Karl Marx; his life and work

X

“ DAS KAPITAL ”

ORIGINALLY, Marx had intended the Contribution to the « 'Critique of Political Economy to be the first part of his great j work on political economy. When he published it in 1859 he | regarded it as the first volume of an elaborate work planned to i cover the whole ground of political economy, and at once began } upon the second volume. He soon found, however, that his I materials made some rearrangement of his plans necessary. ) Furthermore, the “ Critique ” had proved rather unpopular, ; owing, as Marx believed, to the abstract and analytical style in ! which it was written. Gradually, therefore, there shaped itself : in his mind the plan of beginning his task all over again, and he began work upon Das Kapital, in which a good deal of thef (former work was to be incorporated. The months spent, in ! (i860, in preparing and writing his reply to Karl Vogt, and | the struggle against sickness, poverty and debt, combined to ! hinder his progress, and might well have discouraged any man. •

During i860 and 1861, Ferdinand Lassalle chafed under the urge of a passionate desire to play a leading part in the politics of Germany. It was part of his plan to publish a big daily newspaper, and to associate Marx and Engels with himself in the enterprise. Early in i860 he wrote asking Marx whether, in the event of the death of King Frederick William IV, he and Engels would return to Germany and join with him in the publication of such a newspaper in Berlin. Throughout the year he kept returning to this subject in his letters, pressing Marx and Engels for a definite promise, and asking their advice upon various matters, such as the amount of capital required. He seems to have thought 10,000 thalers sufficient *4 209

210

KARL MARX

capital for the undertaking. The project evidently filled his thoughts and he wrote, “ I like thinking of this Chateau en Espagne!” In January, 1861, when the accession of the new King of Prussia had led to the general amnesty which Lassalle had anticipated, he wrote pressing for an immediate and definite answer: “Once more I ask you (1) how much capital

must we have to start a paper here? (2) Who of the former editors of the Neue Rhenische Zeitung would eventually come back here for this purpose?”

Now, although it meant removal from the British Museum, upon which he depended for “ the bricks and mortar ” for Das Kapital, and might mean the abandonment of his cherished plan, Marx was not wholly averse to settling in Berlin and joining in Lassalle’s project. The plan had many attractive features. In the first place, he was a German of the Germans and exile chafed him, though he bore it without complaining. To settle in Berlin and be reunited to his friends was attractive. Secondly, the idea of wielding great influence through the editorship of a powerful Berlin newspaper appealed favourably to him, and, finally, it meant release from the terrible poverty by which he was still beset. Accordingly he arranged to visit Lassalle at Berlin for the purpose of discussing the matter.

First, however, came a visit to an uncle in Holland. So f desperate had his situation become that Marx was forced to sacrifice his pride and seek financial assistance from this uncle. Although the result of this expedition was less satisfactory than he had hoped, it was not altogether without result. The uncle ’> came to his assistance to the extent of advancing money for ' his immediate needs. A letter from Mrs. Marx to Mrs. Weydemeyer, written while Marx was in Holland, is of interest, not only because of the light it throws upon this particular episode, but because of the graphic picture it gives of the struggle of the five years preceding it. The date of the letter is March 11, 1861:


“ DAS KAPITAL ”

211

“ My dear Mrs. Weydemeyer :

“ In answer to your kind letter, which I received this morning, and in order to show you how delighted I was to receive it, I will write you a detailed letter at once, for now I see from your writing that you would like to hear from us, and that you have still preserved the same feelings of friendship as we have done.

“ For how would it be possible for such old and tried comrades and friends, to whom Fate has given the same sufferings, the same pleasures, the same happy and sad days, ever to become strangers, though time and the ocean intervene? And so I extend my hand to you, as to a brave, true companion in adversity, a fellow struggler and sufferer. Yes, indeed, my dear Mrs. Weydemeyer, our hearts have often been filled with sorrow and gloom, and I can well imagine what you have had to contend with again lately! I fully realise all you have to contend with, the cares and deprivations, for have I not often suffered the same! But suffering hardships and love gives strength.

“ The first years of our life here were bitter ones, but I will not dwell on those sad memories to-day, on the losses we suffered, nor the dear, sweet departed children, whose pictures are engraved in our hearts with such deep sorrow.

