Chapter XVII: Act I: Scene I (1)

_An old Gothic Chamber in the Council House at Pilsen, decorated with Colours and other War Insignia._

_ILLO with BUTLER and ISOLANI._

_Illo._ Ye have come late--but ye are come! The distance,
Count Isolan, excuses your delay.

_Isolani._ Add this too, that we come not empty-handed.
At Donauwert[600:2] it was reported to us,
A Swedish caravan was on its way 5
Transporting a rich cargo of provision,
Almost six hundred waggons. This my Croats
Plunged down upon and seized, this weighty prize!----
We bring it hither----

_Illo._ Just in time to banquet
The illustrious company assembled here. 10

_Butler._ 'Tis all alive! a stirring scene here!

_Isolani._ Ay!
The very churches are all full of soldiers.
And in the Council-house, too, I observe,
You're settled, quite at home! Well, well! we soldiers
Must shift and suit us in what way we can. 15

_Illo._ We have the Colonels here of thirty regiments.
You'll find Count Tertsky here, and Tiefenbach,
Kolatto, Goetz, Maradas, Hinnersam,
The Piccolomini, both son and father----
You'll meet with many an unexpected greeting 20
From many an old friend and acquaintance. Only
Galas is wanting still, and Altringer.

_Butler._ Expect not Galas.

_Illo._ How so? Do you know----

_Isolani._ Max Piccolomini here?--O bring me to him. 25
I see him yet, ('tis now ten years ago,
We were engaged with Mansfeld hard by Dessau)
I see the youth, in my mind's eye I see him,
Leap his black war-horse from the bridge adown,
And t'ward his father, then in extreme peril, 30
Beat up against the strong tide of the Elbe.
The down was scarce upon his chin! I hear
He has made good the promise of his youth,
And the full hero now is finished in him.

_Illo._ You'll see him yet ere evening. He conducts 35
The Duchess Friedland hither, and the Princess[601:1]
From Carnthen. We expect them here at noon.

_Butler._ Both wife and daughter does the Duke call hither?
He crowds in visitants from all sides.

_Isolani._ Hm!
So much the better! I had framed my mind 40
To hear of nought but warlike circumstance,
Of marches, and attacks, and batteries:
And lo! the Duke provides, that something too
Of gentler sort, and lovely, should be present
To feast our eyes. 45

_Illo (aside to Butler)._ And how came you to know
That the Count Galas joins us not?

_Butler._ Because
He importuned me to remain behind.

_Illo._ And you?--You hold out firmly?
Noble Butler!

_Butler._ After the obligation which the Duke 50
Had laid so newly on me----

_Illo._ I had forgotten
A pleasant duty--Major-General,
I wish you joy!

_Isolani._ What, you mean, of his regiment?
I hear, too, that to make the gift still sweeter, 55
The Duke has given him the very same
In which he first saw service, and since then,
Worked himself, step by step, through each preferment,
From the ranks upwards. And verily, it gives
A precedent of hope, a spur of action 60
To the whole corps, if once in their remembrance
An old deserving soldier makes his way.

_Butler._ I am perplexed and doubtful, whether or no
I dare accept this your congratulation.
The Emperor has not yet confirmed the appointment. 65

_Isolani._ Seize it, friend! Seize it! The hand which in that post
Placed you, is strong enough to keep you there,
Spite of the Emperor and his Ministers!

_Illo._ Ay, if we would but so consider it!--
If we would all of us consider it so! 70
The Emperor gives us nothing; from the Duke
Comes all--whate'er we hope, whate'er we have.

_Isolani (to Illo)._ My noble brother! did I tell you how
The Duke will satisfy my creditors?
Will be himself my banker for the future, 75
Make me once more a creditable man!--
And this is now the third time, think of that!
This kingly-minded man has rescued me
From absolute ruin, and restored my honour.

_Illo._ O that his power but kept pace with his wishes! 80
Why, friend! he'd give the whole world to his soldiers.
But at Vienna, brother! here's the grievance!--
What politic schemes do they not lay to shorten
His arm, and, where they can, to clip his pinions.
Then these new dainty requisitions! these, 85
Which this same Questenberg brings hither!--

_Butler._ Ay,
These requisitions of the Emperor,--
I too have heard about them; but I hope
The Duke will not draw back a single inch! 90

_Illo._ Not from his right most surely, unless first
--From office!

_Butler._ Know you aught then? You alarm me.

_Isolani (at the same time with Butler, and in a hurrying voice)._
We should be ruined, every one of us!

_Illo._ No more!
Yonder I see our worthy friend[603:1] approaching
With the Lieutenant-General, Piccolomini.

_Butler._ I fear we shall not go hence as we came. 95

FOOTNOTES:

[600:1] In 1800 the following table of _Dramatis Personae_ was prefixed to Act I of _The Piccolomini, or The First Part of Wallenstein_. In 1828, 1829, and 1834 this table was omitted.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

