ço  THE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.
SO  he  averred—a  thesis  which  was  perhaps  amenable  to  criticism
but  not  to  the  penal  code.  A  general  assembly  of  German
working  men  was  to  take  place  at  Leipsic  in  1863.  He  took
the  opportunity  to  expound  his  views  in  an  “open  letter,
addressed  to  the  central  committee,  which  was  answered  in  a
remarkable  manner  by  Rodbertus-Jagetzow.  Soon  afterwards
he  expanded  them  in  an  address  delivered  at  one  of  the  sittings
of  the  congress.  .  .
Far  from  retracting,  he  emphasized  his  views  still  further  in
two  writings  which  he  published  relative  to  the  prosecutions
directed  against  him.*  His  last  publication,  directed  against
Herr  Schulze-Delitsch,t  is  the  most  remarkable  he  ever  wrote.
In  it  he  developes  his  theories  more  at  length  than  elsewhere,
and,  at  the  same  time,  wields  with  amazing  energy  the  bitter
weapon  of  irony.  Sophistries  are  not  lacking,  but  they  are
concealed  by  the  originality  of  his  historical  and  econotnical
views.  Proudhon  himself  never  wrote  anything  more  cutbng  ;
and  Lassalle  had  a  far  greater  knowledge  of  history  and  political
economy.  He  was  not  altogether  wrong  when  he  boastingly
said  “  For  every  line  that  I  write  I  am  armed  with  all  the
science  of  our  times.”  Nevertheless,  this  publication  is  merely
a  pamphlet  and  not  a  scientific  book.  His  great  works  on
“  Heraclitus  ”  and  on  “  Acquired  Rights,”  however,  lead  one
to  believe  that  he  was  capable  of  producing  something  o
durable  value,  but  he  had  not  the  time.
Lassalle  was  killed  in  a  duel  in  the  month  of  August,  1864.
Bernhard  Becker,  formerly  one  of  his  disciples,  has  pubhshe
all  that  is  accurately  known  about  this  event,  and  he  just  y
remarks  that  if  Lassalle  had  lived  more  in  conformity  with  his
democratic  doctrines,  he  would  not  have  ended  so  like  an
adventurer.  Nearly  every  year  he  used  to  go  during  the
summer  to  rest  and  recruit,  sometimes  to  the  seaside,  sometimes ­
  to  Switzerland,  and  usually  accompanied  by  his  faithful
friend  the  Countess  of  Hatzfeld.  In  1863,  after  having  founded
the  “  General  Association  of  German  Working  Men,  he  pro-