Beggar'd by Fools, when still he found, too late,

He had his jest, and they had his estate."

This part of the Duke's estate was sold for the benefit of his creditors; and it shortly passed to George Digby, Earl of Bristol, who is said by Anthony Wood to have died at Chelsea, and to have been buried in the church, though no memorial of him is to be found in the Parish Register. His Lordship bequeathed his house at Chelsea to his widow; who, in the year 1682, sold it to Henry, Marquis of Worcester, created Duke of Beaufort in 1682, and who died in 1699. From this time it was known by the appellation of Beaufort House, and continued to be the occasional residence of the Beaufort family till about the year 1720.

After the mansion had stood empty for several years, it was purchased by Sir Hans Sloane; and, in the year 1740, it was pulled down, in pursuance of the directions of that gentleman. The chief gate, which was built by Inigo Jones for the Earl of Middlesex, Sir Hans Sloane gave to the Earl of Burlington, who removed it to his gardens at Chiswick.‡

The building, as it appeared in 1705, is thus described by Bowack :§ "This house is between two and three hundred feet in length; has a stately ancient front towards the Thames; also two spacious court-yards; and, behind it, are very fine gardens. It is so pleasantly situated that the late Queen (Mary) had a great desire to purchase it, before King William built

*Dryden's Absalom and Architophel.

+ Sir Hans Sloane, shortly after he purchased the estate, sold all the trees to the late Mr. Hallet of Cannons. Among these was an elm, above seventy feet high, called Queen Elizabeth's. See Gough's additions to Camden, Vol. II. p. 15. It may be added, from the information of Mr. Faulkner, that this elm was so entitled from having, according to tradition, afforded shelter to Elizabeth during a sudden storm.

See Article, Chiswick House.

§ Antiq. of Midd. p. 14.

built Kensington; but was prevented by some secret obstacles."

Having thus, with the aid of our more elaborate precursors, noticed the history of this celebrated mansion, and traced it through an almost unparalleled succession of eminent characters, it remains to state the result of our own investigations respecting the spot which the building occupied.

Beaufort House stood on the western side of the village, about midway between the bank of the Thames and the King's Road. A part of the site is now engrossed by the new way termed Beaufort Street, which proceeds nearly in a right line northwards from Battersea bridge. The building extended to the west of the street, and a portion of the cellars still remains beneath the house, number 17, forming one of the line of dwellings known by the name of Beaufort Row. This hidden fragment is the only remain of the edifice; but portions of the wall formerly surrounding the whole of the premises are yet to be seen, in nearly every direction; and they will be viewed with greater interest as they appear to be quite as antient as the original building, and were probably constructed by Sir Thomas More when he founded the mansion and laid out the grounds. The premises might, possibly, comprise about ten acres,* and reached quite down to the strand, or passage, on the margin of the Thames, now formed into a road for the transit of carriages. An avenue, with a high wall on each side, constituted the chief approach to the house, or that from the river side; and fronting the entrance of this avenue (a spot now occupied by the house of James Stephen, Esq.) were C 4 the

A district containing about 40 acres, situate to the north of the King's Road, and now termed Wharton Park, from Sir Michael Wharton, who afterwards possessed the property, was formerly a part of the Chelsea estate of Sir T. More, though separated from what may be termed the home domain.

the stairs used by Sir T. More when descending to his barge. A terrace walk stretched from the house towards the east, and is described in the legal writings of the estate as being so much raised that it was ascended by several steps.

A portion of the grounds is now occupied as a place of burial for the Moravian Society; and some parts of the building intended for a Moravian chapel, but now used as a school for gratuitous education on the Lancaster system, consist of remains of the stables formerly appertaining to Beaufort House. The greater part of the estate is held, for a lease of 99 years, under Lord Cadogan, by Mr. Long, of Chelsea, who has raised on the ground many dwellings of a moderate size, but of a very respectable description.

