The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-06-26

In the Rsichstag. September ~, isIs. nine
years after IAassalle's death. BiSmarok
In the course Of his historical contro-
veray with Rebel said: The most inteli-
gent and charming man | ever knew was
Ferdinand LassAlle.' He should have
added that this socialist who cried 10 the
four corners Of heaven. Passive resist
ance is the resistance that does not exist,
had given tho Iron Chancellor more than
one unpleasant quarter Of an hour. Las
salle's motto was: state support for Co
operative production To-day u living
ho would be an anarchist. The supins.
sheepllISs attitude Of the socialists, osPe-
oially Of the colOrles FablAnites. would
have snraged him into fight.
All the plans Of this energetic thinker
and worker were ruined by his romantic
recklessnsss. He threw over friendships.
he fought the stars in their courses, but
IL vas not to bs. Compared with his
fierce struggle for the aristocratio girl
the romance Of Richard Wagner for his
Isolde. Nine. Wesendonck, was a
timorous. pale affair. though the world
- AN1N eAluyHu wv FA1aAeAAto AA---N
Of Tristan und Isolde AZ a result Of that
experience We need not reoApitulate
the dramatic death Of Lassalls. Readers
Of The Tragic Comedians may remem-
Der the circumstances. He vas shot
August %. 1854. near Geneva, By Won
Racowitza. whose nervousness probably
Slew a man who for years had been oour-
ageous enough 20 refuse all challenges
10 duel He was a crack shot. q swords
man with few equals. but he had ever
denounced duelling a. q dangerous folly.
His state Of mind may be imagined when
he broke his resolution. Denounced.
insultSd. his race and religion bespat-
tered. he bore himself like a gentleman
throughout. Helena had gone TO his
hotel and put herself under his proteo-
ton. He had sent for hcr mother and
given her back Was this play acting?
He declared that he would never accept
a. his wife the daughter Of family that
would not receive him az an equal. Was
politics back Of this almost theatrical
mover We dare not say. Lassalle spoke
several times Of the Inconsistency Of a
social democrat clipping with an aristo-
cratic young woman: but when after
the Imprisonment Of Helena by her father.
after her public Jogging. subsequent III
treatment and starvation. coupled with
slanderous stories about I.assalls. the girl
refused % go him his fury cost him his
J life. He challenged her father. who was
too old % fight, and after the Racowitza
bullet had plOughed his abdomen he died.
August 81. 1894. in unrelieved agony.
His funeral had national significance.
HelenA in less than FIVE months mar
ried the sickly victor Of the duel and saw
him die 81 consumption in Eve months
George Meredith IL pitileas to her, but
there is no excuse for thraShing out this
question again. After the death Of
RacOwitza his widow went on the stage
Her hatred Of her family was the chief
reason; and she was penniless. She
married Siegwart Friedman. a German
actor and a Handsome man. In Ave years
they separated; tired Of each other.
she hints. Her marriage with Serge Van
Schevitsch has proved happy. She now
I
70 which she was born.
Her pages TEEN with portraits Of men
and women whose names to-day are mem
cries Lytton BulWer. Dickens. Liszt,
Napoleon Ill. Eugene. Makart. Paul
Iindau. Paul Heyse. Wagner. Cosima
wagner-the list IL long. Her fight 70
America in 1871 with Graf Won Schevitsch
and her life here until isOO gives her read
ers some interesting reading. She was
friendly with the late Joseph Keppler Of
Puck. with the litteFateur lido Won Brach-
vogel and Fred Douglass. OF tho latter
and his treatment in certain social circles
she has something 70 say; a thorough
going democrat. she cannot forgive Amer
ica for its handling of the color problem.
She writes sharp and not always Just or
sensible words of us. We do not believe
that Iassllle actually uttered all Of the SEM
timents which she quotes. The most amaz-
ing confession of this woman
Is one she omitted 20 make In her book Of
1879 ("My Relations 20 Ferdinand Las.
salle-). Il IL this. She admits that hear
ing he was az Righi-Kaltbad for his health
she slipped away from Geneva and sought
out the man she loved. There had been
separation and Lassalle believed the
affair vas az an end. Nine. Racowitza
CLOSES over this meeting In the first rove
htion. but IL very explicit in the second.
This meeting In the mountains. cum
ningly planned by the girl. was the first
link in the fatal chain Of circumstances
that ended in the catastrophe. The book IL
well worth TRANSMITTING. Perhaps u George
Meredith had read Il We should not
have had The Tragic Comedians for
one survivor of the twain has told the
tale in different fashion. Perhaps the
great analyst might have exclaimed:
-seel She IL my Clotilde Radiger after
all She certainly remains mors the
tragic comedian than ever in won An
deren und Mir