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And trusts itself to impotence alone,

Made powerful only in an unknown power.

Wal. 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 honour, 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.

Wal. (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, 'tis 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,

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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,

1 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.

Wal. 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.

Wal. 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 anguish. Yield yourself 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, the other thing I'll bear.

[Max. quits him abruptly. Wallenstein, startled
and overpowered, continues looking after him,
and is still in this posture when Tertsky enters.

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Tert. It is as if the earth had swallow'd him. He had scarce left thee, when I went to seek him. I wish'd some words with him-but he was gone. How, when, and where, could no one tell me. Nay, I half believe it was the devil himself;

A human creature could not so at once

Have vanish'd

Illo. (enters.) Is it true that thou wilt send Octavio ?

Tert. How, Octavio! Whither send him? Wal. He goes to Frauenberg, and will lead hither The Spanish and Italian regiments.

Illo.

Nay, heaven forbid ?

Wal.

No!

And why should heaven forbid?

Illo. Him!-that deceiver! Wouldst thou trust

to him

The soldiery? Him wilt thou let slip from thee,
Now, in the very instant that decides us

[no!

Tert. Thou wilt not do this!-No! I pray thee, Wal. Ye are whimsical.

Illo.

O but for this time, duke,

Yield to our warning! Let him not depart.

Wal. And why should I not trust him only this

.time,

Who have always trusted him? What, then, has happen'd,

That I should lose my good opinion of him?
In complaisance to your whims, not my own,
I must, forsooth, give up a rooted judgment.
Think not I am a woman. Having trusted him
E'en till to-day, to-day too will I trust him.

Tert. Must it be he-he only? Send another. Wal. It must be he, whom I myself have chosen; He is well fitted for the business. Therefore

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Illo.

Because he's an ItalianTherefore is he well fitted for the business!

Wal. 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,

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