{London,] 13 August 1859 
Dear Engels, 

I received the enclosed note* on Thursday afternoon. I 
therefore hastened into town. Matters could only be arranged by 
my borrowing £4 from Garthe, which will have to be returned. On 
Monday I shall write to Borchardt. To abandon the paper now 
would seem to me foolish on several counts: 1. because this would 
save the now foundering Gottfried”; 2. because after the King of 
Prussia’s‘ death there will be radical changes in Germany, when 
we must have a paper of our own; 3. because of the growing 
number of subscribers (although for the time being this is simply a 
disadvantage financially, since the cost in stamps increases weekly 
while payments aren’t due until the end of the quarter). The Volk 
already wields considerable influence in the United States. For 
instance the preface to my book has been reprinted from the 
Volk and variously commented on by German papers from New 
England to California. 

You couldn’t, I suppose, arrange to let me have your article* by 
Wednesday, there being nothing ‘topical’ about it this time? 

a The note is not extant. - > the weekly Hermann, of which Gottfried Kinkel had been 
publisher until July 1859 - © Frederick William IV - 4 A Contribution to the Critique of 
Political Economy - © F. Engels, ‘K. Marx. A Contribution to the Critique of Political 
Economy’. 

Might it be possible to raise some money from German business 
employees in Manchester through your cousin Siebel? 

I shall certainly succeed in getting some money out of Berlin 
and New York. But there’s the next 6 to 8 weeks to be taken care 
of. 

As to Freiligrath, just come and Try extracting one shilling from 
him if you can! 

Incidentally, and between ourselves, we’d have done better over 
money if new deficits hadn’t continually arisen as a result of 
renewed thefts. But these were perpetrated by the old agents. 
Beginning with Scherzer, [ve thrown out all those who had 
compromised themselves. But what remained of the old leaven* 
wasn’t any good and, even if these uncouth louts have been 
well-behaved hitherto, they blot their copybook when they make 
their exit. I finally threw out the last of them—Mr Lange—last 
week. It would have been relatively much easier to start up a 
completely new paper from scratch rather than, as Biskamp and 
Liebknecht did, continue, if only nominally, the existence of an 
organ that was rotten through and through.” 

Herewith a letter from Dana. 

Though I don’t think much of his poerry, could your RELATIVE 
Siebel do some little piece of verse for the Volk? But nothing 
sublime, please! So as to nettle Freiligrath, we simply must unearth 
some poet or other, even if we have to write the verse for him 
ourselves. 

Salut. 
Your 
K. M. 
Copies of Po and Rhine next week.