Letter to Pasquale Martignetti, November 9, 1889

Author(s)	Friedrich Engels
Written	9 November 1889

First published, in Italian, in La corrispondenza di Marx e Engels con italiani. 1848-1895, Milan, 1964
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48

ENGELS TO PASQUALE MARTIGNETTI^[1]

IN BENEVENTO

London, 9 November 1889

Dear Friend,

Difficult as your situation is I can proffer no definite advice; for that, I should have to be on the spot, it being impossible to give an expert opinion from a distance.

Only one thing can be said with certainty, and that is that neither here not anywhere else in Europe would it be possible to find anything for you. Your proximity to Italy would mean that, wherever you were, they would demand your extradition, and not for a moment would you be safe.

To find you even temporary employment in this country would be utterly impossible. Neither I nor my friends could procure this for you— your having been sentenced could not be kept secret. It would be impossible to accommodate you on the Sozialdemokrat. And in any case, the demand for your extradition would soon catch up with you. On the other side of the Atlantic things might be different.

So there only remains the choice between prison and Buenos Aires. If you are finally convicted by the court of appeal and go to prison, it seems unlikely that, on the day of your release, you will have any other alternative but to go to Buenos Aires, for you would surely not be able to find work in Europe. In my opinion, therefore, the only question is whether you want to go now, or after having spent three or four years in gaol.

Should you decide to go now, I can put 200 francs at your disposal as a contribution towards your travelling expenses. But this is the last help I shall be able to give you. At the moment I am having to maintain two families who are related to me, which means that I am myself sometimes at a loss to know where to turn for the necessary cash.

I am sorry that I cannot do more for you. But the funds I have available are limited, and I am powerless against the Italian judiciary. I know full well how desperate your plight is and assure you of my sincere sympathy but it is not in my power to help you beyond the extent indicated above.

Very sincerely yours,

F. Engels

↑ This is in reply to P. Martignetti's letter of 30 October 1889, in which he wrote about the sentence passed on him by the Naples court for alleged forgery and destruction of documents, as well as for alleged misappropriation of a sum which, at various stages of the court proceedings, ranged from 15 thousand to 500 liras. Martignetti, sentenced to a prison term of 3 years and 9 months, asked Engels for help in job finding and for advice on what to do under the circumstances - either emigrate and part with his family, or serve his prison term.

[1] This is in reply to P. Martignetti's letter of 30 October 1889, in which he wrote about the sentence passed on him by the Naples court for alleged forgery and destruction of documents, as well as for alleged misappropriation of a sum which, at various stages of the court proceedings, ranged from 15 thousand to 500 liras. Martignetti, sentenced to a prison term of 3 years and 9 months, asked Engels for help in job finding and for advice on what to do under the circumstances - either emigrate and part with his family, or serve his prison term.

[1]