These are all possibilities, but let us trust that they are not probabilities. The International Workingmen’s Association is one of many signs which gives us reason to hope for a continued growth of international relations; and this growth may terminate in that longed-for internationalism, which shall lead to the formation of a world-organization, guaranteeing to the nations of the earth perpetual peace. There are numerous evidences of this development, of which the following are a few examples; the international postal union, international congresses, international courts of arbitration, and the efforts to establish international factory legislation. It was once hoped that free-trade would help on the good work by knitting nation to nation so firmly that they would realize the identity of their interests. In this people have been disappointed. Free-trade has united, perhaps, a few great merchants and manufacturers, and led to cosmopolitan feelings among the wealthier classes. The masses have never been affected by questions of international commerce. It may be that an international union between the laborers of all lands will finally force upon men the recognition of the folly and crime of war, and will bring to pass that peace and good-will among men prophesied so long ago. CHAPTER XII. FERDINAND LASSALLE. The most interesting figure in the history of social democracy is incontestably Ferdinand Lassalle. In some respects he resembled Marx. He also was of Hebrew descent, and belonged to the higher classes of society. Both were interested in the welfare of the lower classes, and made sacrifices willingly in behalf of their cause. Both intended to become university professors, and there is not the shadow of a reason to doubt that both might have succeeded as such. Lassalle, the son of a wealthy wholesale merchant of Breslau, was born in 1825. His father wished him to devote himself to business, but Lassalle was too fond of his studies to consent. He went to the universities of Breslau and Berlin, where he devoted himself to philology and philosophy. His career as a student was brilliant in the extreme. The most distinguished men of the time were carried away with admiration. Wilhelm von Humboldt called him “Das Wunderkind”—“The Miraculous Child.” His first literary work was an exposition of the “Philosophy of Heraclitus the Obscure.”[181] “Before this book,” to use the words of another, “Humboldt and the whole world bent the knee.” Lassalle’s second important work was one on a system of jurisprudence entitled, “The System of Acquired Rights”—“Das System der erworbenen Rechte” (2 Bde.). The great jurist Savigny called it the ablest legal book which had been written since the sixteenth century. It was published in 1861. Before this, Lassalle had become interested in the case of the Countess von Hatzfeldt, the misused wife of a wealthy but brutal man. While he was indulging in the most extravagant dissipation,