Neither  neglect,  nor  any  slight  study  of  the  evidences
named  here  is  implied,  when  the  conclusion  that  "  Lessing
was  a  pantheist,"  is  firmly  rejected.  At  the  same  time,  no
attempt  is  made  to  show  that  the  opinions  expressed  in  his
various  theological  writings — to  a  large  extent  polemical —
are  consistent  with  one  another.  His  versatility  was  almost


CHAPTER   IV. — LESSING.  77

as  remarkable  as  the  clearness  of  his  intellect,  and  on  some
points  he  always  remained  an  inquirer,  as  he  confessed  even
in  his  later  years.  There  is  rest  in  pantheism,  though  it
may  be  the  repose  of  an  apathetic  despair ;  Lessing — it  is
sad  to  say  it — did  not  find  rest.  Though  he  was  the  son  of
a  pious  Lutheran  pastor,  who  translated  Tillotson's  sermons,
he  soon  turned  away  from  the  beaten  path  of  orthodoxy.
