ays, an agreeable
phenomenon there; more especially when he opened his lips for speech; on
which occasions the whole Coffee-house would hush itself into silence,
as if sure to hear something noteworthy. Nay, perhaps to hear a whole
series and river of the most memorable utterances; such as, when once
thawed, he would for hours indulge in, with fit audience: and the more
memorable, as issuing from a head apparently not more interested in
them, not more conscious of them, than is the sculptured stone head of
some public fountain, which through its brass mouth-tube emits water to
the worthy and the unworthy; careless whether it be for cooking
victuals or quenching conflagrations; indeed, maintains the same earnest
assiduous look, whether any water be flowing or not.

To the Editor of these sheets, as to a young enthusiastic Englishman,
however unworthy, Teufelsdrockh opened himself perhaps more than to the
most. Pity only that we could not then half guess his importance, and
scrutinize him with due power of vision! We enjoyed, what not three
men Weissnichtwo could boast of, a certain degree of access to the
Professor's private domicile. It was the attic floor of the highest
house in the Wahngasse; and might truly be called the pinnacle
of Weissnichtwo, for it rose sheer up above the contiguous roofs,
themselves rising from elevated ground. Moreover, with its windows it
looked towards all the four _Orte_ or as the Scotch say, and we ought to
say, _Airts_: the sitting room itself commanded three; another came to
view in the _Schlafgemach_ (bedroom) at the opposite end; to say nothing
of the kitchen, which offered two, as it were, _duplicates_, showing
nothing new. So that it was in fact the speculum or watch-tower of
Teufelsdrockh; wherefrom, sitting at ease he might see the whole
life-circulation of that considerable City; the streets and lanes of
which, with all their doing and driving (_Thun und Treiben_), were for
the most part visible there.

"I look down into all that wasp-nest or bee-hive," we have heard him
say, "and witness their wax-laying and honey-making, and poison-brewing,
and choking by sulphur. From the Palace esplanade, where music plays
while Serene Highness is pleased to eat his victuals, down to the
low lane, where in her door-sill the aged widow, knitting for a thin
livelihood sits to feel the afternoon sun, I see it all; for, except
Schlosskirche weather-cock, no biped stands so high. Couriers arrive