Before Lassalle died he mentioned the name of a man whom he recommended as his successor in the presidency of the “Laborers’ Union.” The choice was not a happy one. The new president soon made enemies of the ablest members of the Union, and finally had a falling-out with the countess, in whose house he lived, and who, for the sake of the cause, supported him. It appears that one day the countess commissioned him to purchase butter and cheese for the household. This was too much for the poor president. He regarded the performance of such offices as incompatible with his manly dignity and the respect due his high and honorable position. He did not, indeed, fail to appreciate to the fullest extent the honor which Lassalle had conferred upon him. Identifying the Union with all mankind, he was accustomed to sign himself “President of Humanity.” He compared his noiseless activity to the gentle rain, which, without thunder and lightning, gradually penetrates the hard crust of the earth. The amenities of life among the social democrats are curiously illustrated by their dissensions during the presidency of this man—Becker by name. Becoming enraged at Marx once, he proposed that the author of “Capital” and the founder of the International should embalm himself with his International and have himself hung in the chimney as a mad herring. In return for this Liebknecht moved, in the Berlin association, that Becker should be expelled from the Union as a low-minded slanderer and a hopelessly incurable idiot.[197] New presidents were elected yearly for two or three years, but the countess could agree with none. She finally withdrew, with her followers, and established a new association, called the “Female Line.” It never played a considerable _rôle_, and in a few years died a natural death. After the withdrawal of the countess the “Universal Laborers’ Union” showed good sense enough to elect their ablest man president. This was Jean Baptista von Schweitzer, a dramatic writer of some note, whose comedies are considered among the best which have appeared recently. Perhaps the best known are “Die Darwinianer,” “Epidemisch,” and “Grosstädtisch.”