London, 29 August 1868 

Dear Frep, 

The £20 received with best THANKS. 

Tussy had a great shock today. She found Dicky dead in his 
cage although he was still singing merrily yesterday. He has been 
buried with full honours. 

Dupont has received the mandate from Naples to represent the 
Neapolitan branch.'*? Since the Mentana business, as we see from 
Italian reports, there has been a general reactionary trend in 
domestic affairs, and in particular the workers’ right to meet and 
form societies has almost been done away with.’ 

In Paris, happily, we still have our old people, behind bars. The 
committee there will send a délégué to Brussels, but against that 
the various corps de métier* will send 8-9.'%* Our people have 
written to us from prison suggesting that these corps de métier MEN 
should be ‘compromised politically’ so that there should be no way 
back for them. Just to show the sort of. methods to which the Paris 
police have recourse: A gentleman calling himself ‘Eugéne 
Dupont’ from London visited the wives of several of the prisoners 
to pump them. He was a police agent, but his play-acting did not 
work anywhere. 

Eccarius left for Nuremberg as our délégué today.'*’ From there 
he will go to Brussels. He is correspondent of The Times in both 
cases. !°° 

The so-called branche frangaise,”” under the leadership of Messrs 
Pyat and Vésinier, is sending a delegate to Brussels in order— 
horribile dictu”—to put us in the dock! 

Apropos. If Moore is still there, tell him it would be good if he 
could pay to me _ his vsvat contriuTion to the Internationa 
WorkincMen’s Association by Tuesday.© We are weakly represented in 
Brussels, and every shilling that we can raise now will be used to 

a trade societies-> horrible to say-¢ 1 September 

send one MEMBER More there. TUESDAY NEXT IS OUR LAST SITTING this year 
before the congress.'*’ 

Salut. 
Your 
K. M.