_The Jews._--For the Jewish slave-morality which prevails in the
western world today, under the label of Christianity, Nietzsche had,
as we know, the most violent aversion and contempt, but he saw very
clearly that this same morality admirably served and fitted the Jews
themselves; that it had preserved them through long ages and against
powerful enemies, and that its very persistence proved alike its own
ingenuity and the vitality of its inventors as a race. "The Jews," said
Nietzsche, "will either become the masters of Europe or lose Europe,
as they once lost Egypt, And it seems to be improbable that they
will lose again. In Europe, for eighteen centuries; they have passed
through a school more terrible than that known to any other nation,
and the experiences of this time of stress and storm have benefited
the individual even more than the community. In consequence, the
resourcefulness and alertness of the modern Jew are extraordinary....
In times of extremity, the people of Israel less often sought refuge
in drink or suicide than any other race of Europe. Today, every Jew
finds in the history of his forebears a voluminous record of coolness
and perseverance in terrible predicaments--of artful cunning and clever
fencing with chance and misfortune. The Jews have hid their bravery
under the cloak of submissiveness; their heroism in facing contempt
surpasses that of the saints. People tried to make them contemptible
for twenty centuries by refusing them all honors and dignities and
by pushing them down into the mean trades. The process did not make
them cleaner, alas! but neither did it make them contemptible. They
have never ceased to believe themselves qualified for the highest
of activities. They have never failed to show the virtues of all
suffering peoples. Their manner of honoring their parents and their
children and the reasonableness of their marriage customs make them
conspicuous among Europeans. Besides, they have learned how to derive
a sense of power from the very trades forced upon them. We cannot help
observing, in excuse for their usury, that without this pleasant means
of inflicting torture upon their oppressors, they might have lost their
self-respect ages ago, for self-respect depends upon being able to
make reprisals. Moreover, their vengeance has never carried them too
far, for they have that liberality which comes from frequent changes
of place, climate, customs and neighbors. They have more experience
of men than any other race and even in their passions there appears
a caution born of this experience. They are so sure of themselves
that, even in their bitterest straits, they never earn their bread by
manual labor as common workmen, porters or peasants.... Their manners,
it may be admitted, teach us that they have never been inspired by
chivalrous, noble feelings, nor their bodies girt with beautiful arms:
a certain vulgarity always alternates with their submissiveness. But