And would fain send us, with some paltry sum
Of money, home again to our old forests.
No, no! my Lord Duke! no!-it never was
For Judas' pay, for chinking gold and silver,
That we did leave our King by the Great Stone.*
No, not for gold and silver have there bled
So many of our Swedish Nobles-neither
Will we, with empty laurels for our payment,
Hoist sail for our own country. Citizens
Will we remain upon the soil, the which
Our Monarch conquer'd for himself, and died.

WALLENSTEIN.

Help to keep down the common enemy,
And the fair border-land must needs be yours.

WRANGEL.

But when the common enemy lies vanquish'd,
Who knits together our new friendship then?
We know, Duke Friedland. though perhaps the Swede
Ought not t have known it, that you carry on
Secret negotiations with the Saxons.
Who is our warranty, that we are not
The sacrifices in those articles

Which 'tis thought needful to conceal from us?
WALLENSTEIN (rises).

Think you of something better, Gustave Wrangel!
Of Prague no more.

WRANGEL.

Here my commission ends.

WALLENSTEIN.

Surrender up to you my capital!
Far liever would I face about, and step
Back to my Emperor.

WRANGEL

If time yet permits

WALLENSTEIN.

That lies with me, even now, at any hour.

WRANGEL.

Some days ago, perhaps. To-day, no longer;
No longer since Sesina's been a prisoner.

[WALLENSTEIN is struck, and silenced.
My Lord Duke, hear me-We believe that you
At present do mean honorably by us.
Since yesterday we're sure of that-and now
This paper warrants for the troops, there's nothing
Stands in the way of our full confidence.
Prague shall not part us. Hear! The Chancellor
Contents himself with Albstadt; to your Grace
He gives up Ratschin and the narrow side.
But Egra above all must open to us,
Ere we can think of any junction.

WALLENSTEIN.

You,

You therefore must I trust, and you not me? I will consider of your proposition.

WRANGEL.

I must entreat, that your consideration
Occupy not too long a time. Already
Has this negotiation, my Lord Duke!
Crept on into the second year. If nothing
Is settled this time, will the Chancellor
Consider it as broken off for ever.

A great stone near Lützen, since called the Swede's Stone, the body of their great king having been found at the foot of it, after the battle in which he lost his life.

The Duke will not.

Ha! what new scruple?

TERTSKY.

Yet not a few, and for a meaner object,
Vave ventured even this, ay, and perform'd it.
What is there in thy case so black and monstrous?
Thou art accused of treason-whether with
Or without justice is not now the question-
Thou art lost if thou dost not avail thee quickly
Of the power which thou possessest-Friedland! Duke!
Tell me, where lives that thing so meek and tame,
That doth not all his living faculties
Put forth in preservation of his life!
What deed so daring, which necessity
And desperation will not sanctify?

At Regensburg in the Diet-and he dropp'd thee!
He let thee fall! He let thee fall a victim
To the Bavarian, to that insolent!
Deposed, stript bare of all thy dignity
And power, amid the taunting of thy foes,
Thou wert let drop into obscurity.-
Say not, the restoration of thy honor
Has made atonement for that first injustice.

No honest good-will was it that replaced thee;

The law of hard necessity replaced thee,

Of Nature, of the spirit giant-born,
Who listens only to himself, knows nothing
Of stipulations, duties, reverences,

And, like the emancipated force of fire,
Unmaster'd scorches, ere it reaches them,
Their fine-spun webs, their artificial policy.

WALLENSTEIN.

"Tis true! they saw me always as I am-
Always! I did not cheat them in the bargain.
I never held it worth my pains to hide
The bold all-grasping habit of my soul.

COUNTESS.

Nay rather-thou hast ever shown thyself
A formidable man, without restraint;
Hast exercised the full prerogatives
Of thy impetuous nature, which had been
Once granted to thee. Therefore, Duke, not thou,
Who hast still remain'd consistent with thyself,
But they are in the wrong, who fearing thee,
Intrusted such a power in hands they fear'd.
For, by the laws of Spirit, in the right
Is every individual character

That acts in strict consistence with itself.
Self-contradiction is the only wrong.

Wert thou another being, then, when thou
And sword, and desolation, through the Circles
Eight years ago pursuedst thy march with fire
Of Germany, the universal scourge,

Didst mock all ordinances of the empire,
The fearful rights of strength alone exertedst,
Trampledst to earth each rank, each magistracy,
All to extend thy Sultan's domination?
Then was the time to break thee in, to curb
Thy haughty will, to teach thee ordinance.
But no, the Emperor felt no touch of conscience
What served him pleased him, and without a murmur
He stamp'd his broad seal on these lawless deeds.
What at that time was right, because thou didst it
For him, to-day is all at once become
Opprobrious, foul, because it is directed
Against him.-O most flimsy superstition!

WALLENSTEIN (rising).

I never saw it in this light before.

WALLENSTEIN.

