44 
THE SOCIALISM OF TO-DAY. 
where at that time all the new ideas took their rise, in 1845 he 
visited Paris. 
He was cordially received by Heine, who was greatly 
drawn to him from the similarity of their origin, their thoughts, 
and the turn of their minds. Nevertheless the poet, whose 
sharp penetration went to the bottom of all characters, perfectly 
judged his brilliant countryman in a letter of introduction to 
Varnhagen von Ense : “ My friend, Herr Lassalle, who is the 
bearer of this letter, is a young man of the most remarkable 
intellettual gifts. He joins a strength of will and a dexterity 
of action which are fairly astonishing, to the profoundest learn 
ing, the widest knowledge, and the quickest penetration I have 
ever met with. He is a true child of thq new era, knowing 
nothing of that modesty and self-abnegation which we of the 
old school affect with more or less hypocrisy. He belongs to 
a new generation who desire to enjoy and to rule." Heine 
compares Varnhagen and himself to grave-diggers charged 
with the burial of the past, and to poor hens who, having 
hatched duck’s eggs, are amazed to see their ducklings take 
to the water with such joy. 
At Berlin,‘*where Lassalle wished to establish himself as 
a privat docent^ he became acquainted with all the literary and 
scientific world, which received him most cordially. Humboldt 
in particular took him into especial friendship, calling him 
the “Youthful Prodigy” (^Das Wunderkind). He recom 
mended him to his colleagues of the Institute of France, when 
Lassalle made his second journey to Paris, Meantime, Lassalle 
continued his book on Heraclitus, which, however, did not 
appear until nine years later. 
About this time, towards the end of 1845, he met at Berlin 
a person who exercised a decided influence over his fate. The 
Countess Sophie von Hatzfeld, n'ee Princess von Hatzfeld, was 
engaged in a lawsuit with her husband. After some years 
passed quietly in their hereditary chateau on the banks of the 
Sieg, or in their house in Dusseldorf, the incompatibility of 
their tempers had brought about a separation between them, 
and the countess was suing for a pension proportional to her 
rank and fortune. She was extremely quick-witted and elo-