octavio. Too soon, I fear, its powers must all be proved. After the counter-promise of this evening, It cannot be but he must deem himself Secure of the majority with us; And of the army's general sentiment He hath a pleasing proof in that petition Which thou delivered'st to him from the regiments. Add this too—I have letters that the Rhinegrave Hath changed his route, and travels by forced marches To the Bohemian Forests. What this purports, Remains unknown; and, to confirm suspicion, This night a Swedish nobleman arrived here. MAX. I have thy word. Thou'lt not proceed to action Before thou hast convinced me—me myself. octavio. Is it possible? Still, after all thou knowst, Canst thou believe still in his innocence? Max. (with enthusiasm). Thy judgment may mistake; my heart can not. [Moderates his voice and manner. These reasons might expound thy spirit or mine; But they expound not Friedland—I have faith: For as he knits his fortunes to the stars, Even so doth he resemble them in secret, Wonderful, still inexplicable courses! trust me, they do him wrong. All will be solved. These smokes at once will kindle into flame— The edges of this black and stormy cloud Will brighten suddenly, and we shall view The Unapproachable glide out in splendour. octavio. I will await it.

SCEN E II.

Ocravio and Max. as before. To them the Valer of the CHAMBER.

octavio.

How now, then?
valet.
A dispatch is at the door.

octavio.

So early? From whom comes he then? Who is it? wa Ler.

That he refused to tell me.

octavio.

Lead him in : And, hark you—let it not transpire. (Exit Valer; the CoRNET steps in.

octavio. Ha! Cornet—is it you? and from Count Galas? Give me your letters.

connet.

The Lieutenant-general

Trusted it not to letters.

octavio.

And what is it?

CoRNet.
He bade me tell you–Dare I speak openly here?

octavio. My son knows all.

octavio. Whom? coaxer.

The old negociator. octavio (eagerly). And you have him? cor Net. In the Bohemian Forest Captain Mohrbrand Found and secured him yester morning early : He was proceeding then to Regensburg, And on him were dispatches for the Swede. octavio. And the dispatches—— connet. The Lieutenant-general Sent them that instant to Vienna, and The prisoner with them. octaw to. This is, indeed, a tiding! That fellow is a precious casket to us, Enclosing weighty things.—Was much found on him? cofanet. I think, six packets, with Count Tertsky's arms. octavio. None in the Duke's own hand? connet. Not that I know. octavio. And old Sesina” connet. He was sorely frighten’d, When it was told him he must to Vienna. But the Count Altringer bade him take heart, Would he but make a full and free confession. octavio. Is Altringer then with your Lord? I heard That he lay sick at Linz. coaxet. These three days past He's with my master, the Lieutenant-general, At Frauenburg. Already have they sixty Small companies together, chosen men; Respectfully toy greet you with assurances, That they are only waiting your commands. octavio. In a few days may great events take place. And when must you return? coaxet. I wait your orders. octavid. Remain till evening. [Coaxer signifies his assent and obeisance, and is going. No one saw you—ha! coax Et. No living creature. Through the cloister wicket The Capuchins, as usual, let me in. octavio. Go, rest your limbs, and keep yourself conceal’d. I hold it probable, that yet ere evening I shall dispatch you. The development of this affair approaches: ere the day, That even now is dawning in the heaven,

octavio. Well—and what now, son 2 All will soon be clear; For all, I'm certain, went through that Sesina. Max. (who through the whole of the foregoing scene has been in a violent and visible struggle of feelings, at length starts as one resolved). I will procure me light a shorter way. Farewell. octaw io. Where now?—Remain here. MAX. To the Duke. octavio (alarmed). What—— Max. (returning). If thou hast believed that I shall act A part in this thy play—— Thou hast miscalculated on me grievously. My way must be straight on. True with the tongue, False with the heart–l may not, cannot be: Nor can I suffer that a man should trust me— As his friend trust me—and then lull my conscience With such low pleas as these :—- I ask him not— He did it all at his own hazard—and My mouth has never lied to him.”—No, no! What a friend takes me for, that I must be. —I'll to the Duke; ere yet this day is ended Will I demand of him that lie do save llis tood name from the world, and with one stride Break through and rend this fine-spun web of yours. IIc can, he will'— I still am his believer. Yet I'll not pledge myself, but that those letters May furnish you, perchance, with proofs against him. Ilow far may not this Tertsky have proceeded— What may not he himself too have permitted Ilinself to do, to snare the enemy, The laws of war excusing? Nothing, save His own mouth shall convict him—nothing less! And face to face will I go question him. octaw 10.

Thou wilt?
M Ax.
I will, as sure as this heart beats.
to cor AW io.

