[Draft] 
[London,] 1 December 1885 

Citizen, 

When I received your letter of 8 August,  together with your 
manuscript, I was on the point of leaving for Jersey, whence I did not 
return until 14 September. *?! Since then I have had so much urgent 
work to deal with that I was unable to revert to the French transla- 
tion of the /8th Brumaire. Now, having at last had time to come back 
to it, I find myself placed between two rival mss.? 

To begin with, it is impossible for me to set myself up as judge in 
a dispute when I am unable to make a careful investigation either of 
its causes or of its substance. All I know is that Fortin had been in cor- 
respondence with Marx for a number of years prior to the death of 
the latter, that he asked me to revise his translation, that I prom- 
ised him I would do so and that I have already attended to the revi- 
sion of part of his ms. Accordingly I feel I am committed to him. Such 
being the position, I do not consider that I have the right to use your 
work in any way. I shall take good care not to read a single page, for 
were it to prove better than Fortin’s, I should be unable to prevent 

myself from introducing some of your turns of speech into his ms. 
And that would be unfair to you and also, perhaps, to Fortin, since 
the two of you no longer get on with one another. Much to my regret, 
the need for me to be impartial prevents my familiarising myself with 
your work. 

I am holding the ms. at your disposal. 

The translation of the 2nd volume of Capital is an extremely diffi- 
cult business. Moreover it will be absolutely impossible for me to 
undertake any revision at all next year. And then there are still many 
other things to consider. At the moment I cannot commit myself to 
anyone; that must lie in the future. 

Yours sincerely