The versatility of Sheraton in designing is far greater than that of Heppelwhite, and may be compared with Chippendale's. He far exceeds any of the furniture-book authors in literary skill, and the correctness of his principles peeps out in his advice to upholsterers. The Cabinet Dictionary contains some of his heaviest designs on its eighty-eight copper-plates, but the letterpress is often good. Under the article 1 Furnish,' we are told that- '.. In furnishing a good house for a person of rank it requires some taste and judgment, that each apartment may have such pieces as is most agreeable to the appropriate use of the room. And particular regard is to be paid to the quality of those who order a house to be furnished, when such order is left to the judgment of the upholsterers; and when any gentleman is so vain and ambitious as to order the furnishing of his house in a style superior to his fortune and rank, it will be prudent in an upholsterer, by some gentle hints, to direct his choice to a more moderate plan.'He descants at length on the proper kind of pictures to have, and the way to hang them. 'It is to be lamented that both the pictures and prints of some gentlemen are but too sure indications of their looseness of principle.'

'The large sideboard inclosed or surrounded with Ionic pillars ; the handsome and extensive dining-table; the respectable and substantial-looking chairs; the large face - glass; the family portraits; the marble fireplaces, and the Wilton carpet, are the furniture that should supply the dining-room.' 'Handsome,' 'respectable,' 'large,' all these perfectly appropriate epithets recall again that description by Jane Austen of the dining-room in Mansfield Park which sums it up so well.