“ I will farite of a newer period of our life rather, which, despite much sadness, has nevertheless, brought us many bright gleams of happiness.

“In 1856 I travelled to Trier with my three remaining daughters. My dear mother was overjoyed at our arrival, but, unfortunately, the joy was doomed to be of short duration. The most faithful, the best of mothers became ill and, after suffering for eleven days, closed her dear, tired eyes, her last glance resting fondly upon the children and me. Your dear husband, who knew what a loving mother she was, can best estimate my grief. We laid the dearly beloved body in its last resting place, and left Trier, after having settled the little legacy of my dear mother, dividing this equally between my brother Edgar and myself.

“ Up to this time we had lived, in London, in two miserable rooms. We were now enabled, by means of the few hundred thalers my dear mother had left me, despite all the sacrifices she had made for us, to furnish a little house for ourselves, not


KARL MARX

far from the beautiful Hampstead Heath, and which we are still occupying. (As the translator of the ‘ Woman in White,’ you will probably recall this name.)

“ It is, truly, a princely dwelling, compared with our former narrow holes, and although the furnishing of the whole house cost us but forty pounds (‘ second hand rubbish ’ playing the leading role) we felt quite ‘ high-toned,’ possessing, as'we did, a parlour. All the linen and other remnants of former greatness were now redeemed from the hands of the ‘ Uncle,’ and it was a great joy to me to be able to count my damask napkins of old Scotch origin once more. This grandeur, however, was of short duration, for soon afterward, one piece after the other had to wander back to the ‘ Pop-House ’ (as the children call the mysterious Three Balls shop). Yet it gave us great pleasure to live once more in comparative comfort and ease.

“ Then the first American crisis came and our income was cut in half. Our living expenses had to be screwed down once more, and we even had to incur debts. These had to be incurred in order to be able to continue the education of our girls further as begun.

“ And now I come to the brightest part of our life, from which the only light and happiness was shed on our existence — our dear children. I feel certain that your husband, who was so fond of the girls when they were children, would be more heartily pleased with them now since they have grown into tall and blooming young women.

“ Although I must fear that you will take me for a rather conceited and weak mother, I will give you a description of these dear praiseworthy girls. They are both exceptionally good-hearted, of generous dispositions, of truly amiable modesty and girlish purity. Jenny will be seventeen years of age on the first of May. She is a most charming girl, making quite a handsome appearance with her dark, shining, black hair and equally dark, shining, soft eyes and her brunette creole complexion with its acquired healthy English tints. The pleasant, good-natured expression of her round, childlike face makes one forget that she has a stub nose, which is perhaps not beautiful in itself, and it is a real pleasure when she speaks, to observe the friendly mouth with its fine teeth.

“ Laura, who was fifteen years old last September, is perhaps prettier and of more regular features than her older sister,

“DAS KAPITAL” 213

whose direct opposite she is. Although she is just as tall as Jenny, as slender and delicately formed, there is something lighter, brighter and more lucid about her. The upper part of her face may well be called beautiful, with its waves of curly hair of chestnut brown, her sweet, dear eyes of changeable greenish lights that burn like triumphal fires, and her finely formed and noble forehead. The lower part of her face is less regular, being less developed. Both girls possess rosy, blooming complexions, and I often marvel at their lack of vanity, for I remember very well that the same could not have been said of their mother at a certain tender age!

“ At school they have always carried off the first prizes. . They are perfectly at home in English and are quite advanced in j French. They are able to read Dante in Italian and also know a little Spanish; the German language seems to give them the 1 greatest trouble; although I take every means in my power to j prevail on them to take a German lesson now and then, my j wishes do not always find obedience, so you see that respect for me and my authority are not very great. Jenny’s special talent is for drawing, and the best ornaments in our home are her crayon drawings. Laura was so negligent about drawing that we had to deprive her of this instruction, as a punishment. She delights in practising on the piano, however, and sings charming English and German duets with her sister. Unfortunately, they commenced taking their musical instruction rather late, having begun only a year and a half ago. It had been impossible for us to raise the money for these expenses, for we had no piano. The one which we have now is only a hired one, and is old and dilapidated.

