Manchester, 4 June 1862 

Dear Siebel, 

You're a fine ofte, you are, notifying me of your daughter’s birth 
after the same fashion as I [use] to acknowledge your various letters 
and packages. My heartiest congratulations. I hope you'll have a lot 
of fun with her. Is your wife all right? 

Here things trundle along as always. All the same, I’m gradually 
beginning to notice how demoralising this quiet routine is; one is 
drained of all one’s energy and becomes thoroughly indolent. I 
even read another novel recently. 

The so-called— salva venia?—Schiller Institute (also known 
as the Jerusalem Club) has become a purely Jewish institution 
and, between 1:30 and 3, the din there is enough to drive one out of 
one’s mind. In fact, I very seldom visit the noble institution now. 
What’s happening is typically Jewish. To start off with they thank 
God for having a Schiller Institute, and barely are they installed 
than, apparently, it’s not good enough for them, and they want to 
put up a large building, a veritable temple of Moses, and to move 
the thing there. That, of course, is the shortest road to 
bankruptcy. And it’s for that you had to write a prologue and act 
as producer! And that’s what they call a German national 

 See this volume, p. 369. - > if one may refer to it thus 

institution! Mark my words, in a couple of years you'll be sent a 
circular: ‘Re the bankruptcy of the late Schiller Institute’, etc. 

‘Re’ your letters, let me reply very briefly as follows. So far as 
the affair with Marx is concerned, he would certainly not have 
turned to you if my resources hadn’t already been exhausted, as 
was indeed the case, which meant that I could do nothing just 
then. As for red Becker (whose pamphlet’ was of great interest to 
me, partly because it contains a recanrarion of his former ‘wild’ 
_ opinions, and also because the Prussian government has forcibly 
turned the chap into a local bigwig again, and hence into a 
Deputy), the fellow is no immediate concern of ours. He has never 
belonged to our party as such, has always been a mere democrat, 
and he only became involved in the business of the Communist 
trial in Cologne’ because he regarded the affair as an opportunity 
for agitation. In fact, during the trial he disassociated himself 
completely from the rest of the accused and enjoyed a special 
position. Since then he has avowedly become a royal Prussian 
democrat, has come out in favour of the monarchy, etc. So, 
politically we have no connections whatever with the man, which 
would not, of course, preclude my being on a personally friendly 
footing with him until such time as we came into direct political 
conflict with his people. He will do well enough for the present 
Prussian Chamber. 

I believe that, when I was in Barmen,*” I mentioned to you a 
little Danish folk-song I had discovered in the Kjdémpeviser and 
had translated into German verse specially for your benefit.” I 
enclose it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do anything like justice 
to the lively, defiantly cheerful tone of the original—it’s the 
liveliest I know. However, you'll have to content yourself with the 
translation (almost literal, by the way). I don’t think the thing has 
been translated into German before. 

Pleas¢ convey my compliments and good wishes to your wife. 

Your 
F. E.