THE 'ECONOMICS' 3'17 4
3'160gesture? In order to prove to me how little you at least are mistrustful
of me!
Heavens! NOT to believe such a cut-purse slander behind a man's
back - but that is the most elementary of moral duties of man to man.
To believe such slanders and such fatuities of me must be for any
person of understanding, for any one who knows the least thing about
me, a physical impossibility!!! And you think that, by not believing it,
you are doing me a favour? You want to impute that to yourself as a
merit?
The only conclusion I draw is a firm proof of your inclination to
believe all possible evil of every man without evidence, if you count it
as a merit, and think it proves something, that in this case you did not
believe.^91Marx realised that he had gone too far and for the rest of 1861 he and
Lassalle corresponded regularly and good-humouredly.
At the beginning of 1861 , when Marx was at last rid of Herr Vogt, he
began to toy with the idea of a definitive return to Prussia. In January
1861 Frederick William IV, who had been certified insane for the previous
two years, died and was succeeded by his brother Wilhelm I who immedi-
ately declared a political amnesty. The conditions of the amnesty were
not good: it only applied to those who had been convicted by Prussian
courts and refugees had to rely on vague assurances. When Lassalle first
proposed a renewal of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung backed by the money
of his wealthy patron, the Countess von Hatzfeld, Marx was sceptical,
thinking that 'the waves in Germany are not yet riding high enough to
carry our ship'.^92 Engels suggested that Lassalle launch a weekly and that
Marx co-operate if the money were good enough. Although chary of
collaborating in anything under Lassalle's control, Marx's income from
the New York Daily Tribune was decreasing dramatically owing to the Civil
War and he decided to go to Berlin to investigate possibilities. His
financial straits obliged him in any case to go to Holland to see his uncle.
Borrowing money for the trip from Lassalle he spent two weeks in
Zaltbommel with the Philips - 'I have never known a better family in my
life"" he wrote afterwards to his uncle - and managed to borrow £16 0 as
an advance on his mother's estate. His uncle was, according to Marx,
'stubborn but very proud of my being an author'^94 and Marx got Lassalle
to write him the sort of letter that he could 'confidentially'^95 show to his
uncle to increase his reputation.
On his proceeding to Berlin, he was magnificently entertained for
three weeks by Lassalle. He lived in 'a very beautiful house on one of the
most beautiful streets of Berlin' and the countess, too, made a favourable
impression on Marx: 'She is a very distinguished lady, no blue stocking,