[IN PLAUEN NEAR DRESDEN] 

Eastbourne, 18 August 1886 
4 Cavendish Place 

Dear Bebel, 

It is a long time since I sent you word of myself, but on the one 
hand nothing in particular had happened that seemed to call for an 
exchange of opinions and, on the other, the ms. of the translation of 
Capital* was giving me such an immense amount of work that I had, 
quite literally and on principle, to let slide all correspondence that 
did not require immediate attention for about 10 weeks. Now that, 
too, has been dealt with, so that all that is pursuing me down to the 
seaside here are the very troublesome proofs and this means that 
I shall at last be able to make good my omissions, especially since var- 
ious things have happened that are worth writing about. 

First and foremost the Freiberg verdicts. 6°? It would seem that 
your German, and notably Saxon, magistrate still deems himself in- 
sufficiently depraved. His case is like that of Eccarius in the days of 
the International, of whom Pfander once said: ‘You have absolutely 
no idea what Eccarius is like; he intends to become far worse than he 
already is.’ And the Saxons are no exception. In Germany everything 
official is corrupt, but a petty state gives rise to a particular brand of 
corruption. For its semi or wholly hereditary official class is so small 
and at the same time so jealous of its caste privileges that its judiciary, 
police, administration and army, all brothers and relatives, come to 
one another’s aid and play into one another’s hands, and to such 
good purpose that the legal norms, indispensable in larger countries, 
are completely lost to view, and what is utterly impossible becomes 
possible. I myself have seen what can happen in this way, not only in 
Germany but also in Luxembourg and, quite recently, in Jersey, not 
to mention Switzerland in the bad old Bonapartist days.’ And I am 
convinced that Bismarck could have achieved the same end in any 

* the English translation of the first volume of Capital (see Note 56)-" The reference is 
to Engels’ stay in Switzerland in 1849-50. 

other petty German state as soon as the Court, the chief of the robber 
band, ceased to oppose him. In the largest of the petty states, in Prus- 
sia itself, this mutual aid society is formed by the military and official 
élite and is capable of any infamy in the real or purported interest of 
the caste. 

Just now the ruling clique has more than enough to do. The death 
of old William * will usher in a period of uncertainty and indecision 
for them — hence, or so they believe, the need to consolidate their po- 
sition as much as possible beforehand. Hence, too, the sudden furious 
hue and cry which is raised to an even higher pitch by their fury over 
the complete failure of all their previous machinations against us, and 
their hope of [provoking] minor disturbances which would make it 
possible to tighten up the law.” And that is why you people have got 
to spend nine months in jug. 

I hope you will return from your travels this summer so fortified that 
those 9 months will not be deleterious to your health. This, your en- 
forced retirement, will prove extremely deleterious to the party; true, 
the tractable members will at last be made to realise that mildness is 
no safeguard against imprisonment, yet they are unlikely to change 
their spots and their endeavour to pass themselves off as the genuine 
representatives of the party will be facilitated by everything that im- 
pedes the organisation, and hence the organised expression of opin- 
ion, of our masses. And once they know you're safely under lock and 
key, they'll really start to give themselves airs. Much will then depend 
on Liebknecht, but upon what will he depend? He will be coming 
over here in a fortnight’s time and will pass on to me a vast amount of 
party gossip, or as much of it as he thinks fit. But of one thing you 
may be sure—- my view of the German movement as a whole, of the 
tactics it should adopt, and of its individual members including Lieb- 
knecht himself, will remain what it has always been. Come to that, 
I am greatly looking forward to seeing him again, although I know 
from experience that reasoning with him is a complete waste of 
time—- at most he may take some account of my opinion while in Amer- 
ica, where Tussy Aveling will be able to give him an occasional 
nudge and so keep him on the straight and narrow. °°° As regards the 
fund-raising success of the tour, I have my doubts. Now that the 
American movement is acquiring reality, it is bound to become an 
ever less productive source of funds for Germany. This it could only 

“« William I - ° See this volume, pp. 472-73. 

be while still a completely academic proposition. But now that the 
Anglo-American workers have been roused from their lethargy, it is 
essential that in speeches and the press they be helped to take their 
first, still tentative steps, that a truly socialist nucleus be formed in 
their midst, and this costs money. Nevertheless, this time there may 
still be some pickings to be had. 

