40 



A'Jejmtrs of GotihoU Ephraim Lejfmg. 



[Aug. J, 



by Kionegk, for his Codms, a tragedy; 

 and by Brane, for his F'eerhinker, a 

 comedy: the tafte of Leffing awarded 

 them, if not with equity, with diliiuertft. 

 Leflino had cftered to the com^ttiiion a 

 tragedy in three ails, and in prote, on the 

 Hory of Virginia; he afterwards employ, 

 ed thcfe poriions of it which were dilcon- 

 ncfted with Roman hiftory, and which 

 appeared worthy of preici vation, in his 

 tragedy of Emilia Galotti. 



Tile fociety of Klciif , snd r f the Pruflian 

 officers, mu(t have contril^u ed to deiain 

 him in Leipzig; for on Kleiif's being or- 

 dered to join the army of Pi ince Her.ry in 

 the fpring of 1755, I-efTirg weni. back to 

 Berlin, wiiere he njoined his ancient affd- 

 ciates, among whom Vol's, the bucolic 

 )ioet, was now become familiar. Men 

 deifchn hati reviewed in the library feme 

 verfes of the K ng of PriifHa, and com- 

 pared iheni wiili Lucretius ; this was flat- 

 tering their execution, Pnri defining their 

 lendencv. Biit tht-re was in the turn of 

 the article a fomeihing'which was thought 

 to hold up on the odious fide tiie nicr- 

 talifm of ihe royal creed. The officiwuf- 

 nefs of fuboid'nnte zealois threatened to 

 <}oafli tlie publication ; and it was, after 

 about four years, anncunctd to have pafl'ed 

 info other han(is; it is probable, how- 

 ever, that but little real change, except 

 in the cpinion that loyal nnd noble au. 

 thois mult be treated wiih deierence, was 

 made in the pradical adn-.iniifrstion of 

 the concern. Philotas, a trngedy in one 

 aCl, one cf LefTing's bell dramas, was 

 Jir.iilied in 1759, ^'"■^^ [ubhilied : it i.' well 

 adapted for Ichocl-peiformai^ce, by the 

 omiflion of all fen, ale charaflers, and by 

 the lofty purity of its lentimert. It is 

 fuppoicd to have been written at Kieifl's 

 irltigation, Ux the perform?nce cf ji me 

 oiBcers of thePrufTian garriion at Leipzig; 

 for whofe accommodation Lcffing alio 

 wrote a comedy without ftriKile charac- 

 ters, tniitled The Jews; this piece wants 



LtfTing afRdtd Ramler in editing Logan, 

 a gnoiTioiogic and ep'gr^mmatic post of 

 the fifteenth ccniury. \\\ 1760 alio, he 

 drew up the life of S'phocles, ard whs 

 biought forward as' a member of the Aca- 

 demy of Berlin. Sii(rmil< h propofed him ; 

 Sulzer objefled, that he did not belong to 

 r.ny fptcific defciiption cf the learned, and 

 put up another candidate, iin acquaint- 

 ance and countryman of his own, a Swifs. 

 Leflir.g was eleCttd, and never avenged, 

 tvcn in an epigram, the oppofition. 



Shortly after his reci-ption, he was ap- 

 pci;,tcd Cecrctary to Ge;;eial Taujirzitr,, 



whom he accompanied to Breflau. He 

 probably owed this promotion to the fa- 

 vourable imprefhon he made among the 

 Pruflian officers at Leipzig, and polfibly 

 to the direfl interferenrc of Kitift. Tau- 

 enzien wis a direftcrof the Piuffian mint : 

 the necefTitTS of the fevcn years' war re- 

 pea edly tempttd -the King to order an 

 adultera.tion of the coin : it does not ap- 

 pear that Leffiiig had to undertake the 

 literary defence ot tiiefe exatRions. It was 

 the fafhion ot the Priiflliu army to play 

 high; Lefiing gamed like the left; and 

 was efpecially fond of Faro : he iircfcfTcd 

 to value the intelleftual liimulation of 

 great hopes and fears : it wonld be con- 

 ttm[.tib!e, he faid, to delight in ihefe 

 childifh gays and p.iinted papers, un- 

 Icfs we attached to them an influence on 

 our well-being and comfortable mainte- 

 nance for a week, or a month. Gambling 

 is a bad habit in the indiilfiious world, 

 where it teachss profufion, and interferes 

 with the naiural recompenfe of forccalf ; 

 but i; is allied to the military virtues, and 

 teaches felf-command, indiffetence about 

 to-morrow, independence of the accidents 

 of fortune, honour, Ipirit, and hopefui- 

 nels. To the general, who reprimanded 

 Leiling for his high play, he anfwcred, 

 thiit on the whole he ne.ther won nor loft. 

 Had I played low, he added, I flmuld 

 have been lefs attentive, and therefoie 

 probably a lofer ; it is cheapeft to play 

 high. 



The war had occafiored the difpeifion 

 and li\ie by au6tion of many private and 

 public coll.'ti'ons of books ; LrfTing 

 bought and fent to Berlin a confideiable 

 quantity. This library was the only per- 

 manent advaniaee he derived from his Hay 

 at Breilau, and his place of fecretaiy. 

 His income, or appoin ment, which was 

 liberal, he ufed very genercufly, afTilled 

 every n-:ember of his family wlio would 

 accept, hnt readily to his ii timates, gave 

 freely to the diitrefled, and oUen borrow- 

 ed for the fprvice of others. 



Whiilt at Ertflau, he re:id Spinoza with 

 imprff^ion, and has found fault with the 

 iupeificial analyfis and commentary of 

 Bayle: he alfo made fome antiquarian 

 memorandums concerning Andreas Scul- 

 tetus ; fer.t with e.igeinels to Ramler the 

 fcarce original editian of Logan; vifitcd 

 Arletius, and the learned ot the neigh- 

 bourhood ; fli>;tched his Faultus ; and 

 read fome early romances ; but in general 

 literary enter;;rize was pofiponed to difli- 

 parion, he made holiifay,' enjoyed himfelf 

 with military gentlemen in '.heir way, and 

 incurred a icrious, if not a dangerous, 

 difeafe. 



