I so J. 



Afemcin of Gotthold Ephrairti Lejfingt 



41 



difeafe. While at the word, a friend, 

 who {\x. by his bed- fide, obferving on his 

 countenance a fignificant thoughtful ex- 

 preflion, afkcd if he had aught to com- 

 municate. No, faid Lefling, but I was 

 etideavouiing to ohferve what change the 

 mind undergoes at th-; approach of death; 

 it Teems to me that the art of remember- 

 ing decays more than the power of think- 

 ing. 



In 1762 LcfTing had to accompany his 

 general to the blocli.ide of Schweidnitz ; 

 and in 1763, after the peace, he was in- 

 troduced to the King at Potldam. No- 

 thing remarkable is recorded of the inter- 

 view; yet it leems to have chilled his 

 hopes of promc'ion; for he faid of -the 

 King. Dai paullutum, ut multum faciant. 

 He rciunifed, in 1765, his refidciice at 

 Beilin, anrl reverted, fomewhat flowly, to 

 J. eraiy occupation. 



Minna Von Barnhirlm, the bcft of his 

 comedies, luccelifiilly Engliihed under ihe 

 title L <ve and Honour, was the ^Irft con- 

 fpicuous effjrt of his pcfn aft^r this long 

 nlaxation. It was printed in 17(jV, and 

 ailed in 1768; but it was compoled and 

 fhewn about in manulcript prior to iu's 

 Ltoccon, a 'iflertstion on the limits of 

 poetry and painting, which was pubh(hed 

 in 1766. At the dole of that yeai he 

 accompanied M.ijur Brenker.hof tj Pyr- 

 niont, and thence went to Hamburg, at 

 the invitation oi a ibciety of theatrical di- 

 lettaiiri, who \\-\A pwrcha'efi the plavho;i(e 

 theie by iiil)lti ip'. ion, and wj(hcd, through 

 LefTing's adviie, to rcrtllzc a cliilicsl 

 theatre. Whether he took a pioprietoi's 

 ftiarc, or whether his jouiOey to Pymiont 

 had exhiufttd his lelources, it isccitain 

 that he rrmi vrd only a fclecl porii.n of his 

 gitit iibiary toH.tnihurg, i-ind ordered the 

 remriiiuier to he (old by au'lioii in the 

 fmingof 1767, at Berlin, where he ftaid 

 Se lime nectliary to break up his tcono- 

 /y, and publJh h^s Minna. On his re- 

 tiuri to Hunhug the Iccres had betn 

 fliiiitd. Among ihcie viituolb mauHgcrs 

 it was H'lt fiidiccnily iin;ier!tood who "as 

 to be liic priitictl d.r>6ror. There were 

 intflledlnal ftilions lor the choice of iia- 

 fedies and farces, and a.iib'tious compe- 

 titions for the pitiuiage of aifcrs and 

 inuficians. LefTing undenook his own 

 department with I'piri', and publiflied a 

 weekly paper, entitled the Hamburg 

 Dramatiiigy, of which each numiier was 

 to contain a critique of (ome one night's 

 rrpre(t:ntation of the preceriing week. He 

 piojeifed to examine the merit of the p let 

 in the plan and execution of his drama, of 

 the actors in tlieu- performance of it, and 



Monthly Mag. No. ^%^. 



of the managers in the appropriate de- 

 coration of the perfonages and apartments 

 exhibited; but the tw 1 latter portions 

 were dropped, from the forenefs and irri- 

 tation which they occafioned. Thefe 

 papers were continued until April, 1768 ; 

 they h^ve been co!le6fed in two volumes, 

 and include a mafs of permanently Valua- 

 ble dramatic criticifm. 



Lefling, who was very fpeculative, fuf- 

 fered himf If to be perfuaded to take a 

 fliare in a printing ofHce with Bode; but 

 this partutrfliip wasdiflT'lved by common 

 confent in February, i76(). The ufe of 

 an author in a piintinL'-firm is to appre- 

 ciate the m3nufcrij)t cftcred for impref- 

 (ion ; and for tliis department no man 

 could be better qualified than lb piaflifed 

 a reviewer, fo all-read an erulite, ib pe- 

 netrating a thinker as LefTuig. But 

 oher cares fecm to have been expedfed, 

 fir which he had neither talent, nor in- 

 duirry, nor inclination. 



An author of the rame of K'otz had 

 reviewed Laococn, in a mortilying man- 

 ner ; Lefilng publifhed an anti-critique, 

 in which he bears rather hard on poor 

 Klotz, who had wiitten aifo a book on 

 ilie ftudy of antit|uities. The controverfy 

 excited at the time much inteieft in Ger- 

 many; but theie author-brfitings are little 

 hceiicd afterwards, or elll-where. ' By 

 balking ar Lcfiing, Klo'.z drew a vulgar 

 notice, but was foon cudgelled into hclp- 

 leisiicls. 



At Hamburg Leifug bectjtne a Free- 

 maibn, prob.rbly bec-iufe the lodge paffld 

 for a pUaiant ciub. Well, laid the gen- 

 tlc.Tian who introduced him, you have 

 found nothing in our Ibciety againft the 

 chuich or I he (fate, have you ? Woul.1 xn 

 C;.)d I had, aiifwero:d Lefiing, I fliould 

 th.ii at lea(t have found fomejhing. Per- 

 haps thi.5 initiation was preparatory to a 

 journey, which Leiliiig wiftie'l to uiider- 

 ttike in Italy; traveller-; are laid to find a 

 convenience in being Free-mafons, and ta 

 obtain, by means of ckirom^ncy, or other 

 Iccrct ligr.s, immediate accei'- to decent 

 coii-.p^ny i« rtringe pb.cjs. The feleil 

 rrmsiiis of Leffing's library were adver- 

 tized to be (old in 1769: he had an- 

 nounced a determination to Ipend a year 

 in R )me, and to write concerning its an- 

 tiquities; but after dilchargiiig his va- 

 rious debts there was fcrcely enough left 

 for fublilience during a tingle eamlefs 

 year. It is in moments of this -kind that 

 one reco!le(5is, witli due admiration, the 

 proceeding of the Emprefs C.it.ierine of 

 RufTia toward Diderot. She purchifed 

 bii hbrary lor an annuity, and left him 

 F the 



