| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 19 May 1892 |
ENGELS TO LUDWIG SCHORLEMMER
IN DARMSTADT
London, 19 May 1892
122 Regent's Park Road, N. W.
Dear Mr Schorlemmer,
I have just had a letter from Dr Gumpert who says that Carl's[1] condition has unfortunately changed for the worse. He tells me that Carl has become weaker and also less mentally alert, while the symptoms of paralysis in the left arm have grown steadily more marked over the past week. He very much doubts whether he will improve sufficiently to be able to get away from Manchester to some place where he could build up his strength and breathe fresh air. Moreover his mental condition indicated so great a deterioration of his faculties that he (Gumpert) felt it essential to obtain from him the particulars required for a will; this was to have been drawn up by a solicitor yesterday and signed by Carl today. Apparently Carl is exceedingly apathetic and listless and expresses no desire whatever to receive any of his friends and Dr Gumpert has explicitly told me that, if I write to a member of his family in Germany, I am simply to say 'that no purpose would be served by any of the family's coming over'.
I hasten to inform you of this by the first post. I shall also write to Gumpert asking for further reports and, each time I get one, shall at once tell you what it says. Unfortunately the outlook is now very depressing and, since Gumpert is a highly skilled and, especially in diagnosis, highly experienced doctor, I fear we must be prepared for the worst. What will your poor old mother say, now that yet another of her sons is mortally ill?[2]
With warm regards,
Yours,
F. Engels