At Esher the fallen Cardinal Wolsey lived awhile when Providence frowned upon him--and for Providence in this connection read Henry VIII., who filled that position towards the great prelate, with great _éclat_ and an altogether overwhelming success. When the king commanded Wolsey to retire hither, the Cardinal lived in the old building of Esher Place, whose only remains are seen at this day in the Gatehouse standing in the damp and watery meadows beside the Mole. He found the place little to his liking, and displayed his sorrows in a letter to Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, wherein he complains of the "moist and corrupt air." That he was quite in a position to appreciate the dampness of his residence, we may well believe when we read that he was "without beds, sheets, table-cloths, or dishes"; and that he presently "fell sore sick that he was likely to die" creates, under the circumstances, no surprise. The place of Wolsey's compulsory retirement was almost completely destroyed when the modern mansion of Esher Place was built, and the chief historic house of Esher is now Claremont. XII Claremont is a house of sad memories, destined, so it might seem to the superstitious, to witness a succession of tragedies and sorrows. Neither the house nor the estate are of any considerable age; the estate originating in a fancy of Sir John Vanbrugh,--that professional architect and amateur dramatist of Queen Anne's time,--for a suburban retreat. He purchased some land at Esher, between the village and the common, and, foregoing his usual ponderous style of piling up huge masses of stone and brickwork, put up quite a small and unpretentious brick house upon it. Sir John Vanbrugh died in 1726, and posterity seems still in doubt as to whether he excelled in writing comedies or in designing ponderous palaces of the type of Blenheim and Castle Howard. Certainly his writings are as light as his buildings heavy, and though a wit might justly compose an epitaph for him as an architect, "Lie heavy on him, Earth, for he Laid many a heavy load on thee," the application can extend no further. [Illustration: Ruins of Wolsey's Palace Esher]