| 10 Bayrische
Str.
Leipzig.
Apr. 14, 65.
Dear Williams!
So you are all right again. Well, you had given us a tremendous fright; I really thought you had resolved on doing your enemies the only kindness, they have ever to expect from you, viz removing from this vale of sorrow.—
By the bye, mind Siehe L. Kugelmann an Marx,
30.3.1866.
Schließen what Kugelmann wrote you in his professional capacity. He is an excellent physician.
Now about the Int. A.
International
Working Men’s Association. Member’s Annual Subscription Card [for
1866]. [London 1865].
Marx übersandte die Mitgliedskarten der IAA an Liebknecht mit seinem
Brief vom 15. Januar 1866. Siehe Marx an W. Liebknecht,
15.1.1866
und Erl.
Schließen The six
cards
are disposed of; for three I have not yet got the money; that for the other
three I should send you now, if I had the amount ready. (you will get the
2 reichstaler with one of my next letters). The misfortune
is, I am so overwhelmed with work (business-, domestic etc.) that I cannot well
attend to those small matters, else I might have squeezed all the money out and
disposed of many more cards. However I should like some more, as I have several
people willing to join. The members here are all more or less influential men.
In a short time I hope to have regular assistance and
then better outward results will be shown. I say
“outward”—for in reality things have progressed better,
than could be expected. The workingmen of this town (and the same holds good for a great part of Germany); but yesterday the
unthinking tools (and fools) of the “liberal” middle class, are now fighting
under their own banner; of course there is much to be desired yet, still the
separation of classes is taking place, the old fusion and confusion (Schulze's “Urbrei”) rapidly giving
way to a clearer view of men and things.
| I am accused of having thrown the
torch of discord in this “democratic” fools' paradise called Leipzig, where the
workmen-wolves were grazing peacefully and “kemiedlig” (guess what it means) at
the side of the capitalist-lambs “democrats” good and true all of them. Query?
Who are the wolves and who the lambs? Jedes Gleichnis hinkt (lat.).
Schließen Omne simile
claudicat.) Unfortunately the pious
scoundrels, whose bile I have stirred up, put something of a denunciatory character into their attacks, and I must take great care,
if I want to avoid Zur Ausweisung Liebknechts aus Berlin siehe Erl. zu Marx
an W. Liebknecht,
15.1.1866.
Schließen a repetition of my last Berlin
experience.
In spite of the hatred these “Saechser” wear to Bismarck, they would take the
slightest hint of his police, to send me into some other Deutsches Vaterland.
And especially now they are so terribly afraid of the Pickelhauben.
Now I come to the principal drawback of the I. A.
movement in Germany— Siehe Erl.
zu W. Liebknecht an Marx,
21.1.1866.
Schließen the necessity of confining
ourselves to individual memberships. The “Vereinsgesetze” have lately
been carried out with great severity and
strictness;
here in Saxony the “Arbeiterbildungsvereine” were offered (a few months ago) the
“favour” of being allowed to form so called “Gauverbände”, that is, to establish
a common organisation and correspondence; but to the “favour” the condition was
added, that the societies should not have to meddle with politics, social
questions etc. The delegates assembled to examine the “present” had sense and
honour enough to decline the gift; but the consequence was that all the
“Vereine” have since been put under a pretty close control. Under these
circumstances it is quite impossible
| to found public sections of the
I. A., and to make any considerable Propaganda under its firm. I have lectured about it, everybody is for it, but people don't
see of what practical use it is, to join a society, that
for them only exists as an ungraspable “idea”. The only way, to make practical
direct propaganda for the I. A. would be the
establishment of a German Press organ, Becker's
Vorbote not being what is wanted. However, I
won't dream of such things. Of course, I shall be able, or rather we shall be able to collect a small knot of workmen
round the I. A. Banner, but on the whole I must confine myself to work
for the principles; and that I have done successfully
until now. I must use the existing societies, and before
long I hope to have a great many of them at our disposition.
Oh! if we but had a review or a weekly paper, however
small! And, as this cannot be, if it were but possible that, besides
Gemeint ist hier Karl Marx: Das
Kapital; siehe Erl. zu Marx
an J. Ph. Becker, zw. 9. u. 15.1.1866.
Schließen your Economy,
some smaller works could be republished, before all Friedrich Engels: Die
Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England. Nach eigner Anschauung und
authentischen Quellen. Leipzig 1845.
Liebknecht hatte schon mehrfach die Notwendigkeit angesprochen, diese
Arbeit neu herauszugeben. Siehe z. B. MEGA2 III/13. Br. 200.61–64, Br. 210.59–61, Br.
221.5–7, Br. 260.26–27, Br. 299.8–9 und Br. 336.21–23. Siehe auch Erl. zu Marx an Engels,
10.2.1866.
Schließen Engels' Lage der arbeitenden
etc.
in a new Edition. That would be a splendid auxiliary to your work, something
like a practical Beweis durch Augenschein
(lat.).
Schließen demonstratio ad oculos.
