Justus Moser, a German author, born in Osnabriick, Dec. 14, 1720, died there, Jan. 8, 1794. He studied jurisprudence at Jena and Gottingen, and became government attorney in 1747; and for 20 years during the minority of the duke Frederick of York, who came into possession of Osnabriick in 1764, he was the principal adviser of the regent. He was afterward a judge. One of his most celebrated humorous works is his Harlekin, directed against pedants and hypocrites of all kinds. In his work on the German language and literature he attacks the Gallomania and infidelity of Frederick the Great; and in a letter addressed to Jean Jacques Rousseau he opposes the theories of that philosopher. His most important contribution to literature is his Osnabr'tickische Geschichte (2 vols., 1768; 3d ed., 1820; vol. iii. published from his literary remains by Herbert von Bar, 1824). His short essays, Pa-triotische Phantasien (4 vols., 1774-'86), relate to local subjects. A complete edition of his works was published by Abeken (10 vols., Berlin, 1842-'3).