I had not yet seen the great cosmopolitan city,
and the brilliancy of its life dazzled me. The em-
pire was in the full flush of its existence, and many
of the crowned heads of Europe had gathered
there. It did not impress me as the capital of one
country, but as a great international city. Three
years later it was bombarded by its eastern neigh-
bor. All the nations of the earth had collected all
they could offer in this great tournament of indus-
try; so much that was wonderful, useful, or artis-
tic was brought together, that every observer must
have felt pride in the enormous progress of the
time in which he lived; and with this pride must
have been connected the hope that such develop-
ment of civilization would no more be threatened



"GROUND ARMS!" 233

by the brutality of destruction. All the guests of
the Emperor and Empress, kings, princes, and di-
plomatists, could not in the midst of accepted hos-
pitalities, festivities, and congratulations, expect
very shortly to exchange shots with their enter-
tainers. No; I breathed easily. This whole brill-
iant Exposition was to me the pledge of a new
era, the beginning of long, long years of peace.
At the most it could only be an attack of Mongo-
lian hordes which could make all these civilized
nations draw the sword; but against each other — it
was not to be thought of. My impressions were
deepened by the intelligence brought us of a favor-
ite plan of Napoleon III. — a general disarmament.
