THE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.

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picture  of  modern  philosophy  in  Germany,  and  endeavoured  to
prove  that  the  theories  of  Kant,  Fichte,  and  Hegel  were  only  the
logical  development  of  the  same  system.  The  form  of  his  discourse ­
  was  too  abstract,  and  did  not  please  the  public  at  all,
although  he  was  careful  to  recall  the  fact  that  Fichte  had  prophesied ­
  German  unity,  and  had  announced  that  one  day  the
German  people  would  enjoy  the  liberty  and  equality  proclaimed
by  the  French  Revolution.  He  had  a  sort  of  worship  for  the
men  of  that  time,  and  especially  for  Robespierre,  often  carrying
a  cane  given  to  him  by  his  friend  Forster,  the  historian,  which
had  once  belonged  to  Robespierre.  Like  his  model  of  ’93,  he
affected  great  elegance,  and  one  of  his  critics  said  of  him,  that
he  liked  to  have  a  chased  handle  to  his  Jacobin  poignard,  and
lace  on  his  Phrygian  cap.
In  1861  he  published  a  literary  study  of  Lessing,  and  a  very
learned  work  on  jurisprudence  in  two  volumes,  the  “System  of
Acquired  Rights  "  {Systetn  der  Envorbenen  Rechte).  Radical
ideas  of  reform  obtrude  themselves  through  the  purely  scientific
dissertations,  as,  for  instance,  when  the  existing  system  of
property  and  inheritance  is  severely  criticised.  In  two  political
pamphlets  which  appeared  shortly  afterwards,  “  The  Essence  of  a
V  Constitution”  (  Ueber  Verfassungswesen),  and  “  Might  and  Right  ”
{Macht  und  Recht),  he  takes  up  his  favourite  idea  that  in  human
affairs  it  is  force  which  always  decides  in  the  last  resort.  All
constitutional  problems  are  summed  up  in  this  :  Who  is  the
strongest?  If  the  Chambers  cannot  command  efficacious
means  of  resistance,  they  lie  at  the  mercy  of  the  sovereign.
This  theory,  which  has  since  widely  spread,  because  certain
contemporary  events  have  appeared  to  justify  it,  is  open  to
objection.  It  is  true  bayonets  decide,  but  what  puts  bayonets
in  motion  if  not  ideas?  Is  it  not  the  abstract  principle  of
nationality  which  has  completely  changed  the  map  of  Europe  ?
Cavour  created  the  unity  of  Italy,  and  Bismarck  that  of
Germany,  because  they  carried  out  this  idea,  while  Napoleon  I.,
with  all  his  prodigious  victories  ahd  amazing  genius,  created
nothing  durable,  because  he  ignored  and  disregarded  it  ;  and
unless  Austria  will  frankly  accept  this  principle,  sooner  or  later
she  will  fall  before  it.