London, 25 October 1888 

Dear Bebel, 

T have sent you through Schliiter Der Hiilferuf der deutschen Jugend 
together with its sequel, Die Junge Generation, Weitling’s periodical of 
the forties. Schliiter had got the other stuff and has sent it to you; the 
Garantien, Das Evangelium des armen Siinders, etc 

In my view, it would be better to distinguish between the 3 trends in 
the German movement during the forties. There is very little connection 
between them, Weitlingian communism? in particular having remained 
aloof until it fizzled out or its members came over to us—a phase which 
does not figure in the literature on the subject. As regards the history of 

2 of Capital 

‘true socialism?” (Hess up to a point, Grün and a number of other 
belletrists), the material in the archives?’ is far from complete, and use 
would have to be made besides of Marx’s and my old mss.* Which, 
however, I can in no circumstances allow out of my possession. Again, a 
great deal of what went on behind the scenes—notably the estrangement 
between Hess and ourselves—and what cannot be dismissed in a couple 
of lines, would be indispensable here, and this would mean that I myself 
would have to go through all the old stuff again. Finally, as regards the 
third trend—our own—the course of its development can be studied 
nowhere save in the old mss., while its outward history was recorded by 
me in the introduction? to the Communist Trial.“ Weitlingian commu- 
nism, on the other hand, is a subject all on its own and accounts of it are 
available in print. 

Here it occurs to me that you ought also, perhaps, to have 
Kuhlmann’s book—the prophetic religion that succeeded Weitling in 
Switzerland and to which many of his followers were converted.>% I 
completely forgot to give it to Schliiter. 

I enclose a letter from Weitling to Hess (from the archives). It was at 
a meeting of a small band of close associates that the breach between 
Weitling and ourselves took place. (An account of the said meeting, writ- 
ten by Annenkov, a Russian who was present, also appeared in the Neue 
Zeit a few years ago.)°°? What happened was as follows: Hess had been 
to Westphalia (Bielefeld, etc.); the chaps there—Ltining, Rempel et a/— 
wished, he said, to put up the money for the publication of our writ- 
ings.*!° Then Weitling came up with the proposal that his disquisitions 
re his Utopian system be placed with them forthwith, as also his other 
great works (including a new grammar in which the dative was abolished 
as the invention of aristocrats)>!!—things we would have had to criticise 
and combat the moment the plan came off. The letter shows the 
distorted form in which our arguments were reflected in Weitling’s 
mind. Everywhere he saw nothing but professional jealousy, nothing but 
an attempt to suppress his genius, to “come between him and the sources 
of money’. But in points 5 and 6 of his resumé the fundamental differ- 
ence between him and ourselves emerges plainly enough, and that’s the 
main thing.?!? 

P. 3, lines 10-12: This refers to our intention of bringing out the great 

*K. Marx and E. Engels, The German Ideology —» F. Engels, ‘On the History of 
the Communist League’ — * Revelations Concerning the Communist Trial in 
Cologne 

Utopians in German translation with critical introductions and notes—as 
opposed to the piffling accounts by Lorenz Stein, Grün*!? et al. In this 
poor Weitling sees only unfair competition with his system. 

P. 3, bottom: E. is Ewerbeck in Paris. 

N.B. It finally transpired that Moses* had omitted to tell us the essen- 
tials, namely that all the Westphalians had offered was to guarantee other 
publishers against the losses they might make on our stuff. Moses had led 
us to believe that they, the Westphalians, would themselves undertake 
publication. As soon as we learnt what the position was, we naturally 
washed our hands of the whole business; to be writers guaranteed by the 
Westphalians was something that would never have occurred to us. 

The affair of the Kautskys has astonished us all. Louise has conducted 
herself throughout with exceptional heroism. Kautsky was in a state of 
complete euphoria but was sadly sobered down when jilted within 5 
days by his new beloved, who thereupon got engaged to his brother 
Hans. Now they both intend to wait and see how things go; the strangest 
part of it is that Louise is now complaining how unfair we are all being 
to Karl! I have written and told Kautsky that it’s the silliest thing he has 
ever done and, if Louise thinks this too unkind, I suppose I shall have to 
return my sword to its scabbard. 

I am now working on Volume III of Capital. I am still supposed to 
take great care of my eyes and not write for more than 2 hours daily and 
that only by daylight. So my correspondence will have to be severely 
curtailed. 

Regards to Singer. 

Your 
FE.