18.4. 4. New Effects of the Fertility and Barrenness of Countries.
The barrenness of the earth renders men industrious, sober, inured to
hardship, courageous, and fit for war; they are obliged to procure by
labour what the earth refuses to bestow spontaneously. The fertility of
a country gives ease, effeminacy, and a certain fondness for the
preservation of life. It has been remarked that the German troops raised
in those places where the peasants are rich, as, for instance, in
Saxony, are not so good as the others. Military laws may provide against
this inconvenience by a more severe discipline.