versary. The archaeological studies that it necessitated had awakened
afresh Lessing's artistic interests and provoked the charming little
essay, 'How the Ancients represented Death,' that starting as a polemic
against Klotz, ended in becoming a finished and exquisite whole.

About this time (1772) Lessing received encouragement from Vienna to
settle in the Austrian dominions, but as the offers concerned the
theatre he declined compliance, still feeling sore from his late
experiences. The old desire to visit Italy was once more uppermost, his
restless activity had exhausted the slender intellectual resources of
Hamburg. But he was once more hampered by money difficulties. He
vacillated for a while between remaining and leaving, and finally
accepted an appointment at the Brunswick Court as librarian of the
Wolfenbuettel Library, with the proviso that this appointment should not
permanently interfere with his projected Italian journey. His salary
was to be 600 thalers, with an official residence; his duties were
undefined. The Duke, who recognised Lessing's eminence, wished to
attach him to his Court, and desired that Lessing should use the
library for his personal convenience rather than as its custodian. The
post promised well, though Lessing entered on it with reluctance; his
love of freedom causing him at any time to shrink from any definite
appointment. He loved, as he himself expressed it, to be like the
sparrow on the housetops, but considerations hitherto unknown
contributed to induce him to seek a settled post and establish his
affairs on a more permanent basis than heretofore. The wish to marry
had become awakened in him at the mature age of forty; he had made the
acquaintance in Hamburg of a Madame Koenig, a widow, the first woman
who had seriously roused his interest. Business complications of her
late husband's and the charge of a family made union impossible for
some little time, but Lessing had not been long at Wolfenbuettel before
a formal engagement was entered upon whose ultimate fulfilment it was
confidently expected would not be too long deferred. It was deferred,
however, for the space of six years--years that were the weariest and
saddest in Lessing's life, and mark the only time when his healthful
optimism, his sanguine cheerfulness broke into complaint and yielded to
depression of mind. Physical causes were at work as well as mental.
Wolfenbuettel was an old deserted capital, devoid of society, and