, a German satirist, was born in 1714, at Wachau, an estate and
, a German satirist,
was born in 1714, at Wachau, an estate and manor near
Leipsic, of which his father was lord. As he was educated
for the law, and was employed for the greatest part of his
life in public 'business, his literary performances must
have been the amusement of his leisure hours. He appeared first in print, in 1741, as an associate in a periodical work jentitled “Amusements of Wit and Reason,
”
to which some of the most eminent men of his age were
contributors, and among these Gellert, with whom he had
a lasting friendship. About this time, he was made comptroller of the taxes in the district of Leipsic, an office
which required constant attention, and obliged him to be
frequently riding from place to place; and on these journeys, as a relaxation from business of a very different kind,
he says, in one of his letters, all his satires were written.
He published four volumes of them, and in his preface to
the last, which is dated 1755, he professes his resolution
to publish no more during his life. This determination,
he says, is extorted from him by the multiplicity of business in which he is involved, by the impression which the
loss of his best friends had made on his mind, and by his
disgust at the impertinence of some of his readers; who,
though he had avoided every thing personal, were continually applying his general characters to individuals. He
had then been made secretary to the board of taxes at
Dresden, and was afterwards involved in the calamities
which that city suffered when besieged by the king of Prussia. During this siege, his house, his manuscripts, and alf
his property, were destroyed; which misfortune he bore
with a temper of mind truly philosophical and his letters
on this occasion, which were afterwards published without
his knowledge, show that it did not deprive him of his
usual cheerfulness nor did this disposition deject him even
in his last illness. He died of an apoplexy in March 1771.
He is represented by his biographer Weiss, as an amiable
and virtuous man, strict in his own conduct, but indulgent
to that of others. He had a deep sense of religion, which
he could not bear to hear ridiculed: and whenever any
thing of this kind was attempted in his presence, he generally punished the scoffer with such sarcastic raillery as
rendered him an object of contempt. He was remarkably
temperate, though very fond of lively and cheerful conversation, in which he excelled; but he never would accept
of any invitation which he thought was given with a view
to exhibit him as a man of wit, and he was averse to all
compliments paid to him as such; he knew how to preserve
the respect due to him even while he promoted mirth and
conviviality, for he never suffered these qualities to exceed
the bounds of virtue and decency.