--- Title: Engels to R. Hacking, [26 January 1854] (draft) Description: Draft of a letter in which Engels rejects the charges that his correspondent’s youngest son had made against him over an order placed with Engels’s tailor. Author: Friedrich Engels Date: 1854-01-26 URL: https://marxismo.school/archivo/marx-engels/cartas/originales/1854-01-26%20Engels%20to%20R.%20Hacking --- *Transcription with doubtful readings: 15 of the 524 words of the final text (2.9 %) are marked as uncertain ([?]) or illegible ([ilegible]), and each of them is explained in a note. Draft of a letter from Friedrich Engels to R. Hacking, [26 January 1854]; the date is that given for this draft in the list of the MEGA² (III/7), which we have not been able to consult. Manuscript kept at the IISG, Amsterdam (Karl Marx / Friedrich Engels Papers, inv. K 562, images 2-3), transcribed from the digital facsimile by the Escuela de marxismo, 2026 (double reading and collation with the image). Nothing has been completed from other editions. Diplomatic transcription: spelling and punctuation of the manuscript; underlinings in italics; deletions as ~~text~~; additions above the line or in the margin in their place, with a note; [?] after an uncertain reading, [ilegible] for what cannot be read. [Traducción al español](https://marxismo.school/archivo/marx-engels/cartas/1854-01-26%20Engels%20a%20R.%20Hacking)* Dr Sir I am ~~rather a[?] little~~ both[^1] surprized & pained to find that ~~Mr S. K.[?] should have appeared should have to you appear~~ ~~to credit~~ your youngest son should have[^2] told[?][^3] you matters ~~with~~ concerning me which are *totally unfounded*. There has nothing happened between Mr Samuel K.[?][^4] & me, ~~Since~~ I have known him, which might not have been done or said in your, or any other man's presence. But Mr S. K.[?][^5], ~~on~~ after[^6] stating things respecting me which he[?][^7] knows ~~to~~ be ~~unfounded~~ contrary to facts[^8], ~~will pardon~~ ~~me if I~~ has it only to ascribe to himself if now I am called upon to make a few observations. &[?] so far from[^9] ~~At least not~~ me ~~who sought~~ seeking[^10] the acquaintance & society[^11] of Mr S. K.[?][^12], it was he who sought mine. ~~I had[?]~~ ~~Should you~~ If[^13] proofs should be required[^14] ~~proofs~~, they are at your disposal. I had several reasons ~~simple means[?] of proving this~~ for not courting his intimacy:[^15] ~~wishing that too great an intimacy should~~ ~~spring up between him and me~~. Firstly, there is a difference of age, & consequently of tastes,[^16] of rather better than 50[?][^17] yrs[?][^18] between[?][^19] secondly, he appeared to have, what I have not, plenty of spare time on his hands. Thirdly, he appeared to me to be ~~what~~ is called rather „fast" & nobody can say that I ever was or pretended to be[^20] in that line. ~~Fourthly, on~~ from[^21] ~~several reasons~~ instances[^22] ~~occasions~~ ~~I had reasons to believe~~ conclude[^23] ~~that he was not over~~ ~~scrupulous, in many of his statements~~, As to the matter in question, all I know about it, as far as I can recollect, is this: ~~Mr S. K.[?]~~ Some months ago, on being asked[^24] I told Mr S. K.[?][^25] ~~on being asked~~, who was my tailor, that I was satisfied with him, & that I[^26] could recommend him. I did not even know ~~that~~ he had ordered any goods there until ~~I learned on~~ on Tuesday last[^27] ~~Tuesday (last) that Mr S. K.[?] had referred Mr Kean[?] to me~~, ~~that~~ tailor ~~sent~~ applied to me[^28] to know who Mr S. K.[?][^29] was. I then learned that an order & along with it[^30] reference ~~had been~~ to me had been given. In ~~told, I [ilegible]~~ reply to that reference, I told my tailor who Mr S. K's[?][^31] father was. ~~I had~~ ~~not the least~~ How I might have suspected that there was anything ~~so[?] little[?] of a suspicion that there was any clandestine~~ clandestine in all this, I am at a loss to conceive. ~~business in this matter, that I ever[?] told him until~~ ~~I read[^32] got[?] your note~~. On cool reflection, dear Sir, you will, ~~not~~ ~~expect me to enter [ilegible] into a more detailed~~ ~~justification against so silly[?]~~ I hope, regret that in a moment of excitement you ever credited so silly a statement. The ~~charge~~ supposition[^33] that a man in my circumstances should go about recruiting customers for a tailor amongst young men who may happen to[^34] have, as you say, no means whatever of paying their tailors bills – is too ridiculous to be seriously refuted. Were it not for our long business connection & the good understanding hitherto existing between you[?] & me[^35], were it not for the circumstance that I ~~once~~ on one occasion[^36] was introduced, by your son, into your family, I should have met it (by a merely) flat denial. It is only owing to these circumstances that I have[^37] entered into ~~so~~ much of ~~a justification~~ detail[^38], but it is owing to them also that I must feel[?][^39] astonished at your believing such absurdities for a moment. If other explanations should be required, they are at your disposal any ~~Tuesday~~ day[^40] you may be in town. Your note leaves me hardly any other[^41] course ~~than~~ to inform the tailor of what you state respecting Mr S. K's[?][^42] capability of fulfilling his engagements, as ~~I must decline~~ cannot have ~~anything to do any more~~ my name mixed up any more with this transaction[^43]. [^1]: “both”: added above the line or in the margin. [^2]: “have”: added above the line or in the margin. [^3]: Word written over another: “told”, or the “tell” beneath it; neither is certain. [^4]: The initial of the surname is written the same way every time it occurs (a loop on the left and a stem crossed by an oblique stroke) and looks more like a K than an H. The IISG inventory files the draft under “Hacking, R.”, so that the son would be Samuel Hacking (“S. H.”), but the shape of the letter does not confirm the H. The same doubt applies to every later occurrence. [^5]: Same initial as in note 4: K or H. [^6]: “after”: added above the line or in the margin. [^7]: Two letters gone over in thick ink, with no stroke through them: “he”, not struck out. [^8]: “contrary to facts”: added above the line or in the margin. [^9]: “& so far from”: added above the line. The “&” (a tall stroke with a loop) is not certain. [^10]: “seeking”: added above the line or in the margin. [^11]: “& society”: added above the line or in the margin. [^12]: Same initial as in note 4: K or H. [^13]: “If”: added above the line or in the margin. [^14]: “proofs should be required”: added above the line or in the margin. [^15]: “courting his intimacy:”: added above the line or in the margin. [^16]: “& consequently of tastes,”: added above the line or in the margin. [^17]: The first figure has a flat stroke on top and a bowl below: 50; 30 is also possible. [^18]: A y with a descender and two short letters: “yrs” (or “years”). [^19]: “betw” and a tail of letters run together at the edge of the page: “between” or “betw.”; the second reading had “between us”. [^20]: “or pretended to be”: added above the line or in the margin. [^21]: “from”: added above the line or in the margin. [^22]: “instances”: added above the line or in the margin. [^23]: “conclude”: added above the line or in the margin. [^24]: “Some months ago, on being asked”: added above the line or in the margin. [^25]: Same initial as in note 4: K or H. [^26]: “that I”: added above the line or in the margin. [^27]: “on Tuesday last”: added above the line or in the margin. [^28]: “applied to me”: added above the line or in the margin. [^29]: Same initial as in note 4: K or H. [^30]: “an order & along with it”: written between the lines, beginning with a bracket under “tailor”; placed here according to the sense. [^31]: Same initial as in note 4: K or H. [^32]: “I read”: added above the line or in the margin. [^33]: “supposition”: added above the line or in the margin. [^34]: “may happen to”: added above the line or in the margin. [^35]: “& the good understanding hitherto existing between you & me”: added between the lines above “long business connection”, without a clear call sign; placed here according to the sense. “you” is uncertain: the final stroke could make it “your”. [^36]: “on one occasion”: added above the line or in the margin. [^37]: “have”: added above the line or in the margin. [^38]: “detail”: added above the line or in the margin. [^39]: Gone over in thick ink: f, e(e), l, “feel”; the second reading took the word as struck out. [^40]: “day”: added above the line or in the margin. [^41]: “other”: added above the line or in the margin. [^42]: Same initial as in note 4: K or H. [^43]: “this transaction”: added above the line or in the margin.