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Relics Of General Chasse

In Tales of All Countries [First Series], 1861. Originally published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Feb. 1860

The Rev. Augustus Horne, on a holiday in Belgium, visited the former quarters of General Chasse the defeated leader at the siege of Antwerp, where one of the exhibits was a pair of the General’s enormous trousers. Mr. Horne, who was also a large man, in a spirit of mischief decided to we which man was the larger. Removing his own trousers, he was about to step into the General’s when a group of English women tourists was heard to approach. He hurriedly escaped into an adjoining room, leaving his own garment behind, which the women cut up for souvenirs.

Notes

"A foolish and laborious joke about trousers, staged in Antwerp and sadly reminiscent of Mrs. Trollope at her worst." -Sadleir