[London,] 10 February 1870 

Dear Frep, 

I first went out again last Saturday, but as a result of this 
damned foggy weather immediately contracted a sort of inflamma- 

a See this volume, pp. 409-10. 

tion of the tonsils. The body is naturally sensitive after some weeks 
of sequestration. A north-east wind is howling here and, under the 
circumstances, prolongs imprisonment. But I hope to have my 
throat aL. RIGHT again in the course of this week. 

On Sunday, titre Dakyns (the geologist) visited me. I invited 
him for next Sunday. His Scottish cap was the sole memento of his 
costume as Felix Holt, tHe Rascat.* He was as sprightly as ever, and 
Tussy was DELIGHTED to see him. 

As far as new things are concerned—such as the Irish Laws, 
etc."—it is very difficult to get them here seconp HANp. 

Laura writes to us today, inter alia, that since last June the 
excitement in Paris has been steadily rising. Since the Victor-Noir ‘ 
tragic balladry, the females in the working strata have gone daft, 
and you know what that means in Paris. 

Flourens, the crack-brained youngster, is the son of late Flourens, 
sécrétaire perpétuel de l’Académie, who always adhered to the existing 
government throughout his nearly 100 years of life, and who was, in 
turn, Bonapartist, legitimist, Orleanist and again Bonapartist. 
During the last years of his life he still made himself noticeable with 
his fanaticism against Darwin. 

Apropos, about Napoleon I. In one of the copies of Cloche that 
you have, there is, in one of the memoirs—I no longer remember 
which—~a passage about the wretched behaviour of the hero.°” 
Jennychen wants to have the quotation. She has had a squabble at 
the Monroes’ about it, where they wished to deny the Facts. 

I have read the first 150 pages of Flerousky’s book (taken up 
with Siberia, North Russia and Astrakhan). This is the first work 
to tell the truth about Russian economic conditions. The man is a 
determined enemy of what he calls ‘Russian optimism’. I never 
held very rosy views about this communist EI Dorado, but 
Flerovsky surpasses al] expectations. It is, in fact, rum, and at any 
event sign of a change, that something like this can be published 
in Petersburg. 

‘Y Hach NpoaeTapieBb Mado, HO 3aTO Macca Haiero paG6ouaro KAacca COCTOHTb 
H3b paSoOTHHKOBb, KOTOPHIXb ydacTb xyke UbMb yyacTb BCAKaro Mpoaetapin.’¢ 

The method of presentation is quite original; sometimes it 
reminds you most of Monteil.' You can see that the man has 

a A personage from George Eliot’s Felix Holt, the Radical.-% See this volume, 
pp. 409-10 and 422. - © in the original: Louis Noir - 4 H. Maeposcxih, Honooenie 
pabouazo xaacca ao Pocciu. - © ‘We have few proletarians, but the mass of our working 
class consists of working people whose lot is worse than that of any proletarian.’ - 
f A. A. Monteil, Histoire des frangais des divers états aux cing derniers siécles. Volumes 
I-X. 

travelled about everywhere and observed things for himself. 
Blazing hatred of landlord, capitalist and official. No socialist 
doctrine, no mysticism about the land (although he favours the 
form of communal property), no nihilistic extravagance. Here and 
there a certain amount of well-meaning twaddle, which is, 
however, suited to the stage of development of the people for 
whom the book is intended. At all events, it is the most important 
book published since your work on the Condition of the Working- 
Class. And the family life of the Russian peasants is also well 
depicted—with the awful beating-to-death of their wives, the 
drinking, and the concubines. It would, therefore, be very 
opportune if you would send me the fantasy-lies of Citizen 
Herzen.’ 

You will recall that Egalité, inspired by Bakunin, attacked the 
General Counci., made all sorts of interpellations publicly, and 
threatened more.” A communication ‘—which I composed—was, 
thereupon, sent to the Comité Remand in Geneva, and ditto to all 
the other Comités of French tongue corresponding with us. Result: 
The entire Bakunin gang has quit Fgalité. Bakunin himself has 
taken up residence in Tessin, and will continue intriguing in 
Switzerland, Spain, Italy and France. Now the armistice is at an 
end between us, since he knows that I attacked him heatedly and 
inveighed against him on the occasion of the latest Geneva 
événements.* The brute really imagines that we are ‘too bourgeois’ and, 
therefore, incapable of grasping and _ esteeming his lofty 
cohcepts about ‘inheritance right’, ‘equality’, and the replacement of 
the present state systems by ‘l’Internationale’. Nominally, 
his ‘Alliance de la Démocratie Socialiste’**” has been dissolved, but, 
in fact, continues. From the enclosed copy of a letter (which you 
must return to me) from H. Perret, sécrétaire du Conseil Romand, to 
Jung,” you will see that, in fact, the catastrophe in Geneva took 
place before they received our communication there. This, 
however, strengthened the new status rerum.© The Belgian ‘Conseil’ 
(Brussels) has officially declared itself completely in favour of our 
stand against Egalité, but the sécrétaire of the Belgian Councn, 
Hins (brother-in-law of De Paepe, but fallen out with him), has 
sent a letter to Stepney** in which he takes Bakunin’s side, 
accuses me of supporting the reactionary party amongst the 
Geneva workers, etc., etc. 

4 See this volume, p. 426. - > Ibid., pp. 404-05. - ¢ K. Marx, The General Council to 
the Federal Council of Romance Switzerland. - 4 events - © state of affairs 

Did you notice, in one of the copies of Marseillaise sent to 
you, that Mr K. Blind had inserted an advertisement for 
K. Blind in the aforesaid sheet, according to which the aforesaid 
Blind was sent to Paris as ‘ambassador’ with General Schurz 
(Schiitz does not sound good enough), was exiled from Paris by 
Bonaparte, and still is! and also was previously member of the 
German National Assembly*”! 

My COMPLIMENTS TO Mrs Lizzie AND FRIENDS. 

[Postscript from Eleanor Marx] 

My DEAR Engels,