813. The Germans in the spiritual world.
It is well known that the inhabitants of any kingdom which is divided into several provinces differ in character, and show as much variation individually as those who live in different parts of the world do on the general scale. None the less there is a character shared by those who are subjects of one king and therefore share a common legal system. Germany is much more divided into a number of regions than the surrounding kingdoms. There is an Empire there under the control of which all come; but there is also a prince in each region who has absolute power in his own territory. For the country is divided into major and minor duchies, and each prince is a sort of monarch in his own region. Moreover, they are divided in religion. Some duchies contain Evangelicals, as they call themselves, some have Reformed churches, some Roman Catholics. Such diversity of control and religion makes it more difficult to describe the Germans' minds, inclinations and way of life from sights seen in the spiritual world than in the case of nations and peoples elsewhere. But since peoples of the same language everywhere share a single character, it can to some extent be seen and described by pooling their ideas.