The most important circumstances in the life of Sir Thomas More are too well known to require repetition in this place. The elegance of his taste was evinced by his cultivating the society of the most judicious scholars of the age, men whose names add splendour to his own, by being so frequently men tioned in association with it. The anecdotes which we shall shortly submit, prove the amiable simplicity of his heart, and must ever be read with veneration by those capable of duly appreciating the correctness of judgment which caused him, in the plenitude of power, to prefer the indulgence of domestic affections to all the blandishments of courtly adulation. His judicial integrity was exemplary; and the deliberate firmness with which he embraced death, on a point of conscience, is a sufficient voucher for his strength of principle. The reader of the Utopia would cherish a persuasion that the author was a man disposed to profit by every new light thrown on an im portant topic; but, on the contrary, he was prepared to pronounce all innovation error, when it approached the tenets which he had been taught at an early period to approve. Thus is the lustre of this eminent person tarnished; and posterity sigh

These stairs are connected with several circumstances in the history of More. They were very ancient, but were rebuilt a few years back.

sigh over him as a bigot, though he expected to be reverenced as a martyr. We turn from this unpleasing instance of the prevalence of education and habit over native strength of mind, by adverting to the anecdotes connected with Sir Thomas More's Chelsea residence.

Erasmus, describing the Chancellor's domestic manners in this village, says, "There he converses with his wife, his son, his daughter-in-law, his three daughters and their husbands, with eleven grandchildren. There is not any man living so affectionate to his children as he; and he loveth his old wife as well as if she was a young maid. You would say there was in that place Plato's academy; but I do his house an injury in comparing it to Plato's academy, where there were only disputations of numbers and geometrical figures, and sometimes of moral virtues. I should rather call his house a school, or university of Christian Religion, for though there is none therein but readeth or studieth the liberal sciences, their special care is piety and virtue; there is no quarrelling or intemperate words heard; none seen idle; that worthy gentleman doth not govern with proud and lofty words, but with well-timed and courteous benevolence; every body performeth his duty, yet is there always alacrity; neither is sober mirth any thing wanting."

Erasmus was long the correspondent of Sir Thomas More before he was personally acquainted with his illustrious friend. When this great reformer and scholar visited England, he was the frequent guest of Sir Thomas, at Chelsea; and it redounds much to the honour of both that an harmonious intimacy should subsist between persons who were so strongly dissimilar in religious opinions.

The house of More was, indeed, the resort of all who were conspicuous for learning and taste. Lynacre, Collet, and Tunstall, often partook of the hospitality of his table, and strayed, in classical conversation, through the grounds now robbed of every shady recess, and incumbered with buildings, or lying

desolate

desolate and cheerless. In this mansion was the genius of Holbein first efficiently patronised. This celebrated painter resided for three years with Sir Thomas More, and was introduced by his protector to the notice of the King. More invited the Sovereign to Chelsea, and caused the best pictures then produced by Holbein, to be displayed to much advantage in the gallery of his house. When the King expressed admiration, Sir Thomas presented the painter; and Henry immediately took him into his service.

The capricious monarch to whom More owed his rise and fall, frequently visited him at Chelsea, and passed with him. whole days in the most familiar manner. "One day the King came unexpectedly and dined with him, and after dinner walked in his garden for the space of an hour, holding his arm about his neck." When the King was gone, More's son-in-law congratulated him on the high favour in which he stood with the sovereign. The Chancellor's answer shews the accurate judgment he had formed of his royal master's disposition :"I thank our Lord that I find his Grace my very good Lord indeed; and I believe he doth as singularly love me as any subject within this realm. However, son Roper, I may tell thee I have no cause to be proud on that account; for if my head would win him a castle in France, it should not fail to go off."

Sir Thomas usually attended Divine service at Chelsea church,† and very often assisted at the celebration of mass. The Duke of Norfolk coming one day to dine with him, during his chancellorship, found him in church, with a surplice on, and singing with the quire. "God's Body! my Lord Chancellor,"

*Roper's Life of Sir T. More.

Not contented with public ceremonies of devotion, or domestic prayer, he erected, "at a good distance from his mansion house, a pile, called the new building, which contained a chapel, a library, and a gallery, which he used for devotion, study, and retirement." Dr. King's MS, in the British Museum.