[Manchester,] 17 March 1851 

Dear Marx, 

I have had a very tiresome attack of influenza, which has 
rendered me incapable of anything, whether sensible or otherwise, 
hence my silence. All I could do last week was send you a Post 
Orrice order— Which you'll have received. The 5 shillings are for 
Lenchen, who happened to be out when I left your house. If at 
all possible, I will send you the £2 for Hiruipnurran if not this 
week, then next week at the latest. Schramm can take it to him. 
Not having heard anything from you up to the present—since 
sending you Weerth’s letter—I, of course, am completely in the 
dark and am, moreover, still awaiting Willich’s precious letters.” I 
have not seen The Friend of the People containing Schramm’s 
statement‘; the thing arrives here at very irregular intervals. Ask 
Schramm to send me a copy sous bande*; he should be able to get 

a Harney - © See this volume, p. 314. - © C. Schramm, “To the Editor of The Friend of 
the People’, The Friend of the People, No. 14, 15 March 1851. - 4 in a wrapper 

12* 

316 ' 157. Marx to Engels. 17 March 1851 

one easily enough if he has none to hand. It is good to hear that 
Landolphe has in the end turned out to be an arrant coward. I am 
still waiting for him to send me the famous letter. 

I am dreadfully irritated by the stupidity of the arrangements 
here, which make regular and uninterrupted swotting virtually 
impossible. I have no access to one of the libraries, and in the 
other, public one, things of immediate interest to me are only to 
be found sporadically, and the hours are inconvenient, hence all I 
have to fall back on is the wretched Athenaeum, where nothing is 
to be had and whose library is in the most frightful disorder. For 
instance, I have again been vainly pursuing the Napier,’ and it 
always takes 2-3 weeks before one can get hold of the next 
volume. In despair I have taken out Cicero’s Letters, which I have 
been using to study the régne de Louis Philippe and the corruption 
of the Directoire. A very jolly chronique scandaleuse. Cicero is really 
priceless; Professor Krug and Sebastian Seiler rolled into one. 
Since the world began the ranks of respectability have been able to 
boast no more infamous canaille than this fellow. I shall duly take 
excerpts from this charming little volume. No more for today. 

Your 
F. Engels