Letters of Marx and Engels 1847
Source: MECW Volume 38, p. 132;
Written: 30 September 1847;
First published: slightly abridged in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, 1913 and in full in: Marx and Engels, Works, Russian Edition, 1934.
Dear Sir,
Being obliged to leave Brussels for several months, I find myself unable to carry out the functions which the meeting of 27 September saw fit to entrust to me.[159]
I therefore request you to call on a German democrat resident in Brussels to participate in the work of the committee charged with organising a universal democratic society.
I would take the liberty of proposing to you one of the German democrats in Brussels whom the meeting, had he been able to attend it, would have nominated for the office which, in his absence, it honoured me by conferring upon myself. I mean Mr Marx, who, I am firmly convinced, has the best claim to represent German democracy on the committee. Hence it would not be Mr Marx who would be replacing me there, but rather I who, at the meeting, replaced Mr Marx.
Assuring you, Sir, of my profound esteem, I am,
Yours very sincerely
Frederick Engels
Mr Marx, who was absent from Brussels at the time of the meeting, lives at 42, rue d'Orléans, Faubourg de Namur.