Page:Poet Lore, volume 4, 1892.djvu/653

 battles of Trutnov, Skalice, Náchod, Jičin, and Podol, and many skirmishes and smaller engagements of the Austro-Prussian War.

“No less than forty-five thousand men were killed in seven days,” remarked my friend.

“On!” I exclaimed, and in a moment the scene was changed. Again I saw scenes of battles from the Polish Revolution and the Schleswig-Holstein War. Then followed the terrible battle of Pueblo, and scenes from the French invasion of Mexico, further on the internecine battle of Fredericksburg and a series of battles and skirmishes of the Civil War.

“The South-American wars,” my friend said, “took 519,000, the North American War 381,000 lives.”

“On!” I urged, and in a moment I saw the battle of Aspremonte, the capture of Palermo, the slaughters of Solferino, Magenta, and a number of smaller battles, then scenes of dread and shame from the Hindoo Revolution and equally bloody events of the Crimean War, from the last frightful attack on Sebastopol to the murderous battles of Balaklava and Inkerman.

“No less than 785,000 men was the cost of the Crimean War,” my friend commented coolly.

“On, on!” I exclaimed; and instantly there were passing before my eyes scenes of street barricades following Napoleon’s coup d'état, and scenes of dread and cruelty from the stormy years of 1849 and 1848, in a wonderful mass and all in reversed chronological order.

The battlefields were scattered all over Europe. I saw the camp at Vilagos, the defeats of the Magyars, the bombardment of Pesth, scenes from the Paris Revolution of June, the capture of Ofen by the Magyars, the defeats of the Italians, and scenes from the Milan Revolution.

I was going to speak; but my friend silenced me with a move of his hand.

Other defeats of the Magyars followed, then the taking and the siege of Vienna, scenes from the Viennese Revolution of October, from the Prague uprising of June and the bombardment of Prague by Windischgrätz, defeats of the Italians, scenes from the Paris