The old carpenter-made "carcases," he argued, needed "dressing-up" with carving or something, in order that they might be rendered presentable; but his perfect panelling, close joints, and clean mouldings wanted nothing of the kind; they were beautiful in themselves, and so called for no extraneous embellishment. As a result of this reasoning, and it was reasoning based on a solid foundation of actual fact, furniture of the class represented by Fig. 4, Plate II.; Fig. 7, Plate III.; Fig. 4, Plate V.; Fig. 8, Plate VI., and the side-table on Plate VII. began to make its appearance. With it we advance well into the Cromwellian period, when the cabinet maker had already come to the conclusion that he was able to stand alone, and to dispense almost entirely with the services of his erstwhile predominant partner. Formerly he supplied the knights of the chisel and gouge with what was but little more than a foundation for the exercise of their craft; but the tables were turned, and in the end it came to pass that the carver had to come to him for orders for panels and other detail.

It is, of course, impossible to say with certainty that the rigid austerity which characterised the views of the Puritans concerning all mundane matters directly influenced the style and design of the domestic furnishings of England during the Protectorate, but it is indisputable that, at that period, simple and even severe forms came into vogue, suggestive rather of the sober garb and habits of the followers of Cromwell than of the feathers and furbelows of the adherents to the cause of "The Merry Monarch." It may have chanced that all this was merely an accidental coincidence, consequent upon the development in the craft of the cabinet maker to which I have referred having come about at a time when the views of the people were "sobering down," or perhaps it would be more correct to say, when the views of the more "sober" section of the community found a voice and made themselves heard. This is the unromantic and matter-of-fact explanation which will inevitably be advanced by many; but I prefer rather to regard this change in the character of the furnishings of the homes of the people as a definite and most powerful demonstration of the reasonableness of my pet theory, that the political and social conditions of the people of all ages are reflected, to a greater or less degree, in the domestic environments of the times. But that I must leave for the reader to decide for himself, lest the clatter of the hoofs and the jingle of my hobby-horse's bells get on his nerves.

Jacobean Settle of the Cromwellian Period (See pages 49, 50, 51 for reference)

Leaving undecided, therefore, the question of the underlying causes of the simplicity of Cromwellian cabinet work, we must accept the presence of that simplicity as an irrefutable fact, and proceed to make ourselves acquainted with the character of the forms which it eventually assumed, and which remained popular even long after the Restoration. A better type than that presented in the chest Fig. 7, Plate III., could not be found for the purpose of illustrating this. In it we have cabinet work of the very best kind, as distinguished from carved carpentry; and here we see, too, that there can be positive beauty in comparative simplicity. The proportions are admirable, and what little enrichment there is is of the simplest, consisting only of inlaid lines of holly or boxwood - I am not sure which; lines of bead-like carving, and mitred mouldings.

Jacobean." VIII. Plate 15

Reference in Text. See pages 66, 67

The mention of this last feature reminds me of the fact that it was at this period that the moulding itself commenced to play an important part as a decorative element in cabinet work. This, I think, may be accounted for by the spirit of emulation created by the striking examples which came from the cabinet makers of the Netherlands. It cannot be regarded as surprising that we should have adopted some Dutch and Flemish ideas at this time, if we recall the intimate connection between our own country and Holland; the sojourn of the exiled king at Bruges, Brussels, and the Hague; the events which led up to the declaration of war against Holland in 1663, followed by the Dutch invasion of the Medway; the treaty of Nimeguen; and, finally, the arrival of a Dutch ruler to take the reins of Government. But upon this fresh phase of affairs I must dilate in my next chapter, only pointing out here in passing that, so far as cabinet work is concerned, the Flemish or Dutch influence is very clearly to be traced in Fig. 4, Plate I.; Fig. 7, Plate III.; in the linen press, Fig. 4, Plate V. (most probably actually of Dutch manufacture); Fig. 8, Plate VI.; and the side table, again, Plate VII.

Jacobean Chair of the Crom-wellian Period (See pages 49, 50, 51 for reference)

Before leaving the consideration of "Jacobean" cabinet work I would draw the attention of the reader to the improvement that steadily grew in the character of the turning introduced - as, for example, in Fig. 4, Plate II., Fig. 5, Plate III., Fig. 4, Plate V., and the side-table, Plate VII. But turning is a feature that may be studied to greater advantage in the chairs of the time, and they must constitute the subject of our next deliberations.

An examination of late "Elizabethan" and early "Jacobean" chairs of every kind leads us irresistibly to the conclusion that the days when they were in fashion must have been a veritable harvest-time for the timber merchants; for, if we take their weight alone into consideration, almost any one of them when put into the scale would bring down the beam against three or four of its twentieth-century successors. It was evidently a generally accepted belief in those days that sturdiness - one might almost say "clumsiness" - was inseparable from strength; and just as the most notable deeds of old are associated in our minds with grizzled heroes of rough exterior and well-knit frame, so our forefathers of the seventeenth century liked to have as much weight and bulk of timber as could reasonably be secured in those articles which were destined to bear the brunt of the roughest usage.