Evening star., 1934-02-17
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.

Houses, like persons, as the anti
quarian knows. have a history; and
the greatest house at Chelsey," built
by Sir Thomas More in 1920, and de-
molished by Sir Hans Sloane In 1740,
certainly left legend romantic and
meanful enough ''to point q moral or
adorn a tale" It was one of the most
widely celebrated mansions In Europe,
and its design has had a permanent
influence upon modern residential
architecture.
Randall Davies In 1914 carefully
excavated a vast quantity Of data
about the place, and the book which
he wrote to guarantee the preservation
Of his materials is a fascinating vol
ume. THAT so fair an inheritance
should but twice during two centuries
have descended from father TO son,
and should have changed owners no
less than l3 times, Is enough to make
its history worth inquiring into" Itx
possessors, excluding More and Sloane,
were the first and second Mar
quises Of Winchester, Lord and
Lady Dacre, Lord Burghley, Sir
Robert Cecil, the Earl Of Lincoln, Sir
Arthur Gorges, the Earl of MiddleSex,
the great Duke Of Buckingham, the
younger Duke of Buckingham, the
Earl Of Bristol and the Duke of Beau
fort. The distinction Of the establish
ment may be estimated from the no.
liability of the individuals listed-it
was an appropriate and fitting shelter
for men eminent of birth and famous
for talent.
Chronicled by Erasmus.
But all that Davies could find Of the
structure itself was a fragment of six
teenth century brickwork at the south
ern end OF the Moravian burying
ground between Beaufort street and
Milman's Row In London which now
spells "Chelsey" as Chelsea"
The philosopher Erasmus was the
first to chronicle the original struc-
lures existence. More" he said in
a private letter still available, hath
built near London upon the Thames
side commodious house, neither
mean nor subject to envy, yet mag
ni1cent enough; there he converseth
with his family, his wife, his son and
daughter-in-law, his three daughters
and their husbands, with IL grand
children. There is not any man 50
loving TO his children as he; and he
loveth his old wife as well as il she
were a young maid; and such is the
excellency OF his temper that what
soever happeneth that could not be
helped, he loveth 1t as If nothing
could happen more happily. You
would say there were in that place
Plato's Academy; but I do the house
injury in comparing it to Plato's
Academy wherein there was only dis
putations of numbers and geometrica]
figures, and sometimes of moral vtr-
tues. should rather call this house
school or university Of Christian
religion; for there is none therein
but readeth or studieth the liberal
sciences"
Hans Holbein, the artist, found the
atmosphere the same when he was
summoned to execute the portraits
Of the scholarly inhabitants. Ellis
Haywood likewise bore similar testi.
mony when. in 1855. he wrote: 1T
was beautiful and commodious resi-
dence. AT this house, as well on &C.
count Of its proximity to London, as
on account Of the admirable charac-
ter OF its owner, men distinguished
by their genius and learning, who
dwelt in the city, were often ac-
customed to meet; where, when alone
and at leisure, they would enter into
some useful argument or discourse
on things pertaining to human nature
and each using in the best manner
his intellect and extensive knowledge,
their arguments were attended with