On July 6, 1778, the Duke of Brunswick withdraws Lessing’s privilege of freedom from censorship “in religious matters” (Aug 17, 1778; B 12, 187), forcing him to put his public dispute with Goeze to rest. Lessing continues the debate with other weapons: The dramatic poem about Nathan the Wise, to quote Friedrich Schlegel, is his “‘Anti-Goeze’, no. twelve” (St, 183).