“ The girls are a constant pleasure to us, owing to their affectionate and unselfish dispositions. Their little sister, however, is the idol of the whole house.

“ This child was born at the time our poor, dear Edgar departed from life, and all our love for the little brother, all the tenderness for him, were now showered on the_ little sister, whom the older girls cherish with motherly solicitude. But you could scarcely find a lovelier child, so pretty, naive and full of droll humour is she. Her charming manner of speaking and relating stories is truly remarkable. This she learned from the Grimm Brothers, who are her companions by day and night. We all have read the fairy tales until we are almost blind, but

214

KARL MARX

woe to us if we were to forget one syllable of Rumpelstilzkin or Schneewittchen! By means of fairy stories she has been able to learn the German language, which she speaks correctly, besides the English language, which of course lies in the air. This little one is Karl’s favourite pet, laughing and chatting away many of his troubles.

“ I am happy in still having our dear, loyal, conscientious Lenchen to assist me in housekeeping; ask your dear husband about her, he will affirm what a treasure she is to us. For sixteen years she has faithfully stood by us through storm and adversity.

“ Last year we had to suffer great annoyance from the infamous and vile attacks made by the whole German, American, etc., press. You have no idea how many sleepless nights and how much worry it all cost us. Our lawsuit against the National Zeitung cost us a large sum of money and when Karl had his book ready, he could find no publisher who would accept it. He finally had to have it published at his own expense (paying 25 pounds) and now, after its appearance, the cowardly, corrupt press is trying to kill it by silence. I am delighted that you are pleased with the book. Your opinion is almost literally identical with that of all our other friends. Through the very intentional disregard of the book by the press, it could not reach the splendid sale which we had every right to expect.

“ Meanwhile, the high approbation of all those of roremost intellectual standing must satisfy us. Our adversaries and enemies even have had to acknowledge its high value. Bucher described it as a compendium of the history of ages, and Lassalle writes that the enjoyment afforded him and his friends by this work of art was indescribable, and that their rejoicing and delight at so much wit was limitless. Engels considers this to be Karl’s best book, as does ‘ Lupus.’ Congratulations arrive from all sides, even our old enemy, Ruge, calls it a good farce. I am curious to see if America will observe the same silence. This would be actually revolting, after having given space to all those worthless lies and calumnies. Perhaps your dear husband could give some assistance in spreading its circulation.

“ I had scarcely finished copying the manuscript, when I suddenly fell ill. A most terrible fever attacked me and we had to send for a doctor. On the 20th of November he came,


“DAS KAPITAL”

215

examined me carefully, and after keeping silent a long time broke out into the words: “ My dear Mrs. Marx, I am sorry

to say you have got the smallpox — the children must leave the house immediately.” You can imagine the distress and grief of the entire household at this verdict. What was to be done? The Liebknechts fearlessly offered to shelter the girls in their home, and by noon they had entered into exile, carrying their few belongings with them.

“ I kept growing worse, hour after hour, the smallpox breaking out in the worst form. I suffered very, very much. Awful, burning pains in my face, complete sleeplessness, in deadly fear for Karl, who nursed me with the greatest tenderness, finally the loss of all senses save the inner ^ense of consciousness, which remained clear. I lay abed by the open window, so that the cold November air blew in upon me. At the same time there was a red hot fire in the stove; ice was placed upon my burning lips, and from time to time Bordeaux wine was infused in small quantities. I could hardly swallow, my hearing kept growing weaker, at last the eyes closed completely — who could tell if I should ever be able to see the light of day again!

“ But my constitution was victorious, the tenderest, most faithful nursing assisted — and so I am sitting here again in complete health, but with disfigured face, marked by scars and a dark red coloring —■ quite a la hauteur de la mode couleur de Magenta! Christmas eve came and for the first time since my illness the poor children were allowed to return to their sadly missed home. This first meeting was indescribably pathetic. The girls were deeply affected and could hardly repress their tears when they saw me. But five weeks previous I had made quite an acceptable appearance beside my blooming daughters. Due to the surprising fact that I still had no gray hair and possessed good teeth and figure, I belonged to the class of well-preserved woman — but now all this was gone! I felt as though I were a hippopotamus, belonging, rather to the Zoological Garden than to the Caucasian race. But do not let me frighten you too much! My appearance has improved quite a little, and the scars are beginning to heal.

