"O, out upon
the man who claims, Almighty God, to be a preacher of Thy word, and yet
so impudently asserts that, in order to attain Thy purposes, there was
only one way in which it pleased _Thee_ to make _Thyself_ known to him!"
This is very far from _nur den einzigen Weg gehabt den Du Dir gefallen
lassen ihm kund zu machen!_ The _ihm_ is scornfully emphatic. We hope
Professor Evans will go over his version for a second edition much more
carefully than we have had any occasion to do. He has done an excellent
service to our literature, for which we heartily thank him, in choosing a
book of this kind to translate, and translating it so well. We would not
look such a gift horse too narrowly in the mouth.
Let us now endeavor to sum up the result of Lessing's life and labor with
what success we may.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was born (January 22, 1729) at Camenz, in Upper
Lusatia, the second child and eldest son of John Gottfried Lessing, a
Lutheran clergyman. Those who believe in the persistent qualities of
race, or the cumulative property of culture, will find something to their
purpose in his Saxon blood and his clerical and juristic ancestry. It is
worth mentioning, that his grandfather, in the thesis for his doctor's
degree, defended the right to entire freedom of religious belief.
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