The writing style in the body of the book is a lot looser than that in the quote from the Introduction that I've given below.
***
Author: Henry Mayhew (1812-1887)
Title: German Life and Manners; Saxony at the present day.
With an account of village life, town life, fashionable life, domestic life, married life, school, and university life &c, of Germany at the present time.
***
Volume one (of two), published in 1864
Source: https://archive.org/details/germanlifemanner01mayhuoft/page/n7/mode/2up
***
This book sprang out of certain inquiries into the early life of Martin Luther, which the author was desirous of instituting, and for the due prosecution of which it was necessary to visit the principal Lutheran localities - those romantic scenes in the stirring drama of the Reformation. .... Protracted residence in the country, however, afforded us an opportunity of studying the manners and social condition of the people among whom we had pitched our tent; and, as we had paid some little attention to the state of the poorer classes in our own land, we could not help contrasting the misery and squalor which we found to prevail on every side in Saxony, with the comparative comfort and decency of folk in the same grade of life in England. .... the Luther matter which we, at the outset, had intended should be the first, was becoming the last subject - or rather one of minor importance - in our consideration.