Dear Emil,

It gave me great pleasure to hear from you once again, and through you from your mother¹ and all of you.

As for your request, it does seem to me that I should be reproached for a gross inconsistency if I were to make a contribution of M. 150 to the Evangelical Association House in Barmen because it also pursues generally useful purposes in other respects. I believe your father-in-law² would likewise hold it inconsistent if he were to make a donation to a decidedly social-democratic workers’ fund on account of its generally useful purposes. With good will, however, a great deal can be managed, and as I in any case always feel somewhat comical when I see myself entered in the current account as a shareholder of the Evangelical Association House, I hereby make you a present of the two shares, and you can do with them what you like. A note for Hermann³, who will, I hope, settle the matter, is enclosed.

I am glad to hear that you are all doing well, and especially that your mother is reviving in her care for her children and grandchildren. You will all indeed miss your father⁴ for a long time to come, in the family as in the business. He was a whole man, and in the family he is never replaced, and in the business only with difficulty. Nevertheless, it is very useful for you young people to be placed in a responsible position early on; in my day in Germany that was, unfortunately, rare enough, and yet it is absolutely necessary for the development of the understanding and above all of character. Let the old gentlemen amuse themselves in Barmen and in summer use Engelskirchen more as a health resort than as a place of business; so much the better if you can run the business on your own—that gives you self-confidence.

But now I must close; in a few minutes Schorlemmer is arriving from Manchester, and tomorrow I am expecting further visitors from Paris,⁵ so the house will be full, and the correspondence goes to pieces along with the work. I wanted, however, to get the share business in order beforehand and have used the last free moments to do so.

So give my very warmest greetings to your Mama, and likewise to your wife and your boy, Hermann’s and Moritz, and be warmly greeted yourself by

Your Uncle
Friedrich

And above all I wish you all very happy holidays and much happiness for the New Year!

5 Laura and Paul Lafargue