I have, indeed, miscalculated on thee.
I calculated on a prudent son,
Who would have blest the land beneficent
That pluck'd him back from the abyss—and lo!
A fascinated being I discover,
whom his two eyes befool, whom passion wilders,
whom not the broadest light of noon can heal.
Go, question him!— Be inad enough, I pray thee.
The purpose of thy father, of thy Emperor,
Go, give it up free booty:- Force me, drive me
To an open breach before the time. And now,
Now that a miracle of heaven had guarded
My secret purpose even to this hour,
And laid to sleep Suspicion's piercing eyes,
Let me have lived to see that mine own son,

With frantic enterprise, annihilates
My toilsome labours and state-policy.
MAx.
Ay—this state-policy? O how I curse it!
You will some time, with your state-policy,
Compel him to the measure: it may happen,
Because ye are determined that he is guilty,
Guilty ye'll make him. All retreat cut off,
You close up every outlet, hem him in
Narrower and narrower, till at length ye force him—
Yes, ye, -ye force him, in his desperation,
To set fire to his prison. Father! father!
That never can end well—it cannot—will not
And let it be decided as it may,
I see with boding heart the near approach
Of an ill-starr'd, unblest catastrophe.
For this great Monarch-spirit, if he fall,
Will drag a world into the ruin with him.
And as a ship (that midway on the ocean
Takes fire) at once, and with a thunder-burst
Explodes, and with itself shoots out its crew
In smoke and ruin betwixt sea and heaven;
So will he, falling, draw down in his fall
All us, who're fix'd and mortised to his fortune.
Deem of it what thou wilt; but pardon me,
That I must bear me on in my own way.
All must remain pure betwixt him and me;
And, ere the day-light dawns, it must be known
Which I must lose—my father, or my friend.
[During his exit the curtain drops.

Auspicious aspect' fateful in conjunction,
At length the mighty three corradiate;
And the two stars of blessing, Jupiter
And Venus, take between them the malignant
Slily-malicious Mars, and thus compel
Into my service that old mischief-founder:
For long he view'd me hostilely, and ever
With beam oblique, or perpendicular,
Now in the Quartile, now in the Secundan,
Shot his red lightnings at my stars, disturbing
Their blessed intluences and sweet aspects.
Now they have conquer'd the old enemy,
And bring him in the heavens a prisoner to me.
seni (who has come down from the window).
And in a corner house, your Highness—think of that!
That makes each intluence of double strength.
wo-LLENstri N.
And sun and moon, too, in the Sextile aspect,
The soft light with the vehement—so I love it.
Sol is the heart, LuxA the head of heaven,
Bold be the plan, fiery the execution.
sext.
And both the mighty Lumina by no
Maleticus affronted. Lo! Saturnus,
Innocuous, powerless, in cadente Domo.
walle Nist El N.
The empire of Saturnus is gone by:
Lord of the secret birth of things is he:
Within the lap of earth, and in the depths
Of the imagination dominates;
And his are all things that eschew the light.
The time is o'er of brooding and contrivance,
For Jupiter, the lustrous, lordeth now,
And the dark work, complete of preparation,
He draws by force into the realm of light.
Now must we hasten on to action, ere
The scheme, and most auspicious positure
Parts o'er my head, and takes once more its flight; .
For the heavens journey still, and sojourn not.
[There are knocks at the door.
There 's some one knockius; there. See who it is.
rearsky (from without).
Open, and let me in.
wallevostetx.
Ay—t is Tertsky.
What is there of such urgence? We are busy.
Tearsky (from without).
Lay all aside at present, I entreat you.
It suffers no delaying.
wallenstel N.
Open, Senio
[Irhile SEN i opens the door for Tsarsky, Wallenstein
draws the curtain over the figures.
tearsky (enters).
Hast thou already heard it: He is taken.
Galas has given him up to the Emperor.
[SEN1 draws off the black table, and exit.

S C E N E II. WAllensteix, Count Tearsky.

wallenstein (to Tearsky). Who has been taken"—Who is given up?

illo (to Tsarsky). Has he heard it? Tratsky. He has heard it. illo (to WALLENs rein). Thinkest thou still To make thy peace with the Emperor, to regain His confidence?—Een were it now thy wish To abandon all thy plans, yet still they know What thou hast wish'd; then forwards thou must press; Retreat is now no longer in thy power. TeRtsky. They have documents against us, and in hands, Which show beyond all power of contradiction— walls NSTEIN. Of my hand-writing—no iota. Thee I punish for thy lies. ILLo. And thou believest, That what this man, that what thy sister's husband Did in thy name, will not stand on thy reckoning? His word must pass for thy word with the Swede, And not with those that hate thee at Vienna. TE at sky. In writing thou gavest nothing—But bethink thee, How far thou ventured'st by word of mouth With this Sesina! And will he be silent: If he can save himself by yielding up Thy secret purposes, will he retain them: Il Lo. Thyself dost not conceive it possible; And since they now have evidence authentic How far thou hast already gone, speak — tell us, What art thou waiting for thou cans: no longer Keep thy command; and beyond hope of rescue Thou'rt lost, if thou resign'st it. walt-exstein.

