Chancellor," said the Duke, as they returned to his house, "What! a Parish Clerk, a Parish Clerk! You dishonour the King and his office."" Nay!" said Sir Thomas, "you may not think your master and mine will be offended with me for serving God, his Master, or thereby count his office dishonoured." The morning after he had resigned the Great Seal he went to Chelsea church (it being a holiday) with his lady and family; where during Divine service he sat, as usual, in the quire, wearing a surplice; and because it had been a custom after mass was done for one of his gentlemen to go to his lady's pew, and say " My Lord is gone before," he came now, himself, and making a low bow, said, " Madam! my Lord is gone." She, thinking it to be no more than his usual humour, took no notice of it; but in the way home, to her great mortification, he unriddled the jest, by acquainting her with what he had done the preceding day. On the morning of the day in which he was summoned to Lambeth, for the purpose of taking the oath of supremacy, he went to his parish church, and there was confessed, and received the sacrament; and, whereas, whenever at other times before he parted from his wife and children, they used to bring him to his boat, and there kissing bid him farewell; at this time he suffered none of them to follow him to his gate, but pulled the wicket after him, and with a heavy heart, as by his countenance appeared, he took boat with his son Roper and their men; in which sitting sadly awhile, at last suddenly he said to his son Roper, "I thank our Lord, son! the field is won;" when his son answered at random, not knowing then his meaning, "I am very glad thereof."+ Some few particulars, descriptive of the simplicity with which this great man resided in the bosom of his family, may be gleaned from the various biographical accounts, and presented as an appendix to the statement of Erasmus. "He suffered The men abode on other, seldom con suffered none of his servants either to be idle or to give themselves to any games; but some of them he allotted to look to the garden, assigning to every one his sundry plot; some again he set to sing, some to play on the organ.* He suffered none to give themselves to cards or dice. one side of the house, the women on the versing together. It was his practice before bed-time to call together his whole household, and say certain prayers with them. He used to have one read daily at his table, which being ended he would ask of some of them how they understood such and such a place? and so then grant a friendly communication, recreating all men that were present with some jest or other." The love of method observable in these domestic regulations will scarcely be overlooked. On the attainder of Sir T. More, the King seized upon all his possessions, but afterwards granted to Lady More a pension of 201. per annum; and," in 1544, she had a grant of a house in Chelsea (formerly the property of her late husband, and then in the occupation of the rector) for the term of twenty-one years, paying a rent of 20s. per ann. Mr. Roper, who married Margaret, the favourite daughter of Sir Thomas, appears to have been a freeholder in this parish about the same time, according to the court rolls."† Contiguous to the site of Beaufort House, and probably on ground originally forming a part of Sir T. More's domain, is a mansion which Bowack says "is thought to have been built by Sir Theodore Mayerne." This celebrated physician died at • Sir Thomas More appears to have fondly cultivated music, not only as an auxiliary of religious worship, but as a mean of regulating the human passions. His second wife, the lady noticed in the above anecdotes was, according to the account given by her son-in-law, Roper, "of no good favour nor complexiou, her disposition very near and worldly." Sir Thomas endeavoured to soften the harshness of her temper by persuading her " to play upon the lute, viol, and some other instruments, every day performing thereon her task " + Lysons' Env. Vol. II. p. 56. at Chelsea in 1655, after residing for many years in the village. On the decease of Sir Theodore, the house became the property of the Earl of Lindsey, and was the seat of the widow of that nobleman when Bowack published his Antiquities of Middlesex. It was afterwards possessed by several noble families; and, about the year 1750, was purchased by Count Zinzendorf, an eminent bishop, or ordinary, of the people usually known by the name of Moravians. The Count intended to establish a settlement at Chelsea; but this project failed, and, in 1770, the house was sold by the society. The building now constitutes several respectable tenements, which bear the name of Lindsey Row. In one of these resides H. C. Jennings, Esq. who possesses a valuable collection of natural and artificial curiosities ; among which occur some fine minia tures, in enamel, of interesting historical characters. We have already mentioned some particulars connected with the manor of Chelsea, during the reigns of Edward the Confessor and William I. Not any circumstances relating to the descent of this manorial property, between the