Letter to Pasquale Martignetti, January 18, 1887

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 18 January 1887


First published in the language of the original German, in La corrispondenza, di Marx e Engels con italiani. 1848-1895, Milano, 1964
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48


ENGELS TO PASQUALE MARTIGNETTI

IN BENEVENTO

[Fragment]

London, 18 January 1887

Caro Cittadino,[1]

Your letter of the 9th of this month8 was not altogether unexpected, since I knew that you were a government official and that sooner or later this would make your position untenable. Unfortunately I cannot hold out any favourable prospects for you either here or in America. If you don't speak fluent English, it will be impossible for you to find a remunerative occupation in either country unless you become adept in the colloquial use of the language. For educated people the usual, virtually the only, calling over here is that of language teacher, and for that very reason it is always overcrowded, even by people who speak and write the language of the country fluently. As to other kinds of teaching, there is such a large [...][2]

  1. ↑ Dear Citizen
  2. ↑ The end of the letter is missing