| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 28 December 1885 |
ENGELS TO JOHANN PHILIPP BECKER
IN GENEVA
London, 28 December 1885
Dear Old Man,
This is to notify you that our friend Borkheim died of pneumonia at Hastings on the 16th of this month after a three days' illness. He had had tuberculosis for twelve years and for the last ten years the whole of his left side had been paralysed. According to the doctor he had enough ailments to kill three other men. All this he bore with indomitable cheerfulness and, so far as he was able, kept up with the movement to the end. I have asked Liebknecht to publish a short obituary in the Sozialdemokrat.
At the beginning of this month I sent you a money order which I trust you have received.
For the rest — as the post is about to go and I get little time for writing in what is for me a period of turbulence — I wish you a Happy New Year and continuing good health; our movement is in no particular need of good wishes, since it is forging ahead everywhere— at a pace which varies according to place and people—, but everywhere splendidly, while the dirty business in the Balkans actually seems to be petering out without a world war.
With my very kindest regards,
Your old friend
F. Engels