The entry of the Americans into the movement and the revival of 
the French movement by the three labour deputies and by Decaze- 
ville °*°-— these are the two events of world historic importance this 
year. In America there’s all sorts of tomfoolery going on—here the 
anarchists, there the Knicurs or Lasor — but no matter; the thing 
has got going and will make rapid progress. There are still many dis- 
appointments in store—— the wire-pullers of the old political parties 
are preparing covertly to take over the leadership of the budding 
workers’ party — and colossal blunders will be made, but neverthe- 
Jess, things will go faster there than anywhere else. 

In France the 108,000 votes obtained by Roche  prove that the 
Radicals’ spell *?° is broken and the Paris workers are beginning to 
disown them, and to do so on a massive scale. To consolidate this vic- 
tory, this new-won position, our men have managed to transform the 
temporary organisation set up for Roche’s election into a permanent 
one!° and in this way have become the theoretical teachers of the 
working men who are turning away from the Radicals. Though they 
all describe themselves as socialists, these people are learning from 
bitter experience that the threadbare remnants they have inherited 
from Proudhon and Louis Blanc are mere bourgeois and petty- 
bourgeois dross; hence they are proving quite accessible to Marx’s 
theory. This is a consequence of the Radicals being partially at the 
helm; once wholly so, they will lose their entire working-class follow- 
ing and I maintain that the victory of Radicalism, i.e. of old, thread- 
bare French socialism, in the Chamber will spell victory for Marxism, 
to begin with in the Paris municipal council. Oh, had Marx but lived 
to see his thesis vindicated in France and America,— his thesis that 
today’s democratic republic is no more than the battleground upon 
which the decisive struggle between bourgeoisie and proletariat will 
be fought out! 

For all that,* practically nothing is yet happening in this country. 

* In the original ‘trotz alledem und alledem’—a line from a poem by Ferdinand 
Freiligrath Trotz alledem! 

Not even a socialist sect, as in Owen’s day, can be said to exist. There 
are as many sects as there are heads. The Soctat Democratic Fepera- 
tion °° does at least have a programme and a certain amount of dis- 
cipline, but no backing whatever from the masses. Its bosses are polit- 
ical adventurers of the most ambitious kind, and their paper, Justice, 
is one long lie about the historic power and importance of the Frpera- 
tion. Even the worthy Ede occasionally forgets this and inoppor- 
tunely cites the paper, thus doing the genuine movement over here more 
harm than he can make good; from where he is it is difficult for him 
to assess the way in which Justice exploits this. The Leacus 3*° is going 
through a crisis. Morris, a sentimental dreamer pure and simple, the 
personification of good will with so good an opinion of itself that it 
turns into ill will if ever there’s a question of learning anything, has 
been taken in by the catchword ‘Revolution’ and fallen victim to the 
anarchists. Bax is very talented and no fool but, philosopher-fashion, 
has concocted his own brand of socialism which he regards as true 
Marxian theory and with which he does a great deal] of harm. How- 
ever, in his case these are merely teething troubles and will soon dis- 
appear; only it’s a pity the process should have to take place in pub- 
lic. Nor can Aveling learn very much, taken up as he is with working 
for his livelihood; he is the only one I see regularly. However, the 
publication of Capital in English °° will clear the air enormously over 
here. 

And with that I must close if I want to finish this letter. It is 6.45, 
tea is about to be served and the last post goes at 8. So take care of 
yourself and mind you don’t pay my long silence back in kind. And 
above all, let me assure you that any gossip that might perhaps con- 
cern you yourself will make no impression on me whatever. 

Your old friend 
F.E. 

I am sure to be here until the 28th of this month, °9° after which 
you had better write to London.