Le Cri du Peuple, No. 867, 14 March 1886. 

pfeift aus einem andern Loch als frither." La situation devient sérieuse pour 
MM. les Radicaux.>