At this point I must remember another friend of my
father's, who deeply influenced his mental develofmient.
This is Ludwig Feuerbach, with whom my father enter-
tained a correspondence. When in 1871 the news of the
poverty and death of this philosopher reached my father,
I remember seeing him cry for the first time.
His small tannery in Siegburg permitted him to study
with little interruption, since he did not care to accumu-
late material wealth, his Siegburg heirloom guaranteeing
in a modest way the necessities of life for himself and
family, so long as it was kept together. That he did not
succeed in keeping this heirloom intact, was a cause of
much subsequent trouble to ray father. There were al-
ways a great number of friends who needed assistance
that injured him. In one case he went to Denmark in
order to assist a comrade financially in his tanning busi-
ness. But the attempt failed, with great loss to himself.
