Page:Poet Lore, volume 4, 1892.djvu/654

 Revolution of February and the first stormy scenes from the revolutionary movements in Italy.

“And is it possible to count the victims of all these wars and battles?” my friend asked when these images had disappeared, and for a short time I beheld only quiet scenes of peace.

“Let us go on!” I urge, and soon I gaze upon scenes from the Polish Revolution of 1846, and after a pause, various scenes from the uprising of republicans in Paris, Toulon, and Grenoble in 1834, the capture of Warsaw by the Russian army in 1831, the Dresden tumults, and the battle of Ostrolenka.

While looking at this horrible fratricidal battle of the Slavs, I asked,—

“How far are we from the earth?”

“About 46,000,000,000 miles,” was his answer.

Thereupon I saw scenes from the Parisian Revolution of July, the taking of Erivan by Paskievich, and the bloody battle of Missolonghi; then followed various scenes from the wars of independence on the Balkan Peninsula.

After a long pause again I saw a terrible battle.

“How far are we from the earth now?” I inquired.

“About 68,000,000,000 miles,” said my friend; “you have just seen the battle of Waterloo.”

While my friend was continuing his short explanations, I viewed the three days’ carnage of Leipzig, the battles of Montmartre and Kulm, the remnant of the French army crossing the Berezina, the conflagration of Moscow, the battle of Borodino, the battle of Aspern, scenes from the revolutions of Peru and Mexico, and again scenes from Napoleon’s wars, the slaughter of Austerlitz, and the magnificent naval battle of Trafalgar.

“Is it possible to tell the number of the victims of the ambition of one despot,—Napoleon?” my friend asked.

I did not answer.

We sped on. I saw the taking of Praga by Suvarov, the fratricidal battle of Maciejovice, where Kosciusko fell down wounded with the exclamation, “Finis Poloniæ!” Then came the bloody scenes of the great French Revolution, of the Polish insurrection, of the wars with the Turks; scenes from the American War of Inde-