In the army

lies my security. The army will not Abandon me. Whatever they may know, | The power is mine, and they must gulpit down— And substitute 1 caution for my fealty,

They must be satisfied, at least appear so.

ILLo.

, the army, Duke, is thine now—for this moment— T is thine: but think with terror on the slow, The quiet power of time. From open violence

Step tracing step, each step a politic progress;
And out of all they'll fabricate a charge
So specious, that I must myself stand dumb.
I am caught in my own net, and only force,
Nought but a sudden rent can liberate me.
[Pauses again.
how else! since that the heart's unbiass'd instinct
Impell'd me to the daring deed, which now
Necessity, self-preservation, orders.
Stern is the On-look of Necessity,
Not without shudder may a human hand
Grasp the mysterious urn of destiny.
My deed was mine, remaining in my bosom:
Once suffer'd to escape from its safe corner
Within the heart, its nursery and birth-place,
Sent forth into the Foreign, it belongs
For ever to those sly malicious powers
Whom never art of man conciliated.
[Paces in agitation through the chamber, then pauses.
and, after the pause, breaks out again into
audible soliloquy.
what is thy enterprise? thy aim? thy object:
Hast honestly confess'd it to thyself!
Power seated on a quiet throne thou'dst shake,
Power on an ancient consecrated throne,
Strong in possession, founded in old custom;

Power by a thousand tough and stringy roots

Fix′d to the people's pious nursery-faith.
This, this will be no strife of strength with strength.
that fear'd I not. I brave each combatant,
Whom I can look on, fixing eye to eye,
Who, full himself of courage, kindles courage
In me too. 'T is a foe invisible.
The which I fear—a fearful enemy,
Which in the human heart opposes me,
By its coward fear alone made fearful to me.
Not that, which full of life, instinct with power,
Makes known its present being; that is not
The true, the perilously formidable.
O no! it is the common, the quite common,
The thing of an eternal yesterday,
What ever was, and evermore returns,
Sterling to-morrow, for to-day't was sterling'
For of the wholly common is man made,
And custom is his nurse! Woe then to them,
Who lay irreverent hands upon his old
House furniture, the dear inheritance
From his forefathers! For time consecrates;
And what is grey with age becomes religion.
Be in possession, and thou hast the right,
And sacred will the many guard it for thee!
[To the Page, who here enters.
The Swedish officer?—Well, let him enter.
[The PAGE exit, WALLENstein fixes his eye in deep
thought on the door.
Yet is it pure—as yet!--the crime has come
Not o'er this threshold yet—so slender is
The boundary that divideth life's two paths.

SC EN E W. WALLENstfix and WRANGEL.

wallenstein (after having fixed a searching look on him). Your name is Wrangel?

wn ANGEL. - Gustave Wrangel, General Of the Sudermanian Blues. wall Exster N. It was a Wrangel who injured me materially at Stralsund, And by his brave resistance was the cause Of the opposition which that sea-port made. wr ANGEL. It was the doing of the element With which you fought, my Lord! and not my merit. The Baltic Neptune did assert his freedom: The sea and land, it seem’d, were not to serve One and the same. wallensteix (makes the motion for him to take a seat, and seats himself.) And where are your credentials: Come you provided with full powers, Sir General? wa.ANGEL.

There are so many scruples yet to solve——
wallensreix (having read the credentials).
An able letter!—Ay—he is a prudent
Intelligent master, whom you serve, Sir General!
The Chancellor writes me, that he but fulfils
His late departed Sovereign's own idea
In helping me to the Bohemian crown.
wa ANGEL.
He says the truth. Our great King, now in heaven,
Did ever deem most highly of your Grace's
Pre-eminent sense and military genius;
And always the commanding Intellect,
He said, should have command, and be the King.
wall. Exstel N.
Yes, he might say it safely.—General Wrangel,
[Taking his hand affectionately.
Come, fair and open.—Trust me, I was always
A Swede at heart. Ey! that did you experience
Both in Silesia and at Nuremburg;
I had you often in my power, and let you
Always slip out by some back-door or other.
'T is this for which the Court can ne'er forgive me,
Which drives me to this present step: and since
Our interests so run in one direction,
Een let us have a thorough confidence
Each in the other.
wr A NGEL.
Confidence will come
IIas each but only first security.
wallensteix.
The Chancellor still, I see, does not quite trust me;
And, I confess—the gain does not lie wholly
To my advantage—Without doubt he thinks,
If I can play false with the Emperor,
Who is my Sov reign, I can do the like
With the enemy, and that the one too were
Sooner to be forgiven me than the other.
Is not this your opinion too, Sir General?
w R.A.N.G.E.L.
I have here an office merely, no opinion.
WALL exsteix.
The Emperor hath urged me to the uttermost:
I can no longer honourably serve him.
For my security, in self-defence,
I take this hard step, which my conscience blames.