our wine. The inhabitants of the
wine countries have fewer singers of wine than those of the beer
countries; the latter sing of it, the former are fonder of drinking it.
It is as with songs of love; one sings of his mistress, seldom of his
wife.

The North and South German bear the same relation to each other as beer
and schnaps to wine, as bilberries to grapes, as butter and cheese to
roast and dessert, as mountains and levels, as leagues and miles. In the
south or wine land prevails a lighter, sprightlier, tone of intercourse;
in the land of beer and schnaps with its moist air, all seems more
dubious and measured; and thus the moment of enjoyment passes over. The
sex is livelier in the south and more complaisant, without on that
account being more wanton. In the south there is everywhere more nature,
in nature herself as in man, and most of all with the sex. In the north
more culture and art, in the south more natural capability, as well as
more nature and life.

The southern climate is softer, hence the wine; and the loose, light,
fruitful soil compensates for the high, bare mountains. In the south we
are more advanced in gardening, agriculture, tillage, and cattle-breeding.
The south is not only richer in towns, palaces, and gardens, but also in
excellently built villages of stone, and not of wood and earth. In the
north many such villages would be called towns. What a difference
between our cleanly cottages, and the filthy huts and half-stalls of the
north. The very waters in the south are clear, flowing, rustling; in the
north muddy, sneaking, stagnant. There the fountains gush spontaneously
from the rocks; here they must first be dug out of the earth. The south
extracts its treasures from the soil; the north more from commerce and
manufactures. There the national capital is more in the hands of the
nobility (the church) and the peasantry; here more in those of the
merchant and manufacturer. Prussia, Saxony, Hanover, &c. are more free
from debt than Austria, Bavaria, Wuertemberg, Baden, &c., because in the
former there is less feasting and revelry; but the latter countries in
themselves are richer, fuller of enjoyment. North Germany, in regard to
road police, post regulations, inns, meat, drink, and lodging--large
towns excepted--is in a state of semi-barbarism compared with the south.

Among all the North Germans the Saxon is the friendliest, distinguished
by culture, diligence, and high spirit of contentment.