“ I had scarcely recovered sufficiently to be able to leave my bed, when my dearly beloved Karl took sick. ^ Excessive fear, anxiety and vexations of every sort and description threw him


216

KARL MARX

upon his sick bed. For the first time, his chronic liver trouble had become acute. But, thank heavens, he recovered after an illness of four weeks. In the meantime, the Tribune had placed us at half-pay again and, instead of getting some receipts from the book, we were obliged to meet a note. Added to this was the enormous expense of the most terrible of sicknesses. In short, you now have an idea how we fared last winter.

“ As a result of all these affairs, Karl resolved to make a plundering expedition to Holland, the land of tobacco and cheese. He will endeavour to induce his uncle to help him out with money. So I am a grass widow at the present moment, and in high hope that the great Holland undertaking will be successful. Saturday of last week I received the first letter, which contained hopeful expressions and sixty gulden. Naturally, such a mission is not easily fulfilled; it takes time; one must be expedient, use diplomacy and be a good manager. I am in hopes, however, that Karl will drain Holland dry and leave the country poverty-stricken.

“ As soon as he has attained success in Holland, he will undertake a secret trip to Berlin, in order to reconnoitre the conditions there with the possible plan of arranging for a weekly or monthly periodical. The latest experiences have convinced us only too well that no progress is possible without our own organ. If Karl’s plan to create a new party paper succeeds, he will certainly write to your husband and call upon him for reports from America.

“ Soon after Karl’s departure, our faithful Lenchen took sick and to-day she is still abed, though on the road to recovery. For this reason I have my hands full of work, and have had to write this letter in the greatest hurry. But i could not and would not remain silent any longer; it has been a great relief to me to unload my heart to my oldest, truest friends. I will not make any excuses to you for having written in detail of everything and everyone. My pen ran away with me, and I can only hope and wish that you may experience only a little of the pleasure I felt at reading your letter. I have already attended to the note and all is quite in order, just as though my lord and master were here.

“ My girls send their heartiest greetings and kisses to your dear children — one Laura greets the other — and I kiss each one of them in spirit. To you, my dear friend, I send my


“ DAS KAPITAL ”

warmest regards. May you remain brave and unshaken in these days of trial. The world belongs to the courageous. Continue to be the strong, faithful support of your dear husband and remain elastic in mind and body, the true ‘ unrespected ’ comrade of your dear children, and let me hear from you again at your first opportunity. Yours in sincere friendship,

“ Jenny Marx.”

Marx visited Lassalle in the spring of 1861, and he im- ; proved the occasion and seized the opportunity to visit his old j mother at Trier. The discussion with Lassalle prqved rather j disappointing. With his customary vanity and egotism, Las-' salle laid down as a fundamental condition of the partnership! that if Marx and Engels joined him in editing the paper he\ was to have one vote while they were to have only one votej between them, as he “ would otherwise always be in the mi- j nority.” It was, of course, quite impossible for Marx to agree i to such a proposition. But! there was another and greater, obstacle in the way of Lassalle’s plan. The Prussian govern- > ment interpreted the amnesty in such a manner that all politi- ? cal refugees who had lived out of Germany for more than ten ( years, and thus forfeited their right to be considered citizens j of the Prussian Confederation, were treated exactly as for-! eigners and had to apply for naturalization. This rule covered \ a majority of the political refugees — all of the “ forty- eighters ”— and made it easy for the government to keep out any whose return might be regarded as “ inconvenient.” While he and Lassalle had failed to agree upon the terms of the proposed editorial partnership, Marx nevertheless contemplated settling in Berlin if possible. Lassalle therefore applied for a certificate of naturalization for him, and received, on the nth of November, 1861, a reply from the Liberal minister S stating that “ at the present time, at any rate, there are no ;; special reasons for giving a permit of naturalization to said ! Marx.” Migration from London to Berlin was thus out of

218

KARL MARX

* the question for Marx, and he returned to London to work

upon Das Kapital.

