To
the
citizen
Maurice
Lachatre
Dear
Citizen,
I
applaud
your
idea
of
publishing
the
translation
of\"Das
Kapital\"
as
a
serial.
In
this
form
the
book
will
be
more
accessible
to
the
working
class,
a
consideration
which
to
me
outweighs
everything
else.
That
is
the
good
side
of
your
suggestion,
but
here
is
the
reverse
of
the
medal:
the
method
of
analysis
which
I
have
employed,
and
which
had
not
previously
been
applied
to
economic
subjects,
makes
the
reading
of
the
first
chapters
rather
arduous,
and
it
is
to
be
feared
that
the
French
public,
always
impatient
to
come
to
a
conclusion,
eager
to
know
the
connexion
between
general
principles
and
the
immediate
questions
that
have
aroused
their
passions,
may
be
disheartened
because
they
will
be
unable
to
move
on
at
once.
That
is
a
disadvantage
I
am
powerless
to
overcome,unless
it
be
by
forewarning
and
forearming
those
readers
who
zealously
seek
the
truth.
There
is
no
royal
road
to
science,
and
only
those
who
do
not
dread
the
fatiguing
climb
of
its
steep
paths
have
a
chance
of
gaining
its
luminous
summits.
Believe
me,
dear
citizen,
Your
devoted,
Karl
Marx
London
March
18,
1872