A Disciple of Nietzsche

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One of those who has had much to do with changing the history of the world is Friederich Nietzsche, the great German philosopher. To his mind only strong people of great ability were of any consequence, while those of mediocre ability were deserving of little consideration. "That the lifting up of the weak, in the long run, is an unprofitable and useless business," said the great philosopher, "is evident upon very brief reflection. Philanthropy, considered largely, is inevitably a failure. Nothing is more potent, indeed, than the fact that charity merely converts the unfit, who, in the course of nature, would soon die out and so cease to encumber the earth, into parasites, who live on indefinitely, a nuisance and a burden to their betters." These sentiments found ready approval in the mind of a well-known scholar, an American professor of philosophy. The professor's daughter became interested in settlement work, but the scholar refused to become interested in it. When his daughter brought a factory girl, ill and weak, to his home, he objected, but finally was induced to permit the factory girl to remain in the house. The daughter's protege was not a skillful seamstress, and when several handsome gowns had been ruined by her carelessness, the professor decided to interfere. He told his daughter that the factory girl was "one of the unfit." The daughter refused to let the factory girl go, but the Iatter's pride was stung by the professor's words and she left the house of her own accord. In the hard struggle for livelihood which followed, a member of a gang of criminals tempted her with his ill-gotten gains, but she rejected him scornfully. While engaged in her settlement work, the rich girl was seen by the gangster. The man knew she was wealthy and determined to win her. Soon after, the young settlement worker came upon two roughly-dressed men who were about to attack a cripple. She ran to the victim's assistance, but the men scornfully thrust her aside, then the "rescuer" arrived in the person of a burly young man who knocked the two bullies down and then assisted the cripple to his feet. The "rescuer" was the gangster, and the cripple and the two other men were members of the gang. The gangster had carried the plan out in order to make a favorable impression upon the rich girl and he succeeded admirably. Even when she learned that he was a desperate criminal and had served sentences in state's prison, she did not shrink from him, for hadn't he promised to come to the settlement school and learn to be a better man? In the meantime a new foreman came to the factory where the working girl was employed. He was an earnest, hard-working young man, and a sincere attachment soon sprang up between him and the girl, which culminated in their engagement and the planning of an early marriage. At the settlement the gangster was a model "pupil."' Awaiting a favorable opportunity he hold her of his love, then spoke of his evil life of the past, working so skillfully upon her sympathies that he won her promise to be his wife. The professor was stunned when he received the news. In his hour of sorrow he remembered a quotation of Nietzsche which seemed to mock him. "The strong must grow stronger said Nietzsche," and that they may do so, they must waste no strength in the vain task of trying to lift up the weak." "She is weak," the father said to himself, "but she is my daughter, and I will not see her led astray." It was the little factory girl whom the scholar had despised who came to him in his hour of need. She told him that she had heard of her daughter's infatuation for the gangster and confirmed his suspicions regarding the man. She told the professor to call with his daughter at her home that night. That evening the professor and his daughter called at the two little tenement rooms which served the working girl as a home. The rich girl was sullen and suspicious of her father and the other girl, but finally agreed to wait with her father in the next room and see for herself whether her suspicions were justified. The working girl had pretended to the gangster that his attentions were pleasing to her, and had consented to his calling upon her in the evening. He did so, and she questioned him, drawing the admission from him that he cared nothing for the rich girl, and only wanted to get some of her money, as he had a wife in a nearby city and could not marry. In the next room the professor and his daughter listened, and the little settlement worker, thoroughly disillusioned, realizes how she had been deceived. Suddenly the hall door opened and the young foreman appeared. He saw the woman he loved apparently accepting the attentions of the gangster. A fight ensued between the two men, and the ex-convict sank to the floor. The working man turned upon his sweetheart and bitterly denounced her. But the entrance of the professor and his daughter halted him, and when he heard the truth he begged his sweetheart's forgiveness. The gangster slunk out of the door. The professor and his daughter looked at the reconciled couple.