Manuscript of Friedrich Engels (1879, approximate date), preserved at the IISG (Karl Marx / Friedrich Engels Papers, inv. H 68), transcribed from the digital facsimile by the Escuela de marxismo, 2026; attribution according to the MEGA² (I/25). Draft, untitled (the title is the editors'), on two pages; the review was not printed at the time. Diplomatic transcription: spelling, abbreviations, capitals and punctuation as in the manuscript; deletions as text only where they can be read with certainty, otherwise [ilegible]; interlinear additions inserted where marked, with a note; [?] after an uncertain reading; [ilegible] for an illegible word.1 Traducción al español

The article ought to be headed, not, "Prince N. &c" but "I." For every once the name of Pr. Nap. occurs in it, the pronoun, "I" occurs at least 70 times, not count its inflected & [ilegible] cases &2 derived forms. What it says of Pr. Nap., has all been printed more than once, & what it says about "I", has, alas, also been related, printed, & published more than once in London England,3 as the proprietors & editors of sundry reviews, defunct & alive, know to their sorrow.

Deprived of its false pretences, the [ilegible] paper gives a new version of Mr Blind's old tale: How Karl Blind, by various untoward circumstances, was unfortunately prevented from changing the course of history. First comes the oft repeated story which forms his chief stock-in-trade, how he was sent, [ilegible] on a diplomatic mission by the moribund provisional governments of the South German insurrection of 1849 ostensibly to the then government of the French Republic, but in reality to the revolutionary government of Ledru Rollin which, it was expected, would be shortly installed by the a popular commotion. Alas! the government which had sent him, was unceremoniously chased into Swiss exile by the Prussians, & the government to which demonstration of the 13 June which was to establish the government to which4 he was really accredited, never came into existence! was equally unceremoniously put down.5 Ambassador of a[?] the rather grotesque6 mission from a dead to an unborn government, what could he do but happen better to he had the good fortune to be relieved of this [ilegible] position by the existing French Government who7 arrested him as a participator in the [ilegible] demonstration of the on the 13th June,8 in which [ilegible] finally expelled the country.9 Had the government which sent him but remained alive, & had the government to which he was really sent, but come into existence, what would not Karl Blind have been enabled to do"! [ilegible] at all events he had done something10

Again, in 1870, on the outbreak of the Franco German war, there was a danger chance11 of [ilegible] Italy joining France. But Karl Blind watched. "Had King V. E. &c" (page 579) But again, it was an embassy from one non-existing government to another. Louis Napoleon refused Rome to Victor Emmanuel, & thereby thus12 forcing the latter to take the town age in the teeth of France, & rendering the Italian alliance impossible. Again, the services & offers,13 of Karl Blind, were not required whatever these offers may have been worth, were declined, & that eternal14 diplomatist in partibus, was of course[?] obliged to instead of changing the route of history, had to be satisfied with the "warmest thanks" of Mazzini.

Who can help being reminded of the braggart who, when involved in a fracas, shouted: "Hold me back, friends, or else I shall commit something terrible fearful deed!" Fortun Unfortunately for the world, but perhaps fortunately for Mr Karl Blind, whenever he is about to step into the foreground of historical action, some untoward event prevents him from accomplishing that "fearful deed" which was bound[?] to render him immortal.

Let us hope that this is the last of the [ilegible] and [ilegible]15 lucubration, at least in English, written by Karl B. on K. B. in the interest of K. B.

  1. Two pages, each in a separate image. Page 1 carries archive marks at the top («H 16», «3556a» and «1871(?)»), page 2 «3556b». In the left margin of both pages there are notes written vertically, in a very small hand, in several columns, partly enclosed in lines and braces and largely crossed out. At the resolution of the facsimile only loose words can be made out (e.g. «Karl Blind», «to undertake»); neither a continuous text nor the order of the columns can be established with certainty, so they are not transcribed. The IISG describes the piece as bearing notes by Marx. ↩

  2. «cases &» written above the deleted words (an illegible word and «of forms»; the stroke stops at the f of «forms», but the whole is cancelled). Thus in the manuscript: «not count». ↩

  3. «England» written above «London». ↩

  4. «demonstration of the 13 June» written above the deleted words at the end of the line; «which was to establish the government to which» written below the line and enclosed. ↩

  5. «was equally unceremoniously put down.» written above «from a dead to an unborn». ↩

  6. «the rather grotesque» written in small letters above «mission»; «of a» before it is uncertain and perhaps deleted. The sentence is left unfinished by the corrections. ↩

  7. Above «who» an addition of one or two words, crossed out and illegible, linked to it by a line. A horizontal stroke runs through the middle of «position», at the head of page 2; it may be a deletion, but the deleted words at the end of page 1 («of this [ilegible]», followed by a separate s) leave «position» as the only object of «relieved». ↩

  8. «on the» written in the left margin before «13th June». In the right margin, beside «demonstration», an addition of several small words, partly crossed out, illegible. ↩

  9. Thus in the manuscript («expelled the country»). ↩

  10. «at all events» written above the end of the line, after a deletion; «he had done something» above the beginning of the next paragraph. There is no closing punctuation. ↩

  11. «chance» written above the deleted word. ↩

  12. «thus» written above the deleted word. ↩

  13. «& offers,» written above «services». ↩

  14. «eternal» written in the left margin, before «diplomatist». ↩

  15. «of the [ilegible] and [ilegible]» written above «lucubration», with the two nouns crossed out. ↩