Letter to Laura Lafargue, July 30, 1888

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 30 July 1888


First published, in the language of the original (English), in: F. Engels, P. et L. Lafargue, Correspondance, t. II, Paris, 1956
Reproduced from the original in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48


ENGELS TO LAURA LAFARGUE[1]

AT LE PERREUX

London, 30 July 1888

My dear Laura,

Hope by this time you have got the travellers[2] with you. This morning letter from Schorlemmer. When he arrived at Bonn, his friends advised him to have his wound cured there and so he went to the University Klinik from which he was on Saturday discharged cured, but he still suffers from a Magenkatarrh[3] or, as his brother[4] who is with him and serves him as amanuensis, more properly spells it, Magenkater;[5] and is ordered to keep quiet for some time—he is even afraid that ulterior plans we had about a sea-trip[6] of some duration may fall to the bottom as far as he is concerned. That however we shall see by and by. Anyhow, he intended to go to Darmstadt yesterday and will write again from there.

For Nim's information: yesterday we had roast beef and peas, very well cooked; there were only Edward and Tussy, as Percy and the children dined at Sandhurst Lodge, it being his mother's birthday. After dinner they came over (and Charley,[7] whose wife had called for supper the Sunday before, and I was only sorry she did not drop in then) and later on the four Zürichers[8] with Mrs Bernstein and Mrs Schlüter—the Tante[9] was out of sorts fortunately—and we were very jolly. I am getting on right enough with the girl, only her sweets are not what they exactly should be; she makes a beautifully leathery paste and makes up for other defects in her custard by putting in about as much essence of bitter almonds as sugar—that however I have stopped. The girl is right enough, only she wants a bit more breaking-in by Nim; longer than three weeks' more or less independent management she is not yet fit for, as she imports a lot of superior notions from the East End lodging-house where she was attending upon 'Ladyships'. But as these are confined to cooking chiefly, Nim will soon break her of them, and on the whole I have no reason to complain, though sometimes to laugh.

I hope you have better weather. I went to town about 2, it began raining before 3, and is still at it.

Love to all of you.

Ever yours,
F.E.

  1. ↑ This letter was first published, in the language of the original (English), in F. Engels, P. et L. Lafargue, Correspondance, t. 2 (1887-1890), Paris, Ed. sociales, 1956.
  2. ↑ Helene Demuth and Mary Ellen Rosher
  3. ↑ stomach cold
  4. ↑ Ludwig
  5. ↑ stomach hangover
  6. ↑ Refers to the voyage of Engels, Eleanor Marx-Aveling, Edward Aveling and their friend Carl Schorlemmer to the United States where they spent over a month - from 17 August to 19 September 1888. They journeyed from New York to Boston and nearby towns, then on to the Niagara Falls and across Lake Ontario to Canada. Engels made this tour incognito, without meeting German Socialists or representatives of the press.
  7. ↑ presumably Charles Roesgen
  8. ↑ Eduard Bernstein, Julius Motteler, Leonard Tauscher and Herman Schlüter
  9. ↑ Aunt (Emilie Motteler)