{[London,] 20 June 1866 

Dear Frep, 

This damned weather is having a particularly evil effect sur mon 
physique*; and this is the reason why I did not acknowledge the 
‘wine’ earlier, nor write to you otherwise. There is no chance of 
coming to Manchester, as I cannot leave the house in my present 
state; besides, I have to be here for the ‘International’, where my 
French friends have already used my absence once in these trying 
CIRCUMSTANCES [tO execute some tomfoolery in the name of the 
Association.*” 

As regards newspapers here, in my view the best thing to do, if 
nothing comes of the Manchester business, is to send a proper 
MILITARY ARTICLE to The Times, to which you can present yourself as 
the English correspondent of the Darmstadt Militar-Zeitung.” No 
need for any political considerations, as one London paper is just 
as bad as any other, and what matters is to obtain the widest 
publicity.** 

4 on my constitution - > Allgemeine Militdr-Zeitung 

You must now keep me ‘critically’ au courant des affaires in Ivaty 
and Germany. 

There was a debate at yesterday’s meeting of the International 
Council. about the present war. It was announced beforehand and 
our room was very full. Even the Italian gentlemen had honoured 
us with their presence again. The discussion was wound up, as could 
have been foreseen, with the ‘question oF NATIONALITY in general and 
the attitude we should adopt to it. This sujet adjourned until next 
Tuesday.**° 

The French, very strongly represented, cave vent to their cordial 
dislike for the Italians. 

The representatives of ‘jeune France’* (non-workers), by the way, 
trotted out their view that any nationality and even nations are ‘des 
préjugés surannés’.» Proudhonised Stirnerianism. Everything to be 
broken down into small ‘groupes’ or ‘communes’, which in turn form 
an ‘association’, but not a state. Furthermore, this ‘individualisa- 
tion’ of mankind and the ‘mutualisme’**’ it entails are to proceed by 
bringing history to a halt in every other country and the whole 
world waits until the French are ready to carry out a social 
revolution. Then they will demonstrate the experiment to us, and 
the rest of the world, being bowled over by the force of their 
example, will do the same. Just what Fourier expected from his 
phalanstére modeéle. D’ailleurs everyone who clutters up the ‘social’ 
question with the ‘superstitions’ of the Old World is a ‘reactionary’. 

The English laughed heartily when I began my speech with the 
observation that our friend Lafargue, and others, who had 
abolished nationalities, had addressed us in ‘French’, i.e., in a 
language which °/;) of the audience did not understand. I went on 
to suggest that by his denial of nationalities he seemed quite 
unconsciously to imply their absorption by the model French 
nation. 

For the rest, the position is difficult now because one must 
equally oppose the silly Italianism of the English, on the one hand, 
and the mistaken polemic against it of the French, on the other, 
and above all prevent any demonstration which would involve our 
Association in a one-sided course. 

Salut. one 
K. M.