Not to their good wishes, that is certain, Nor yet to his affection, I'm indebted For this high office; and if I abuse it,

I shall therein abuse no confidence.

COUNTESS.

Affection! confidence!-They needed thee.
Necessity, impetuous remonstrant!

Who not with empty names, or shows of proxy,
Is served, who'll have the thing and not the symbol,
Ever seeks out the greatest and the best,
And at the rudder places him, e'en though
She had been forced to take him from the rabble-
She, this Necessity, it was that placed thee
In this high office; it was she that gave thee
Thy letters-patent of inauguration.
For, to the uttermost moment that they can,
This race still help themselves at cheapest rate
With slavish souls, with puppets! At the approach
Of extreme peril, when a hollow image
Is found a hollow image and no more,

Then falls the power into the mighty hands

Deeds through my arm, deeds most unorderly. And even this prince's mantle, which I wear, I owe to what were services to him,

But most high misdemeanors 'gainst the empire.

COUNTESS.

Then betwixt thee and him (confess it, Friedland!)
The point can be no more of right and duty,
Only of power and the opportunity.
That opportunity, lo! it comes yonder
Approaching with swift steeds; then with a swing
Throw thyself up into the chariot-seat,
Seize with firm hand the reins, ere thy opponent
Anticipate thee, and himself make conquest
Of the now empty seat. The moment comes;
It is already here, when thou must write
The absolute total of thy life's vast sum.
The constellations stand victorious o'er thee,
The planets shoot good fortune in fair junctions,
And tell thee, Now's the time!" The starry courses
Hast thou thy life-long measured to no purpose?
The quadrant and the circle, were they playthings?
[Pointing to the different objects in the room

The zodiacs, the rolling orbs of heaven,
Hast pictured on these walls, and all around thee
In dumb, foreboding symbols hast thou placed
These seven presiding Lords of Destiny-
For toys? Is all this preparation nothing?
Is there no marrow in this hollow art,
That even to thyself it doth avail
Nothing, and has no influence over thee
In the great moment of decision?-

WALLENSTEIN (during this last speech walks up and down with inward struggles, laboring with passion; stops suddenly, stands still, then interrupting the Countess).

Send Wrangel to me-I will instantly
Dispatch three couriers-

ILLO (hurrying out).

God in heaven be praised!

WALLENSTEIN.

It is his evil genius and mine.

Our evil genius! It chastises him

Through me, the instrument of his ambition;
And I expect no less, than that Revenge
E'en now is whetting for my breast the poniard.
Who sows the serpent's teeth, let him not hope
To reap a joyous harvest. Every crime
Has, in the moment of its perpetration,
Its own avenging angel-dark misgiving,
An ominous sinking at the inmost heart.
He can no longer trust me-Then no longer
Can I retreat-so come that which must come.-
Still Destiny preserves its due relations:
The heart within us is its absolute
Vicegerent.

[To TERTSKY.
Go, conduct you Gustave Wrangel
To my state-cabinet.-Myself will speak to
The couriers. And dispatch immediately
A servant for Octavio Piccolomini.

[To the COUNTESS, who cannot conceal her triumph. No exultation! woman, triumph not! For jealous are the Powers of Destiny. Joy premature, and shouts ere victory, Encroach upon their rights and privileges. We sow the seed, and they the growth determine. [While he is making his exil, the curtain drops.

ACT V.

SCENE I.

Scene, as in the preceding Act.
WALLENSTEIN, OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI.

WALLENSTEIN (coming forward in conversation).
He sends me word from Linz, that he lies sick;
But I have sure intelligence, that he
Secretes himself at Frauenberg with Galas.
Secure them both, and send them to me hither.
Remember, thou takest on thee the command
Of those same Spanish regiments,--constantly
Make preparation, and be never ready;
And if they urge thee to draw out against me,
Still answer YES, and stand as thou wert fetter'd.
I know, that it is doing thee a service
To keep thee out of action in this business.
Thou lovest to linger on in fair appearances;

Rather hope I
To bind it nearer still and faster to me.
[He seats himself
Yes, Max., I have delay'd to open it to thee,
Even till the hour of acting 'gins to strike.
Youth's fortunate feeling doth seize easily
The absolute right, yea, and a joy it is
To exercise the single apprehension
Where the sums square in proof;

But where it happens, that of two sure evils
One must be taken, where the heart not wholly
Brings itself back from out the strife of duties,
There 't is a blessing to have no election,
And blank necessity is grace and favor.
-This is now present: do not look behind thee,-
It can no more avail thee. Look thou forwards!
Think not! judge not! prepare thyself to act'
The Court-it hath determined on my ruin,
Therefore I will to be beforehand with them.
We'll join the Swedes-right gallant fellows are
they,

And our good friends.

[He stops himself, expecting PICCOLOMINI's answer. I have ta'en thee by surprise Answer me not.

I grant thee time to recollect thyself.

[He rises, and retires to the back of the stage MAX. remains for a long time motionless, in a trance of excessive anguish. At his first motion WALLENSTEIN returns and places himself before him.

