THE RELICS OF GENERAL CHASSE--A TALE OF ANTWERP

by Anthony Trollope




That Belgium is now one of the European kingdoms, living by its own
laws, resting on its own bottom, with a king and court, palaces and
parliament of its own, is known to all the world. And a very nice
little kingdom it is; full of old towns, fine Flemish pictures, and
interesting Gothic churches. But in the memory of very many of us
who do not think ourselves old men, Belgium, as it is now called--in
those days it used to be Flanders and Brabant--was a part of
Holland; and it obtained its own independence by a revolution. In
that revolution the most important military step was the siege of
Antwerp, which was defended on the part of the Dutch by General
Chasse, with the utmost gallantry, but nevertheless ineffectually.

After the siege Antwerp became quite a show place; and among the
visitors who flocked there to talk of the gallant general, and to
see what remained of the great effort which he had made to defend
the place, were two Englishmen. One was the hero of this little
history; and the other was a young man of considerably less weight
in the world. The less I say of the latter the better; but it is
necessary that I should give some description of the former.

The Rev. Augustus Horne was, at the time of my narrative, a
beneficed clergyman of the Church of England. The profession which
he had graced sat easily on him. Its external marks and signs were