Toward the end of the summer of 1861, after the breakdown of his negotiations with Marx, Lassalle made a journey to Italy with the Countess Hatzfeld, and while there tried, so it is said, to persuade Garibaldi to raise an army of volunteers to invade Austria. This foolhardy notion seems to have been born of a belief which he held at this time that a revolution could be forced on. Certain it is that for some time he seriously contemplated the possibilities of a violent revolutionary movement in Germany. Even after his return from Italy, this thought seems to have lingered in his mind. Thus, on the 19th of June, 1862, he wrote Marx:1

“ Dear Marx: The bearer of this isCaptain Schweigert, who has served with distinction under Garibaldi, and especially under my friend Rustow. He is the most honest and reliable fellow in the world. C’est un homme d’actton. He is at/he head of the Wehr-Verein (Arms Club) that he has organised from Coburg, and is now proceeding to London to try and raise the money for getting 3,000 muskets, which he requires for the Wehr-Verein. I’ve no need to tell you how desirable this would be. So be good enough to put him in communication with people from whom he can obtain money for this purpose, or any kind of assistance towards this end. Do your best. The probability of my coming to London grows.

“ Thine,

“ F. Lassalle.”

“ Berlin, 19/6/62.”

The writer of this letter was hardly the “ national patriot ” which Lassalle is commonly described as being! How little he understood Marx will be apparent to all who have followed the latter’s career thus far, and observed his intense hatred and suspicion of all attempts at insurrection. Within a month from the writing of the foregoing letter, Lassalle visited Marx in

¹ Quoted by Bernstein, Ferdinand Lassalle as a Social Reformer, page no.


“DAS KAPITAL”

219

London, when he probably learned from Marx’s own lips how seriously he had misunderstood him, how fundamentally different their viewpoints were. Although there was no quarrel, no definite rupture, their relations came to a natural end. After Lassalle returned to Berlin there was no further correspondence between them, thenceforth they were practically strangers to one another.

The outbreak of the American Civil War, in 1861, brought j a new misfortune to Marx. The New York Tribune had ] given up its London correspondence, so that Marx lost the f only steady and certain source of income he had. He had to | do a great deal of outside work to keep his family and himself | from being turned out into the streets. Much of this work i was mere hack-work and exceedingly ill-paid. Marx was ! greatly discouraged and distressed and decided to turn his at- 1 tention to something “practical.” Toward the end of 1862, after a year of extraordinary hardship, he tried to obtain a , position as clerk in a railway office and was greatly disappointed when he failed to get the position, owing to his bad handwriting!

In the face of all these hardships work upon his book of necessity proceeded very slowly. The marvel is, not that it should have proceeded slowly, but that it should have advanced at all. Still, by the end of 1862, the whole of the first volume was written and Marx could write to Dr. Kugelmann that it “ only wants to be copied out in order to be ready for the printers.” He hoped at that time to begin the copying the first week of 1863 and then, as soon as the work was done, take the manuscript to Germany and arrange for its publication. He little dreamed then that it would be nearly five years before he would be in a position to take that journey, and that in the interval he would launch a great international movement which would terrify half the governments of the world.

Marx, as is well known, loved to play the role of school- f master to his fellow exiles. He was forever urging them to \

220

KARL MARX

study and acquire fresh knowledge, and stinging were his rebukes to those who failed to make the best use of the opportunities for intellectual improvement which presented themselves. An unusually good judge of men, he exercised the utmost care and caution in choosing those to be taken into his confidence. When a newcomer was introduced to the Marx circle — the much denounced “Marxist clique”—he had to undergo a rather severe examination before his “ initiation ” was completed. Marx would study his features closely while plying him with a great variety of questions designed to reveal his “ mental measure.” After this oral examination and physical inspection he would often make a phrenological examination of the “ subject ” in the most approved style! He was a | believer in phrenology and somewhat skilled in its practice. When he was not quite satisfied by his examination, he would arrange for an independent “ reading ” of the subject’s cranium by a more expert practitioner.

