Letter to Ludwig Schorlemmer, May 17, 1892

ENGELS TO LUDWIG SCHORLEMMER

IN DARMSTADT

London, 17 May 1892

Dear Mr Schorlemmer,

Not long ago I received the same curious letter from Carl^[1] as you did, whereupon I approached his physician, Dr Gumpert, an old friend of Marx's and mine. He said that over a period there had been considerable changes in Carl's physical condition — as we had all no- ticed, added to which he had had a bout of influenza in the spring fol- lowed by all kinds of unpleasant after-effects. What struck him most of all was the very considerable time his system was taking to recoup the strength it had lost. It was not yet possible, he said, to diagnose any specific illness, but something appeared to be wrong and he would write again as soon as he had something more definite to tell me. Meanwhile there was no necessity for me to come to Manchester, as I had offered to do, nor did he himself wish it.

I haven't seen Carl since last summer; he was unable to come for Christmas on account of tinnitus which bothers him a great deal dur- ing lectures and examinations and is, he says, always aggravated by a trip to London. At Easter he went down with influenza and once again everything fell through. Dr Gumpert now says that, as soon as his condition permits, he will send him away from the smoke of Man- chester. We may perhaps go somewhere together where the air is bet- ter, although I can't say anything about that yet.

I believe it would be best if you didn't let Carl know that we corres- pond about his health, for he seems to be very touchy. It would, I think, be best if you were again to write to him every now and then, giving him news from home and asking for news of himself. I shall be hearing from Gumpert from time to time, as promised, and shall then pass the information on to you with or without prompting.

August is over here and is staying with us. Paul the Stout^[2] is also here, staying with the Bernsteins. August is not available at this moment, otherwise he would certainly have sent you his greetings; Mrs Kautsky warmly reciprocates your good wishes and I, too, should like to send you mine and would ask you to pass on my kindest regards to the rest of your family.

Yours,

F. Engels

My niece Mrs Rosher, known as Pumps, is also here and sends her best wishes to you all.