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 chuse 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 me-
It 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.

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 condemus 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 honourably, even as thou stood'st.
Lose the command. Go from the stage of war.
Thou canst with splendour 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,

Who bear the order on to Prague and Egra.
[MAX, stands as convulsed, with a gesture and
countenance expressing the most intense an-
guish.

Yield thyself to it. We act as we are forced.
I cannot give assent to my own shame

And ruin. Thou-no-thou canst not forsake me!
So let us do, what must be done, with dignity,
With a firm step. What am I doing worse
Than did famed Cæsar at the Rubicon,
When he the legions led against his country,
The which his country had deliver'd to him?
Had he thrown down the sword, he had been lost,
As I were, if I but disarm'd myself.

I trace out something in me of his spirit;
Give me his luck, that other thing I'll bear.

[MAX. quits him abrupty. WALLENSTEIN, startled
and over powered, continues looking after him,
and is still in this posture when TERTSKY

I know you love them not-nor sire nor son-
Because that I esteem them, love them-visibly
Esteem them, love them more than you and others,
E'en as they merit. Therefore are they eye-blights,
Thorns in your foot-path. But your jealousies,
In what affect they me or my concerns?

Are they the worse to me because you hate them?
Love or hate one another as you will,

I leave to each man his own moods and likings;
Yet know the worth of each of you to me.

There exist moments in the life of man,
When he is nearer the great Soul of the world
Than is man's custom, and possesses freely
The power of questioning his destiny:
And such a moment 't was, when in the night
Before the action in the plains of Lützen,
Leaning against a tree, thoughts crowding thoughts,
I look'd out far upon the ominous plain.
My whole life, past and future, in this moment
Before my mind's eye glided in procession,
And to the destiny of the next morning
The spirit, fill'd with anxious presentiment,
Did knit the most removed futurity.
Then said I also to myself, So many

Dost thou command. They follow all thy stars,
And as on some great number set their All

Upon thy single head, and only man

The vessel of thy fortune. Yet a day

Will come, when Destiny shall once more scatter
All these in many a several direction:

Few be they who will stand out faithful to thee.
I yearn'd to know which one was faithfullest
Of all, this camp included. Great Destiny,
Give me a sign! And he shall be the man,
Who, on the approaching morning, comes the first
To meet me with a token of his love:
And thinking this, I fell into a slumber.
Then midmost in the battle was I led

In spirit. Great the pressure and the tumult!
Then was my horse kill'd under me: I sank;
And over me away all unconcernedly,
Drove horse and rider-and thus trod to pieces
I lay, and panted like a dying man;
Then seized me suddenly a saviour arm :

It was Octavio's-I awoke at once,

"T was broad day, and Octavio stood before me.

This is my comfort-Max. remains our hostage.

ILLO.

And he shall never stir from here alive.

WALLENSTEIN (stops and turns himself round).
Are ye not like the women, who for ever
Only recur to their first word, although
One had been talking reason by the hour!
Know, that the human being's thoughts and deeds
Are not, like ocean billows, blindly moved.
The inner world, his microcosmus, is

The deep shaft, out of which they spring eternally.
They grow by certain laws, like the tree's fruit-
No juggling chance can metamorphose them.
Have I the human kernel first examined?
Then I know, too, the future will and action.

As from our ourselves.»——Hem!—Yes! so!-Yes! yes!I-I give you joy, Lieutenant-general!

The time is precious-let us talk openly.
You know how matters stand here. Wallenstein
Meditates treason-I can tell you further-
He has committed treason; but few hours
Have past, since he a covenant concluded
With the enemy. The messengers are now
Full on their way to Egra and to Prague.
To-morrow he intends to lead us over
To the enemy. But he deceives himself;
For Prudence wakes-the Emperor has still
Many and faithful friends here, and they stand
In closest union, mighty though unseen.
This manifesto sentences the Duke-
Recals the obedience of the army from him,
And summons all the loyal, all the honest,
To join and recognize in me their leader.
Chuse-will you share with us an honest cause?
Or with the evil share an evil lot.

His lot is mine.

[Exit.

It is.

BUTLER (rises).

OCTAVIO.

Is that your last resolve?

As yet you have time. Within my faithful breast
That rashly utter'd word remains interr'd..
Recal it, Butler! chuse a better party:
You have not chosen the right one.

Welcome, as honour'd friend and visitor.

OCTATIO.

Be the whole world acquainted with the weakness
For which I never can forgive myself.
Lieutenant-general! Yes-I have ambition.
Ne'er was I able to endure contempt.

It stung me to the quick, that birth and title
Should have more weight than merit has in the army.
I would fain not be meaner than my equal,

So in an evil hour I let myself

Be tempted to that measure-It was folly!
But yet so hard a penance it deserved not.
It might have been refused; but wherefore barb
And venom the refusal with contempt?
Why dash to earth and crush with heaviest scorn
The grey-hair'd man, the faithful veteran?
Why to the baseness of his parentage
Refer him with such cruel roughness, only
Because he had a weak hour and forgot himself?
But nature gives a sting e'en to the worm
Which wanton Power treads on in sport and insult.

OCTAVIO.

You must have been calumniated. Guess you The enemy, who did you this ill service?

BUTLER.

Be 't who it will-a most low-hearted scoundrel,
Some vile court-minion must it be, some Spaniard,
Some young squire of some ancient family,
In whose light I may stand, some envious knave,
Stung to his soul by my fair self-earn'd honours!

OCTAVIO.

But tell me! Did the Duke approve that measure?

BUTLER.

Himself impell'd me to it, used his interest
In my behalf with all the warmth of friendship.

OCTAVIO.

I fear me, Colonel Butler,

you.

An infamous game have they been playing with
The Duke, you say, impell'd you to this measure?
Now, in this letter talks he in contempt
Concerning you, counsels the minister

To give sound chastisement to your conceit,
For so he calls it.

[BUTLER reads through the letter, his knees tremble,
he seizes a chair, and sinks down in it.
You have no enemy, no persecutor;
There's no one wishes ill to you. Ascribe
The insult you received to the Duke only.
Ilis aim is clear and palpable. He wish'd
To tear you from your Emperor-he hoped
To gain from your revenge what he well knew
(What your long-tried fidelity convinced him)
He ne'er could dare expect from your calm reason.
A blind tool would he make you, in contempt
Use you, as means of most abandon'd ends.
He has gain'd his point. Too well has he succeeded
In luring you away from that good path
On which you had been journeying forty years!
BUTLER (his voice trembling).
Can e'er the Emperor's Majesty forgive me?