KARL MARX

3
KARL MARX: A BIOGRAPHY
Napoleonic kingdom of Westphalia and then became Vice-Prefect of
the town of Salzwedel in North Saxony. His first wife, who had given
him four children, having died, he married Caroline Heubel, the daughter
of a horse trainer.
Ludwig and Caroline had three children, the eldest being Jenny, born
in 1814 - two years before they were to move to Trier where he was
transferred (and slightly downgraded) as city counsellor: he was not fully
in agreement with the policies of the new Prussian Government and it
was thought that his liberal views would be more at home in the ex-
French Rhineland. The Westphalens moved into a fine house quite near
to that of the Marxes, 48 though they were by no means a rich family. 49
As Heinrich Marx and Ludwig von Westphalen were both in the city's
legal service and members of the small Protestant community, it was
natural that they should become friends. Jenny became very intimate with
Sophie Marx and the families were in constant contact. The Baron, now
over sixty, developed a particular affection for Karl. He was an extremely
cultured man, spoke English as well as he spoke German, read Latin and
Greek without difficulty and particularly liked romantic poetry. Eleanor
Marx wrote that Baron von Westphalen 'filled Karl Marx with enthusiasm
for the romantic school and, whereas his father read Voltaire and Racine
with him, the Baron read him Homer and Shakespeare - who remained
his favourite authors all his life'. 50 The Baron devoted much of his time
to the young Marx, and the two went for intellectual walks through the
'wonderfully picturesque hills and woods' of the neighbourhood. As well
as being a man of culture, the Baron was keen on progressive political
ideas and interested Marx in the personality and work of the French
Utopian socialist Saint-Simon.
Heinrich Marx approved of his son's attachment to the Baron and
admonished him: 'You have good fortune such as is given to few young
people of your age. On the first important stretch of life you have found
a friend, and a very worthy one, older and more experienced than yourself.
It will be the best test of your character, spirit and heart, indeed of your
morality, if you can keep your friend and be worthy of him.' 51 Marx's
gratitude for the Baron's friendship was such that in 1841 he dedicated
his doctoral thesis to him in a most effusive manner:
Forgive me, my dear fatherly friend, for prefacing an unimportant work
with a name so beloved as yours: but I am too impatient to await
another opportunity of giving you a small proof of my love. May all
who have doubts of the power of the spirit have, like myself, the good
fortune to admire an old man who has kept his youthful impulses and
who, with wise enthusiasm for the truth, welcomes all progress. Far
from retreating before the reactionary ghosts and the often dark sky of