{[London,] 21 February 1863 

Dear Engels, 

At the neicut of my own crisis I wrote to Dronke.* Asovut 4 Month 
after that, I had a letter from him to say that he had been away. 
Yesterday, he turned up here unexpectedly and left today after a 
further meeting. 

He told me (the initiative was his) that he wanted to help raise a 
substantial sum, so that I could work in peace for a year. He then 
mentioned you. I told him (I didn’t think it necessary to go into 
detail on this occasion) that you had done a great deal and would 
not have a penny to spare for many months ro come." His 
rejoinder: ‘It's not a question of months but of one to two years.’ 
He is to discuss the matter with you personally. 

Yo what extent all this should be taken seriously or is simply 
bragging, you will best be able to judge for yourself. 

Apropos. My ‘liver’ is very swollen, add to which I have twinges 
of pain when I cough and feel some discomfort when pressure is 
applied. Will you inquire from Gumpert about a household remedy. 
If I go to Allen, the upshot will be a complete course of treatment 
and for that, quite apart from numerous other considerations, I 
have no time just now. 

My chief anxiety about the Polish affair is that beastly 
Bonaparte will find a pretext for moving up to the Rhine and 
extricate himself from a nasty situation again. 

Send me (since you have more material to hand on the subject) 
a few notes (detailed) on the conduct of Frederick William the 
Just” in the year 1813 after Napoleon’s failure in Russia. This time 
we must go for the dismal House of Hohenzollern. 

I left Dronke in doubt as to whether the second volume was 
already being printed or not. 
Salut. 

499 

Your 

4 See this volume, pp. 447-48.- > Frederick William III 

I have just noticed in the enp eprrion Of The Times that the 
Prussian Second Chamber has finally done something worth- 
while.”'? We shall soon have revolution. 

sel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 3, ‘ ‘ eqs