ENGELS TO JENNY MARX*” 

Manchester, 15 August 1860 

Dear Mrs Marx, 

I shall do the article,* tant bien que mal,’ if I possibly can. Today 
Siebel has landed me with a young fellow from Barmen, which 
means I can’t do anything; however, I shall probably get down to it 
tomorrow. By the way, it’s irresponsible on Moor’s part not even 
to answer my questions concerning Siebel.** For ten days now I’ve 
been putting off writing to S., and he might at least let me know 
what I am to tell the fellow. It’s absurd, too, that nothing has yet 
been done about publishers; heaven knows how long negotiations 
will eventually take. Then, what with the notoriously dilatory 
methods of German printers, we'll find that we’ve arrived, piano 
ma sano, in the year 1861 and there'll be no one to blame but Mr 
Moor himself, with his thoroughness and his failure either to do 
anything about publishers himself, or to put Siebel in a position to 
do something. Meanwhile, things will be in full swing everywhere 
in Europe, and the public will have lost all interest in who exactly 
belonged to the original Brimstone Gang,” how the pamphlet Zur 
Warnung™ came into being, or what is and is not true in Techow’s 
letter.°° We’re forever producing truly splendid things, but take 
care to see that they never appear on time, and so they are all 
flops. 

An immediate riposte to Vogt three sheets long would, after all, 
have been of far greater value than anything that has since been 
done. Insist for all you’re worth on something being done—and 
done immediately—about a publisher, and on the pamphlet‘ being 
finished at long last. Otherwise, we shall wreck all our chances and 
ultimately find ourselves without any publisher até all. 

But now for something comical—a great secret, however, that 
mustn’t go beyond the four walls of No. 9 Grafton Terrace. Just 
imagine! That ridiculous Siebel, arriving in Barmen, goes and falls 
head over heels in love with a philistine girl,“ becomes engaged and 
intends to marry very shortly and settle down to a life of 

4 ‘The Sick Man of Austria’ - > for better or worse - © slowly but surely - 4 Herr 
Vogt - ¢ Reinhilde von Hurter 

domesticity in B. What a greenhorn! He’s ashamed to tell me 
and doesn’t know that I know about it; but he’s written and 
told someone else here under the seal of etc., etc. It’s going to 
be a jolly nice marriage indeed if the affair isn’t broken off 
again. 

Please give Moor and the young ladies my warm regards, 

Yours 
F. Engels