"Leipzig is the place for me," says Frosch in the Auerbach Cellar Scene in _Faust_; "it is a little Paris, and gives its folks a finish."[17] The prevailing tone of Leipzig society was, in point of fact, deliberately imitated from the pattern set to Europe by the Court of France.

In contrast to the old-fashioned formality of Frankfort, the Leipziger aimed at a graceful _insouciance_ in social intercourse and light, cynical banter in the interchange of his ideas on every subject, trifling or serious.

In such a society all free, spontaneous expression of emotions or opinions was a mark of rusticity, as Goethe was not long in discovering.

The true Leipziger was, of course, a Gallio in religion, and Goethe, who, on leaving his father's house, had resolved to cut all connection with the Church, found no difficulty in carrying out his intention during his residence in the little Paris.

But, so far as Goethe was concerned, the most notable circumstance connected with Leipzig was that it had long been the literary centre of Germany.