latter reign and the time of Henry VII. have sufficient interest to require notice in this page. In the reign of the seventh Henry, Sir Reginald Some notice of a burial ground belonging to the Moravians will occur in a subsequent page. + A collection of a more trifling character, which was formerly preserved in this village, demands brief notice ;-we allude to the collection of the far famed Don Saltero ! The coffee house named after this personage is situated in Cheyne Walk, and was first opened in 1695, by a man named Salter, who had lived in a servile capacity with Sir Hans Sloane, and had accompanied that gentleman in his travels. In the principal rooms Salter placed various "Alligators stuffed," snakes, butterflies, shells, medals, &c. the refuse of his former master's superb collections. His visitors occasionally added to this assortment, by presents; and the articles remained, as originally arranged, till 1799, when they were sold by public auction. Sit Richard Steele, in the Tatler, Number 34, has given a humourous description of "Don Saltero" and his assemblage of wonders. Reginald Bray, a man conspicuous for his active service to the crown, and whose skill in architecture is evident from the share he had in directing the buildings raised by Henry at Westminster and at Windsor, possessed the manor of Chelsea. From Sir Reginald it descended to his niece, who married William Lord Sandys, and this Lord gave it to King Henry VIII. Chelsea had shortly the honour of affording a retreat to Queen Katherine Parr, who possessed the manor, as a part of her jointure, and resided here with her last and ill-chosen husband, the Lord Admiral Seymour. The manor was subsequently the property of the Duke of Northumberland (beheaded for proclaiming, as Queen, his daughter-in-law, the Lady Jane Grey); of the Duchess of Somerset, widow of the Protector; of the Howard family; of James, Marquis (and afterwards Duke) Hamilton. Of the family of the latter nobleman the manor was purchased, in 1660, by Charles Cheyne, Esq. afterwards created Viscount Newhaven. Of William Lord Cheyne it was again purchased, in 1712, by Sir Hans Sloane; who dying in 1753, left two daughters, the elder married to Charles, second Lord Cadogan, and the younger to George Stanley, Esq. Charles Henry, the present Earl Cadogan, inherits one moiety of this manor. The other was left sisters, and is now the property of Sarah, the wife of Christopher Doiley, Esq. In the case of this lady dying without issue, the reversion of her moiety is vested in Earl Cadogan and his heirs.* by the late Hans Stanley, Esq. to his two The ancient manor house stood near the church, but on the northern side. It is believed that King Henry VIII. constructed the more recent manorial residence, which stood to the east of the spot now occupied by Winchester House, and is said to have been intended by the King as a nursery for his children. The history of this mansion involves some curious particulars. After the death of King Henry, the princess Lysons' Environs, &c, and Faulkner's History of Chelsea. + Dr. King's MSS. Elizabeth resided here for some time, under the care of Katherine Parr and her husband, the Lord Admiral. The turbu lence and ambition of Sir Thomas Seymour are well-known; and, certainly, few men in the court of Edward the sixth were less desirable as guardians over a youthful princess. It is said that he endeavoured, while Elizabeth was under his protection in this place and at Hanworth, to ingratiate himself into her affections; and those who insinuate that be afterwards poisoned Katherine Parr, do not scruple to suggest that he would have more promptly committed that act, if he could have hoped to gain the hand of Elizabeth by such a horrible transaction. His conduct in regard to the Princess was made, at the time of his downfal, one of the articles of accusation against him. The examinations of Katherine Aschyly, and others, are printed in the Burleigh papers; and assuredly, it appears from these that he had indulged in very indecorous familiarities with the illustrious lady placed under the care of his wife. But it will be seen, in our notice of Hanworth, that he practised the same freedom of conduct when the Queen was present, and that Katherine did indeed assist in the romping gambols between her husband and Elizabeth. Much, therefore, must be attributed to the coarsesens of the age; and it may be remarked that the man who entertained a sinister design was unlikely to be prodigal in blandishment before witnesses. Elizabeth was about fourteen years of age when she resided at Chelsea, Jane, Duchess of Northumberland, widow of the decapi tated Duke, died in this manor-house, at the beginning of the year 1555. Her very curious will," all written with her own hand, without the assistance of any learned in the laws,” directs that she shall be buried in a “coffyn of woode,” and in a very private manner; but the veneration of her survivors induced them to inter her remains with great funeral pomp. "Two Heralds attended the procession, with many mourners. There were six dozen of torches, and two white branches; and a canopy 1 |