30 JUNE 1906, Page 42

English Furniture and Furniture Makers of the Eighteenth Century. By

R. S. Clouston. (Hurst and Blackett. 10s. 6d. net.)—We have no intention of reviewing the expert work which Mr. Clouston gives us in this volume. He does not, however, confine himself to his own subject. One of the most curious digression's that we have ever seen is to be found on pp. 46-52. Can any of our

readers guess how our author gets from chairs, tables, to the Roman controversy ? We will not leave them in suspense,—by the "Gothic Revival." We little thought when we opened this volume that we should learn from it that the doctrine of Purgatory is of Jewish origin, and that the payment for indulgences agrees in principle with fines in a Police Court. But about "Furniture and Furniture Makers" Mr. Clouston has every right to be heard.