I
told you already,—and you must neither forget nor neglect it—that I am on good
terms with Die Demokratische
Volkspartei (1863–1866).
Schließen the South- and Middle german
“Volkspartei”, that their organ, Zum „Deutschen Wochenblatt“ (Mannheim) siehe auch Georg Eckert: Das
„Deutsche Wochenblatt“ und die Internationale
Arbeiter-Assoziation. In: Archiv für Sozialgeschichte.
Bd. 4. Hannover 1964. S. 579–598.
Schließen Eckard's
“Deutsches Wochenblatt”
Siehe W.
Liebknecht an Marx,
18.1.1866
und Erl.
Schließen is unreservedly at our service,
and that I have some other papers, that will take anything coming from us.
| See, that notices announcing the appearance of the Economy are printed, and published in time; and as soon as the work is out, Engels ought to write a Review ...
You will have perceived that our Mitglieder der Deutschen
Fortschrittspartei (1861–1884).
Schließen Fortschrittler are preparing to turn
Bismarck's Parliament
into a pretext, to run over to him. If he got Bonaparte's help for a war against
Austria, or rather if he was allowed to join (as an active or passive ally)
Bonaparte in a war against Austria, the whole Fortschrittsparty would be
Bonaparto-Bismarckisch. But I don't think Bonaparte will get out of Die französische
Intervention in Mexiko 1861–1867.
Schließen his Mexican scrape in time, for that last
convention is only a miserable humbug.—As a reminiscence of the late War panic I
will yet tell you, that I never witnessed a more
wretched spectacle than those “liberal” (even “democratic”) Philisters cowering
down like a flock of sheep, and with eyes shut waiting for the blow to fall down
on their posteriors. And we “the nation of thinkers”! Sprichwörtlich (lat.) für
die Bezeichnung einer falschen Etymologie, die Herleitung eines Wortes
aus seinem Gegenteil – Der Hain wird lucus genannt, weil es darin nicht
hell ist (non lucet). Nach Marcus Fabius Quintilianus: De institutione
oratoria. I, 6, 34.
Schließen Lucus a non lucendo.
Apropos German affairs are now rather interesting, would it not be possible for the “Commonwealth” to take (and pay moderately) a weekly letter from Germany? I am really at my wit's end; all my papers pay badly and irregularly, and those constant money-cares make me half ill. I have about 500 reichstaler a year certain, and want about two hundred more—by God a modest wish!—then I might manage to live—and to work ten times better than at present. You must know, that all German papers, that pay well, either belong to the “Reaction” or to the “Fortschrittler” and so I am sitting between two chairs. It is true, Keil, Brockhaus etc. asked me to write for them, but somehow I found it impossible.
Good bye. Write soon; mind your health; my love to all.
Der Brief von Ernestine Liebknecht,
vermutlich an Jenny
Marx und geschrieben spätestens am 14. April 1866,
konnte nicht ermittelt werden.
Schließen My wife
encloses a letter.
J. Miller.
/ Dont' forget to send the papers regularly.— I am a Pechvogel; Weiss has been forced out of
„Berliner Reform“.
Schließen the Berlin
“Reform” and Hund aus dem traditionellen englischen
Puppenspiel „Punch and
Judy“, das dem deutschen Kaspertheater ähnlich ist. Von
Marx, Engels und ihren Freunden wurde Toby als Spottname für Eduard Meyen benutzt.
Der demokatische Journalist Eduard Meyen, der im Hamburger „Freischütz“
für Karl
Vogt Patei ergriffen hatte, war von Marx in seiner
Streitschrift „Herr
Vogt“ mit dem Hund Toby auf dem Titelblatt des humoristischen
Wochenblatts „Punch, or the London
Charivari“
verglichen worden (siehe MEGA2 I/18. S.
253.4–255.40).
Schließen Toby has wormed himself in again. W. had just
invited me, to write for the paper!— /
Zeugenbeschreibung und Überlieferung
Dieser Brief wird hier erstmals veröffentlicht.
Zeugenbeschreibung
Der Brief besteht aus einem Bogen mittelstarkem, weißem Papier im Format 285 × 224 mm. Liebknecht hat alle vier Seiten vollständig beschrieben, die letzte Passage steht auf der ersten Seite oben links. Schreibmaterial: schwarze Tinte.
Die Beilage („... encloses a letter.“) ist nicht überliefert. Siehe Erl.
Anmerkungen zum Brief
Die Jahresangabe 1866 stützt sich auf die Tatsache, dass Liebknecht hier offensichtlich Marx’ Brief vom 6. April 1866 (Marx an W. Liebknecht, 6.4.1866) beantwortet.
Zitiervorschlag
Wilhelm Liebknecht an Karl Marx in London. Leipzig, Samstag, 14. April 1866. In: Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe digital. Hg. von der Internationalen Marx-Engels-Stiftung. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin. URL: http://megadigital.bbaw.de/briefe/detail.xql?id=M0000092. Abgerufen am 18.04.2024.