From the lofty mountain tops of science the dawn of a new day is seen earlier than below in the turmoil of daily life.
Have you ever beheld a sunrise from the top of a high mountain? A purple line colors blood-red the farthest horizon, announcing the new light. Clouds and mists collect and oppose the morning red, veiling its beams for a moment; but no power on earth can prevail against the slow and majestic rising of the sun which, an hour later, visible to all the world, radiating light and warmth, stands bright in the firmament. What an hour is, in the natural phenomena of every day, a decade or two is in the still more impressive spectacle of a sunrise in the world's history.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 47: The word bourgeoisie is henceforth used throughout the discussion to designate the political party now defined.—TRANSLATOR.]
[Footnote 48: Here the speaker quotes statistics showing that, on the average, throughout Prussia, a vote by a man of the first class has as much weight as seventeen votes by men of the third class.—TRANSLATOR.]
* * * * *
SCIENCE AND THE WORKINGMEN (1863)
[A speech delivered by Lassalle in his own defense before the Criminal
Court of Berlin on the charge of having incited to class hatred.]
TRANSLATED BY THORSTEIN B. VEBLEN, PH.D. Lecturer in Economics,
University of Missouri
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Court: