ABSTRACT
There are thousands of countrymen in London, and none of them ever think of going back to Germany. A mature consideration of the London houses shows that the strength of the fortification is in exact proportion to the elegance and value of the house and its contents. Every class of society announces itself at the gate of the fortress by means of the rhythm of the knocker. Sacred silence surrounds the reader – the silence of peace, of domestic comfort, doubly agreeable after a few hours’ walk with the giddy turmoil of street life. The small space between the street-door and the stairs, hardly sufficient in length and breadth to deserve the pompous name of a “hall,” is usually furnished with a couple of mahogany chairs, or, in wealthier houses, with flower-pots, statuettes, and now and then a sixth or seventh-rate picture.
