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THE RELICS OF GENERAL CHASSE
THE RELICS OF GENERAL CHASSE 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
as pleasing to his friends as were its internal comforts to himself.
He was a man of much quiet mirth full of polished wit and on some
rare occasions he could descend to the more noisy hilarity of a
joke. Loved by his friends he loved all the world. He had known no
care and seen no sorrow. Always intended for holy orders he had
entered them without a scruple and remained within their pale
without a regret. At twenty-four he had been a deacon at twenty-
seven a priest at thirty a rector and at thirty-five a prebendary;
and as his rectory was rich and his prebendal stall well paid the
Rev. Augustus Horne was called by all and called himself a happy
man. His stature was about six feet two and his corpulence
exceeded even those bounds which symmetry would have preferred as
being most perfectly compatible even with such a height. But
nevertheless Mr. Horne was a well-made man; his hands and feet were
small; his face was handsome frank and full of expression; his
bright eyes twinkled with humour; his finely-cut mouth disclosed two
marvellous rows of well-preserved ivory; and his slightly aquiline
nose was just such a projection as one would wish to see on the face
of a well-fed good-natured dignitary of the Church of England. When
I add to all this that the reverend gentleman was as generous as he
was rich--and the kind mother in whose arms he had been nurtured had
taken care that he should never want--I need hardly say that I was
blessed with a very pleasant travelling companion.
I must mention one more interesting particular. Mr. Horne was rather
inclined to dandyism in an innocent way. His clerical starched
neckcloth was always of the whitest his cambric handkerchief of the
finest his bands adorned with the broadest border; his sable suit
never degenerated to a rusty brown; it not only gave on all
occasions glossy evidence of freshness but also of the talent which
the artisan had displayed in turning out a well-dressed clergyman of
the Church of England. His hair was ever brushed with scrupulous
attention and showed in its regular waves the guardian care of each
separate bristle. And all this was done with that ease and grace
which should be the characteristics of a dignitary of the
established English Church.
I had accompanied Mr. Horne to the Rhine; and we had reached
Brussels on our return just at the close of that revolution which
ended in affording a throne to the son-in-law of George the Fourth.
At that moment General Chasse's name and fame were in every man's
mouth and like other curious admirers of the brave Mr. Horne
determined to devote two days to the scene of the late events at
Antwerp. Antwerp moreover possesses perhaps the finest spire and
certainly one of the three or four finest pictures in the world.
Of General Chasse of the cathedral and of the Rubens I had heard
much and was therefore well pleased that such should be his
resolution. This accomplished we were to return to Brussels; and
thence via Ghent Ostend and Dover I to complete my legal studies
in London and Mr. Horne to enjoy once more the peaceful retirement
of Ollerton rectory. As we were to be absent from Brussels but one
night we were enabled to indulge in the gratification of travelling
without our luggage. A small sac-de-nuit was prepared; brushes
combs razors strops a change of linen &c. &c. were carefully
put up; but our heavy baggage our coats waistcoats and other
wearing apparel were unnecessary. It was delightful to feel oneself
so light-handed. The reverend gentleman with my humble self by his
side left the portal of the Hotel de Belle Vue at 7 a.m. in good
humour with all the world. There were no railroads in those days;
but a cabriolet big enough to hold six persons with rope traces
and corresponding appendages deposited us at the Golden Fleece in
something less than six hours. The inward man was duly fortified
and we started for the castle.
It boots not here to describe the effects which gunpowder and grape-
shot had had on the walls of Antwerp. Let the curious in these
matters read the horrors of the siege of Troy or the history of
Jerusalem taken by Titus. The one may be found in Homer and the
other in Josephus. Or if they prefer doings of a later date there
is the taking of Sebastopol as narrated in the columns of the
"Times" newspaper. The accounts are equally true instructive and
intelligible. In the mean time allow the Rev. Augustus Horne and
myself to enter the private chambers of the renowned though defeated
general.
We rambled for a while through the covered way over the glacis and
along the counterscarp and listened to the guide as he detailed to
us in already accustomed words how the siege had gone. Then we
got into the private apartments of the general and having
dexterously shaken off our attendant wandered at large among the
deserted rooms.
"It is clear that no one ever comes here" said I.
"No" said the Rev. Augustus; "it seems not; and to tell the truth
I don't know why any one should come. The chambers in themselves
are not attractive."
What he said was true. They were plain ugly square unfurnished
rooms here a big one and there a little one as is usual in most
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Unpublished Work 
