Send Wrangel to meI will instantly
Dispatch three couriers
ILLO (hurrying out).
God in heaven be praised!
WALLENST.
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 poinard.
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 angeldark misgiving,
An ominous sinking at the inmost heart.
He can no longer trust me. Then no longer
Can I retreatso come that which must come.
Still destiny preserves its due relations,
The heart within us is its absolute
Vicegerent.
[To TERZKY.]
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 exit the curtain drops.]
* * * * *ACT II
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 Gallas.
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;
Steps of extremity are not thy province;
Therefore have I sought out this part for thee.
Thou wilt this time be of most service to me
By thy inertness. The mean time, if fortune
Declare itself on my side, thou wilt know
What is to do.
Enter MAX PICCOLOMINI
Now go, Octavio.
This night must thou be off, take my own horses
Him here I keep with memake short farewell
Trust me, I think, we all shall meet again
In joy and thriving fortunes.
OCTAVIO (to his son).
I shall see you
Yet ere I go.
SCENE II
WALLENSTEIN, MAX PICCOLOMINI
MAX. (advances to him).
My General?
WALLENSTEIN.
That I am no longer, if
Thou stylest thyself the Emperor's officer.
MAX.
Then thou wilt leave the army, General?
WALLENST.
I have renounced the service of the Emperor.
MAX.
And thou wilt leave the army?
WALLENSTEIN.
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 'tis 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 Courtit hath determined on my ruin,
Therefore I will be beforehand with them.
We'll join the Swedesright 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, retires at 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.
Today, for the first time, dost thou refer
Me to myself, and forcest me to make
Election between thee and my own heart.
WALLENST.
Soft cradled thee thy Fortune till today;
Thy duties thou couldst exercise in sport,
Indulge all lovely instincts, act forever
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 me
It always was as a god looking upon me!
Duke Wallenstein, its power has not departed.
The senses still are in thy bonds, although,
Bleeding, the soul hath freed itself.
WALLENSTEIN.
Max, hear me.
MAX.
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.
'Twill justify the vulgar misbelief
Which holdeth nothing noble in free will
And trusts itself to impotence alone
Made powerful only in an unknown power.
WALLENST.
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. YesI must use
Or suffer violenceso 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, '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,
But never yet was man enrich'd by them
In their eternal realm no property
Is to be struggled forall 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 allowand 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 notnot to the traitoryes!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 naturethat 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.
WALLENST.
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,
Thenfall! fall honorably, even as thou stood'st!
Lose the command. Go from the stage of war,
Thou canst with splendor do itdo 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.
WALLENST.
It is too late! Even now, while thou art losing
Thy words, one after the other are the milestones
Left fast behind by my post couriers
Who bear the order on to Prague and Egra.
[MAX stands as convulsed, with a gesture andcountenance expressing the most intenseanguish.]
Yield thyself to it. We act as we are forced.
I cannot give assent to my own shame
And ruin. Thounothou 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 delivered 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 this spirit;
Give me his luck, that other thing I'll bear.
[MAX quits him abruptly. WALLENSTEIN startled and overpowered, continues looking after him and is still in this posture when TERZKY enters.]
SCENE III
WALLENSTEIN, TERZKY
TERZKY.
Max Piccolomini just left you?
WALLENSTEIN.
Where is Wrangel?
TERZKY.
He is already gone.
WALLENSTEIN.
In such a hurry?
TERZKY.
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 himbut 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?
TERZKY.
How, Octavio! Whither send him?
WALLENST.
He goes to Frauenburg, and will lead hither
The Spanish and Italian regiments.
ILLO.
No!
Nay, Heaven forbid!
WALLENSTEIN.
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
TERZKY.
Thou wilt not do thisNo! I pray thee, no!
WALLENST.
Ye are whimsical.
ILLO.
O but for this time, Duke,
Yield to our warning! Let him not depart.
WALLENST.
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 today, today too will I trust him.
TERZKY.
Must it be hehe only? Send another.
WALLENST.
It must be he whom I myself have chosen;
He is well fitted for the business. Therefore
I gave it him.
ILLO.
Because he's an Italian
Therefore is he well fitted for the business!
WALLENST.