Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/653

* NIETZSCHE. 557 NIGEL. the author traces the liistoiy of the world, sliowinj; the part pUiyed hy tawny brutes ami ta«!iy licroes iu the great struggh; (or power, and representing might as yight, a right over- tlirown by the slavish and false eonoepts of the Jewisli Nazarene. After Nietzselie left Basel he lived for several years in Turin; in 1880 it beeaine evident that his brain was afl'ectod, partly due to hereditary causes and partly to the abnse of soporifics. He retired to his mother's home near Weimar, where he was cared for by his sister until his death. As can he seen from the above sketch of the course of his philosophical development, Nietzsche accepted the struggle for existence as an ultimate fact which man ought not to attempt to ameliorate. It is only the slavish spirit Avhich attempts to modify tiie in- evitable natural process of the elimination of the unfit. This attempt to stem the tide of natural evolution results in the servile morality {Sl;tfircn>iwral] characteristic of the present day. Nature's morality is the morality of the rutii- lessly strong hero ( llcrrruinonil). This view is the inevitable outcome of an uncritical acceptance of the merely physical 'is' as the moral 'ought.' Its philosophical significance lies in its exhibit- ing in tindisguised form the logical consequences, for a Darwinian, of the principle that whatever is. is right. His popularity is due partly to this hyper-Darwinianism, but more largely, since such a doctrine is against the predominant spirit of hnmanity of the present age. to his fascinating literary style. He is a great prose poet, and it we may judge from a vohuue of early verse. (IrdicJite unci Sprik-Jir (ISO"), in tone a revolt against the lyric tradition of Heine, he might have been a great lyrist. Richard Strauss (q.v.) has founded one of his most famous tone-poems tipon Also sprach Zftrnthtistra. A complete edi- tion of his works was begiui at Leipzig in ISOo: an English version under the editorship of Tille is incomplete. Consult the biography by his sis- ter, Frau F(irster-Nietzsche (Leipzig, 1805, sqq.), and appreciation in Riehl, Frirtlrich yiclzsche, drr Kihtstlcr iiiid drr Doikcr (Stuttgart, 3d ed., inoi) ; also Seth, ^[llll.'s Place in the Cosmos (2d ed.. Edinburgh. 100'2): Wallace. Lrctvrcs and Essat/s in Naitiral Theolofji/ and Ethics (Oxford. 1898) ; Dolson. The Philosophy of Fried rich iclzsche (New York. 1001), with an excellent bibliography; Brandes, Friedrieh Nietzsche (Frankfort, 1888) ; Kronenherg. Nietzsche iind seine Herrcnnionil (Miuiich, 1001); Eisler, Nicfzsches Erkenntnistheorie und Melaphysik (Leipzig, 1002). NIEUWENHUIS, ne'vcn-hois, IIo.mel.v (lS4(i— ). A Dutch Socialist, son of Domela Nieinvcnbuis (1808-GO), who was a prominent Lutheran theologian. The son, born at Amster- dam, studied theology, was for nine years preacher at the Lutheran Church in The Hague, and then became a leader of the Social Demo- crats and practically the founder of the ]iarty in Holland. In I8S7 he entered the Statcs-ficneral, but he failed of reelection in 1888. His views became more and more extreme, and he broke from the State (Socialists to form with Cornelis- Ben a free Socialist faction. Nieuwenhuis was prominent in the Socialist Congresses of Brus- sels (1801) and of Zurich (180.3) as an opponent of Liebknecht and his motion against war and compulsory military service. In 1807, when Recht roor alien became the property oi the cen- tralization Socialists, Nieuwenliuis started a new journal, De vryc tiocialisl. NIEVO, ne-a'v6, Ipi-olito (1832-01). An Italian novelist and poet, born at Padua. He studied in his native town, took part in the revo- lutionary disturbances of the time, and finally joined (iaribaldi. His C'onfessioni di nn otluu- yenario (1867) holds a high place among the historical novels of the century. He also wrote II conte pccorajo {lSo7), Anyelo di honta. ( IHoS), and Poesic (1883). NI^VKE, nya'vr'. A central departnu'nt of France, nearly conterminous with the foi'mcr Province of Nivernais. It is named from the river Ni6vre, an affluent of the Loire. It has the Loire and the Allier as its western boundary (Slap: France, K 4). Its area is 26.58 square miles. The eastern half is occupied by the forest- covered ilorvan Mountains, and the soil is gen- erally rocky and sandy. Forest and mineral products, the latter including coal. iron, nuirble, and mill-stones, form the chief wealtli of the de- partment, but stock-raising and viticulture are also important. The chief manufactures are glass and porcelain, and there are large inm and steel works. Population, in 1801, 343,581; in 1001, 323,78.3. The capital is Nevers (q.v.). NIFLHEIM, nifl-him (leel., cloud-home). One of the nine separate abodes or homes of w-hieh the old Scaiulinavians conceived the world as consisting in the beginniiig of time. It is the kingdom of cold and darkness, and is separated from JMuspelbeim, the kingdom of light and heat, by a huge chasm (Ginnungagap, yawning gap). NIFO, ne'fo, Agcstixo, or .-Vugustini'S Ni- rnus (C.1473-C.1.538). An Italian scholar, born in the Province of Calabria. At an early age he settled at Sezza. and afterwards studied and taught philosophy at Padua. Salerno. Naples, Rome, and Pisa. Nifo at first belonged to the school of Averroes (q.v.). His commentaries, several times reprinted, were collected with his Opnscula Moralia et Politica in 14 volumes (Paris, 1654). Afterwards, Nifo modified his beliefs to suit orthodox doctrine, and published the writings of his master (1405-07), with notes iind objections. He was charged by Leo X. to answer Pompanazzi's Dc Immortalitate Animi, and for this service he receivcil the title of Count Palatine. His philoso))liical treatises, Dc Im- mortalitate AHi';Hi(1518 and 1524), De Intellectu Lihri VI. (1.503, 1.527. 1502). and De Infrnitate T'rimi Motoris Qiicestio (1504), are the most important of his productions. NIGEL, nig'el, known as Nioel Wireker (fl. c. 1100). A satirist who flourished'toward the close of the twelfth century. He was a monk in Clirist Church priory. Canterbury, and was personally acquainted with Thomas a Becket. His famous work is Speenlnm Hlullonim (A ilirror of Fools), a satire in Latin elegiac verse on the clergy and society in general. The hero is Burnellus, or Brunellus. an ass, who wants a longer tail. The poem was iuuncnscly popular for centuries. Under the title. "Daui Burnel the Asse." it is quoted by Chaucer in the "Nun's Priest's Tale." Nigel also wrote several short Latin poems and a prose treatise. Contra Curialcs et Ofliciales Clerieos. Consult: Wright. The Anylo-Latin Satirical Poets (London, 1874);