Lavater, Johann Caspar--1741-1801--minister in his native town, Zuric;

son of a furrier, early destined for the Church by his pious mother. He was minister at Koban, in Fürstenthum Glogau, but his bad health obliged him to resign his appointment, and he spent the last thirteen years of his life at Lissa. Being much tried during the horrors of the Thirty years' war, in which he several times almost miraculously escaped being murdered, his mind became more spiritually enlightened through his bodily sufferings, in the midst of which he wrote the greater number of his hymns, which are a true picture of his pious, humble, and prayerful soul. He dedicated them "Seinen lieben Kindern" (to his dear children).

who, with many infirmities and peculiarities, was an active and sincere Christian, and a talented orator, writer, and sacred poet. He died, after having performed the most blessed actions, and having been tried with many afflicitons, which he bore with piety and constancy, in consequence of a fatal shot, which a French soldier maliciously aimed at him, after the storming of Zuric in 1799, as he was consoling and administering to the wants of the sufferers, in the streets. His hymns are numerous, and have been repeatedly printed.