Having fresh in our memory the standard attained by the British furnisher and decorator during the reign of the Georges, it is difficult to write in terms of moderation of English furniture as it was during the latter part of the first half of the nineteenth century - the early Victorian period if the subject is to be discussed purely from the artistic point of view; and it is that aspect of the question which must now be kept before us. Comparisons are notoriously odious; but in many circumstances they are not altogether to be evaded; and as it is one of the chief objects of this book to indulge in them, we must be prepared to put up with the consequences, whatever they may chance to be.

At the present stage of our studies, those that must be instituted will not prove in any degree comforting.

The preceding century, as we have seen, had been by far the brightest and most notable in the history of the house-furnishing industries of this country. At its close, the tasteful, and, in not a few instances, beautiful creations of the "Heppelwhite" and "Sheraton" schools were at the height of their popularity, which they retained far into the reign of George the Fourth, and even later. Before the nineteenth century was out of its infancy, however, the personal influence of the founders of those styles was removed; and to improve upon their work, or even merely to perpetuate such traditions as had been created by them, was a task the fulfilment of which required the presence of a man, or men, of similar calibre. Refinement reigned supreme in the homes of the upper and middle classes; and it might reasonably have been imagined, as doubtless many did imagine and hope, that crudity and ugliness had been banished from them for ever, and that good taste had at last taken up its abode in our midst. But was it so?

Furniture designers of a sort were, of course, not wanting, and while such as there were remained content to follow in the footsteps of their great forerunners all went well. Unfortunately, as we shall see, they, in their turn, became tired of prevailing styles, and on the part of the public the old Athenian cry for "some new thing" once more broke forth, and had to be answered. (I have advisedly used the word "unfortunately," as will presently be seen.) That discontent with the slavish and persistent following of old familiar lines, and the consequent desire to improve upon them, are in any respect to be condemned I should be the very last to suggest; but when those who undertake the task of improvement are quite incapable of successfully carrying it through, nothing but disaster can ensue; and, under such conditions, it is far better to let well alone. This was the state of affairs at the time of which I am now writing.

With Heppelwhite gone, Sheraton was practically the last of the "Old Guard" left to aid in sustaining the traditions which he had done so much to create; but the task that now devolved upon him was far too heavy for the poor old master in his declining years. His brain was failing; his hand had quite lost its cunning; and he himself, even, commenced to perpetrate absurdities, and produce designs which he would certainly never have dreamed of countenancing in his earlier days, and when in possession of all his faculties.

A crying and imperative need, then, existed for a worthy successor to these highly-gifted designers and craftsmen, but we may look for him in vain throughout the earlier years of the nineteenth century. The man was not forthcoming, and pigmies had stepped into the places that had been the vantage points, not so many years before, of veritable giants. What then occurred?

With our English versions of the "Louis-Quinze" and "Louis-Seize" before them, these designers deemed it desirable to make a change of some kind; at the same time, they were afraid to draw upon their own store of originality in order to bring the desired change about. If the truth must be told, so far as originality went the fund they did happen to possess was so infinitesimally small as to be practically non-existent. Whether they recognised that fact or not I am unable to say, but certain it is that they came to the conclusion that it would be as well for them to do as their predecessors had done, and continue to draw upon the French for inspiration, particularly as the "French" was still notably in favour in this country. But they failed to appreciate the fact that there is an art even in successful adapta-, tion; an art, moreover, which it is not given to every one to master. Still, to France they went boldly for their ideas.

Many changes had taken place in that country too. There, also, the spirit of unrest had been actively at work; the "Louis-Seize" in politics and the "Louis-Seize" in art were already regarded as things of the past, and everything calculated to bring them back to mind was relegated, so far as possible, to the limbo of forgotten things. The chaste elegance by which the Monarchy had been surrounded until the very last, with its multitudinous suggestions of pastoral delights and amorous dalliance, was banished from the court, where, once again, emblems of military glory were furbished up by the French designer to win the approbation of the new ruler.

To the "Empire," therefore, the designers and manufacturers of English cabinet work of this epoch turned for inspiration, and in doing so they came sadly to grief. It is not at all necessary for me to recapitulate the leading characteristics of the "Empire," for to do so would occupy too great space, on the one hand, and, on the other, they are to be found fully set out in the chapter devoted to the consideration of the work of that period. Bearing in mind what he has recently studied on that subject, the reader will naturally wonder why it was that the English rendering was such a complete failure when the parent style was far from being so. There are several reasons to account for this, and I may explain briefly why so little success attended the efforts put forth by our own designers to transplant the "Empire" into British soil at the time of which I am writing. In the first place, the conditions prevailing in each country were essentially different. France was rendered almost mad with triumph by the many conquests added to her scroll of fame under the leadership of "The Little Corporal"; her children had little mind for anything beside military glory. It followed, as a matter of course that the existence of such a condition of affairs should, in some measure at least, be indicated by the tastes of the people, and revealed in the character of the decoration and furniture with which they elected to surround themselves; and so it was, as we have seen.