In his capacity as schoolmaster Marx took pains to see that the remarkable evening courses of popular scientific lectures delivered in connection with London University, in the early sixties, were well attended by members of his circle. Eminent scientists like Huxley, Tyndall and Hoffmann lectured on physiology, geology and chemistry, and there were others hardly less eminent. The “ old man ” insisted that his “ scholars ” attend these lectures as regularly as possible, and he set them-a good example by attending whenever it was possible for him to do so.

The progress of the American Civil War, and the bitter hostility of the British middle class to the Union cause, gave Marx an excellent opportunity to rally the working class of England to the support of Lincoln and the Union, and at the same time, to exert a profound influence upon the political history of the century. The debt of America to Marx has not yet been recognized by historians, and there are few who know that he, more than any other man, was responsible for turning the tide of British public opinion to the side of the North in the great


“ DAS KAPITAL ”

221

struggle which resulted in the abolition of slavery and the prevention of secession and the destruction of the Union of the States.

In October, 1862, Mr. Gladstone, then Chancellor of the

Exchequer, in the course of a “ triumphal march ” in the north

of England, made a speech at Newcastle-on-Tyne in which he

declared that Jefferson Davis had made a nation, and spoke

with assurance of the success of the Southern Confederacy.

His exact words were:

♦

“We know quite well that the people of the Northern states have not yet drunk of the cup — they are still trying to hold it far from their lips —which all the rest of the world see they nevertheless must drink of. We may have our own opinions about slavery; we may be for or against the South; but there is no doubt that Jefferson Davis and other leaders of the South have made an army; they are making, it appears, a navy, and they have made what is more than either, they have made a nation.”

That amazingly indiscreet speech was the cause of great anxiety to Lincoln and his supporters, as well as to those Englishmen whose sympathies were with Lincoln and the North, j Everywhere it was taken as an intimation of the intention of I Her Majesty’s Government to give official recognition to the I Confederacy. Mr. Adams, the American Minister, wrote in his diary, on October 8th, the day after the speech:

“If Gladstone be any exponent at all of the views of the Cabinet, then is my term likely to be very short. The animus, as it respects Mr. Davis and the recognition of the rebel cause, is very apparent.” 1

A day later he recorded his intention of “ seeking a conference with Lord John Russell, to ask an explanation of Gladstone’s position.” On the eighteenth of the same month, ten days after the speech of Gladstone, Mr. Adams interviewed Lord John Russell and said frankly: “ If I had trusted to the

¹ Life of Charles Francis Adams, by his son, Boston, 1900, p. 286.


222

KARL MARX

construction given by the public to a late speech, I should have begun to think of packing my carpet bags and trunks.” 1 Mr. Gladstone made some feeble attempts to explain away his amazingly indiscreet speech, which in later years he referred to as a mistake of “ incredible grossness,” but there is now not the slightest reason for doubting that official recognition of the Southern Confederacy was then seriously contemplated by the British government.

, During the latter half of October, and the early part of November, 1862, it became generally known in England that Her Majesty’s Government had for months conducted negotiations ; with the French Emperor, with a view to securing the joint action of England, France and Russia to bring about the cessation of the war. This knowledge gave to Gladstone’s unfortunate speech a most sinister aspect. As early as the latter part of July, or more than two months before the speech at Newcastle, Gladstone, Palmerston, and other members of Her Majesty’s Government, had been considering this step. Two weeks before the Newcastle speech Palmerston had written to Gladstone on the matter. The “ friendly offices ” of the three Powers would be offered to North and South. If both accepted, an armistice would follow, and negotiations on the basis of separation. If both should decline, then, Lord Palmerston assumed, the independence of the South would be , acknowledged by Her Majesty’s Government. Both Gladstone and Lord John Russell agreed to this, the latter writing on September 17th: “I agree with you that the time is

come for offering mediation to the United States government, with a view to the recognition of the independence of the Confederates. I agree further, that in case of failure, we ought ourselves to recognize the Southern states as an independent state.” All this Mr. Gladstone knew when he made his famous speech at Newcastle.2

¹ Life of Charles Francis Adams, p. 287.

² The Reader is referred to Morley’s Life of Gladstone, vol. 2, chap.


“ DAS KAPITAL ”