Von Schweitzer belonged to an old and wealthy patrician family of Frankfort-on-the-Main. He had led a dissipated life, been involved in a scandalous affair in Mannheim, and become a noted _roué_. When society in Frankfort could tolerate him no longer he took up his abode in another city, but here again became suspected of improper acts. It is surprising that a man of such character should join the laborers and declaim about their hardships. While it is possible that he was so thoroughly _blasé_ that he could find needed excitement in no other way, I should prefer to regard this move on his part as the first step in a better path. He was a man of talent, and was never entirely absorbed in sensual pleasures. When he took up the cause of the social democrats he began to think about other things than his own selfish and immoral gratifications. For four years he held the post of president of the “Universal German Laborers’ Union;” and in this position not only displayed administrative ability of a high order, but manifested an unwearied devotion in his leadership. He found the Union weak and about to fall to pieces; he left it a strong, compact body. The _Social Democrat_, one of the most prominent organs of the party, was founded by him, and in this paper he defended the doctrines of Lassalle with vigor and understanding. Von Schweitzer withdrew from the social democrats in 1871, and led thenceforth an unexceptionable life. The love of woman had finally conquered his wild nature. He was happily married, and passed the last years of his life in literary pursuits. He died in 1875,[198] having already gained an honorable position as an author. The Union elected another president, who continued to hold the position as long as the association existed. Its importance soon began to decline, however, and it was finally absorbed by the organization formally known as the “Social Democratic Labor Party” (“Social-demokratische Arbeiterpartei”). This grew out of the alliance of “German Laborers’ Unions” (“Verband deutscher Arbeitervereine”), whose members were gradually led over into the social democratic camp, as I described in the first chapter of this work. The two leading spirits in this party, which swallowed up all other social democratic organizations, were Liebknecht and Bebel.