MAX.

My General, this day thou makest me
Of age to speak in my own right and person,
For till this day I have been spared the trouble
To find out my own road. Thee have I follow'd

With most implicit unconditional faith, Sure of the right path if I follow'd thee. To-day, for the first time, dost thou refer Me to myself, and forcest me to make Election between thee and my own heart.

WALLENSTEIN,

Soft cradled thee thy Fortune till to-day;
Thy duties thou couldst exercise in sport,
Indulge all lovely instincts, act for ever
With undivided heart. It can remain
No longer thus. Like enemies, the roads
Start from each other. Duties strive with duties.
Thou must needs choose thy party in the war
Which is now kindling 'twixt thy friend and him
Who is thy Emperor.

MAX.

War! is that the name? War is as frightful as heaven's pestilence. Yet it is good, is it heaven's will as that is. Is that a good war, which against the Emperor Thou wagest with the Emperor's own army? O God of heaven! what a change is this! Beseems it me to offer such persuasion To thee, who like the fix'd star of the pole Wert all I gazed at on life's trackless ocean? O! what a rent thou makest in my heart! The ingrain'd instinct of old reverence, The holy habit of obediency, Must I pluck live asunder from thy name? Nay, do not turn thy countenance upon meIt always was as a god looking at me! Duke Wallenstein, its power is not departed: The senses still are in thy bonds, although, Bleeding, the soul hath freed itself.

O! do it not, I pray thee, do it not!
There is a pure and noble soul within thee,
Knows not of this unblest, unlucky doing.
Thy will is chaste, it is thy fancy only
Which hath polluted thee-and innocence,
It will not let itself be driven away

From that world-awing aspect. Thou wilt not,
Thou canst not, end in this. It would reduce
All human creatures to disloyalty

Against the nobleness of their own nature.
"T will justify the vulgar misbelief,
Which holdeth nothing noble in free-will,
And trusts itself to impotence alone,
Made powerful only in an unknown power.

WALLENSTEIN.

The world will judge me sternly, I expect it.
Already have I said to my own self
All thou canst say to me. Who but avoids
The extreme, can he by going round avoid it?
But here there is no choice. Yes-I must use
Or suffer violence-so stands the case,
There remains nothing possible but that.

MAX.

O that is never possible for thee!
"Tis the last desperate resource of those
Cheap souls, to whom their honor, their good name
Is their poor saving, their last worthless keep,
Which having staked and lost, they stake themselves
In the mad rage of gaming. Thou art rich,

And glorious; with an unpolluted heart
Thou canst make conquest of whate'er seems
highest !

But he, who once hath acted infamy,
Does nothing more in this world.

WALLENSTEIN (grasps his hand).

Calmly, Max.!

Much that is great and excellent will we
Perform together yet. And if we only
Stand on the height with dignity, 't is soon
Forgotten, Max., by what road we ascended.
Believe me, many a crown shines spotless now,
That yet was deeply sullied in the winning.
To the evil spirit doth the earth belong,
Not to the good. All, that the powers divine
Send from above, are universal blessings:
Their light rejoices us, their air refreshes,
But never yet was man enrich'd by them:
In their eternal realm no property

Is to be struggled for-all there is general.
The jewel, the all-valued gold we win
From the deceiving Powers, depraved in nature
That dwell beneath the day and blessed sun-light.
Not without sacrifices are they render'd
Propitious, and there lives no soul on earth
That e'er retired unsullied from their service.

MAX.

Whate'er is human, to the human being
Do I allow-and to the vehement
And striving spirit readily I pardon

The excess of action; but to thee, my General!
Above all others make I large concession.

For thou must move a world, and be the master-
He kills thee, who condemns thee to inaction
So be it then! maintain thee in thy post
By violence. Resist the Emperor,

And if it must be, force with force repel.
I will not praise it, yet I can forgive it.
But not-not to the traitor-yes!-the word
Is spoken out-

Not to the traitor can I yield a pardon.
That is no mere excess! that is no error
Of human nature-that is wholly different,

O that is black, black as the pit of hell!

[WALLENSTEIN betrays a sudden agitation Thou canst not hear it named, and wilt thou do it? O turn back to thy duty. That thou canst, I hold it certain. Send me to Vienna : I'll make thy peace for thee with the Emperor. He knows thee not. But I do know thee. He Shall see thee, Duke! with my unclouded eye, And I bring back his confidence to thee.

WALLENSTEIN.

It is too late. Thou knowest not what has happen'd

MAX.

Were it too late, and were things gone so far,
That a crime only could prevent thy fall,
Then-fall! fall honorably, even as thou stood'st.
Lose the command. Go from the stage of war.
Thou canst with splendor do it-do it too
With innocence. Thou hast lived much for others,
At length live thou for thy own self. I follow thee
My destiny I never part from thine.

WALLENSTEIN.

It is too late! Even now, while thou art losing Thy words, one after the other are the mile-stones Left fast behind by my post couriers,