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 
condition has unfortunately changed for the worse. He tells me that 
Carl has become weaker and also less mentally alert, while the symp- 
toms of paralysis in the left arm have grown steadily more marked 
over the past week. He very much doubts whether he will improve 

* Ludwig Schorlemmer-° Carl Schorlemmer 

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 yes- 
terday 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 pur- 
pose 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 de- 
pressing and, since Gumpert is a highly skilled and, especially in diag- 
nosis, 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? 44? 

With warm regards, 

Yours, 
F. Engels