Claudius, Matthias, the son of a Lutheran
Pastor, was born at Reinfeld, near Lubeck,
August 15, 1740. He entered the university
at Jena in 1759 as a student of theology,
but later turned to law and literature.
While residing at Darmstadt he associated
with a circle of freethinking philosophers,
but a severe sickness caused him to return
to the faith of his childhood. He did not
intentionally write hymns for the Church,
but much of his poetry is Christian in spirit
and a few pieces have been utilized as
hymns. He died at Hamburg January 21, 1815.
|We plow the fields and scatter