Lassalle’s opportunity to turn definitely from scholarship to politics came in 1862 with the outbreak of the struggle over the Prussian constitution.  In a series of vigorous addresses (April, 1862, to February, 1863) he first criticised, then condemned, the Progressive party for its—­as it seemed to him—­pusillanimous policy.  But Lassalle was not content merely to criticise and condemn.  His restless energy found no adequate expression short of the creation of a new party of his own.  His repudiation of the Progressives, however, was not dictated by differences over tactics alone.  He rejected the fundamental principles of the liberal movement in German politics.  He saw around him the evidences of deep and widespread poverty.  The great problem of the day to his mind was not the political problem of a proper constitution of government, but the social problem of a proper distribution of wealth.  The need, as he saw it, was not for parchment-guarantees of individual liberty.  It was for practical promotion of social welfare.  Hence, at the same time that he opened fire upon the tactics of the Progressives, he unfolded his plans for the constructive treatment of the social, as distinct from the political, problem.

The nature of Lassalle’s social ideal and the character of the means by which he sought to justify it are for the first time systematically set forth in his address (April 12, 1862) “upon the special connection between modern times and the idea of a laboring class,” subsequently published under the title, The Workingmen’s Programme.  This address was the point of departure for the socialist movement in Germany, as the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels was that of international socialism.  It was indeed largely inspired by the spirit of that revolutionary document.  During the two and a half years which followed the publication of this address, Lassalle often set forth his fundamental social philosophy with extraordinary clearness and force, but he never surpassed his opening salutation to the workingmen of Germany.  It has been read by hundreds of thousands.  It was his masterpiece.

The Workingmen’s Programme attracted the immediate attention of the Prussian government.  The police took offence at the tone of the address and brought against its author a charge of criminal incitement of the poor to hatred and contempt of the rich.  On January 16, 1863, Lassalle appeared in court and defended himself against this charge in an almost equally celebrated address, published under the title, Science and the Workingmen.  Here Lassalle speaks in a different but no less brilliant vein.  From that time forth Lassalle’s appearances before audiences of workingmen quite generally led to corresponding appearances before audiences of judges.  If one court set him free, he was liable to be haled before another court for defamation of the prosecuting attorney in the court of first resort.  But the prisoner’s dock served as well as the orator’s platform for the purposes of his agitation.