_WALLENSTEIN, Duke of Friedland, Generalissimo of the Imperial Forces
in The Thirty-years' War._
_OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI, Lieutenant-General._
_MAX PICCOLOMINI, his son, Colonel of a Regiment of Cuirassiers._
_COUNT TERTSKY, the Commander of several Regiments, and Brother-in-law
of Wallenstein._
_ILLO, Field Marshal, Wallenstein's Confidant._
_ISOLANI, General of the Croats._
_BUTLER, an Irishman, Commander of a Regiment of Dragoons._
_TIEFENBACH_, }
_DON MARADAS_, } _Generals under Wallenstein._
_GOETZ_, }
_KOLATTO_, }
_NEUMANN, Captain of Cavalry, Aide-de-Camp to Tertsky._
_The War Commissioner, VON QUESTENBERG, Imperial Envoy._
_GENERAL WRANGEL, Swedish Envoy._
_BAPTISTA SENI, Astrologer._
_DUCHESS OF FRIEDLAND, Wife of Wallenstein._
_THEKLA, her Daughter, Princess of Friedland._
_The COUNTESS TERTSKY, Sister of the Duchess._
_A CORNET._
_Several COLONELS and GENERALS._
_PAGES and ATTENDANTS belonging to Wallenstein._
_ATTENDANTS and HOBÖISTS belonging to Tertsky._
_The MASTER OF THE CELLAR to Count Tertsky._
_VALET DE CHAMBRE of Count Piccolomini._

[600:2] A town about 12 German miles NE. of Ulm.

[601:1] The Dukes in Germany being always reigning powers, their sons and daughters are entitled Princes and Princesses. _1800_, _1828_, _1829_.

[603:1] _Spoken with a sneer._ _1800_, _1828_, _1829_.

LINENOTES:

[1] _are_ 1800.

[After 12] [_Casts his eye round._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

[24] _Illo (hesitating)._ How so? 1817, 1828, 1829. _you_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 25] _Isolani (interrupting him)._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

[45] _Illo (who has been standing in the attitude of meditation, to Butler, whom he leads a little on one side)._ And how, &c. 1817, 1828, 1829.

[48] _me_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[49]

_Illo (with warmth)._ And you?--You hold out firmly?

[_Grasping his hand with affection._

1817, 1828, 1829.

[70] _all_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 91] _Butler (shocked and confused)._ 1817, 1828, 1829. _aught_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[93] _our worthy friend_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 95] _Butler (shaking his head significantly)._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

SCENE II

_Enter OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI and QUESTENBERG._

_Octavio._ Ay, ay! more still! Still more new visitors!
Acknowledge, friend! that never was a camp,
Which held at once so many heads of heroes.
Welcome, Count Isolani!

_Isolani._ My noble brother,
Even now am I arrived; it had been else my duty-- 5

_Octavio._ And Colonel Butler--trust me, I rejoice
Thus to renew acquaintance with a man
Whose worth and services I know and honour.
See, see, my friend!
There might we place at once before our eyes 10
The sum of war's whole trade and mystery--

[_To QUESTENBERG, presenting BUTLER and ISOLANI at the
same time to him._

These two the total sum--Strength and Dispatch.

_Questenberg (to Octavio)._ And lo! betwixt them both experienced
Prudence!

_Octavio (presenting Questenberg to Butler and Isolani)._ The
Chamberlain and War-commissioner Questenberg,
The bearer of the Emperor's behests, 15
The long-tried friend and patron of all soldiers,
We honour in this noble visitor.

_Illo._ 'Tis not the first time, noble Minister,
You have shewn our camp this honour.

_Questenberg._ Once before
I stood before these colours. 20

_Illo._ Perchance too you remember where that was.
It was at Znäim[604:1] in Moravia, where
You did present yourself upon the part
Of the Emperor, to supplicate our Duke
That he would straight assume the chief command. 25

_Questenberg._ To supplicate? Nay, noble General!
So far extended neither my commission
(At least to my own knowledge) nor my zeal.

_Illo._ Well, well, then--to compel him, if you choose.
I can remember me right well, Count Tilly 30
Had suffered total rout upon the Lech.
Bavaria lay all open to the enemy,
Whom there was nothing to delay from pressing
Onwards into the very heart of Austria.
At that time you and Werdenberg appeared 35
Before our General, storming him with prayers,
And menacing the Emperor's displeasure,
Unless he took compassion on this wretchedness.

_Isolani._ Yes, yes, 'tis comprehensible enough,
Wherefore with your commission of to-day 40
You were not all too willing to remember
Your former one.

_Questenberg._ Why not, Count Isolan?
No contradiction sure exists between them.
It was the urgent business of that time 45
To snatch Bavaria from her enemy's hand;
And my commission of to-day instructs me
To free her from her good friends and protectors.

_Illo._ A worthy office! After with our blood
We have wrested this Bohemia from the Saxon, 50
To be swept out of it is all our thanks,
The sole reward of all our hard-won victories.

_Questenberg._ Unless that wretched land be doomed to suffer
Only a change of evils, it must be
Freed from the scourge alike of friend and foe. 55

_Illo._ What? 'Twas a favourable year; the Boors
Can answer fresh demands already.

_Questenberg._ Nay,
If you discourse of herds and meadow-grounds--

_Isolani._ The war maintains the war. Are the Boors ruined,
The Emperor gains so many more new soldiers. 60

_Questenberg._ And is the poorer by even so many subjects.

_Isolani._ Poh! We are all his subjects.

_Questenberg._ Yet with a difference, General! The one fill
With profitable industry the purse,
The others are well skilled to empty it. 65
The sword has made the Emperor poor; the plough
Must reinvigorate his resources.

_Isolani._ Sure!
Times are not yet so bad. Methinks I see

[_Examining with his eye the dress and ornaments
of QUESTENBERG._

Good store of gold that still remains uncoined.

_Questenberg._ Thank Heaven! that means have been found out to
hide 70
Some little from the fingers of the Croats.

_Illo._ There! The Stawata and the Martinitz,
On whom the Emperor heaps his gifts and graces,
To the heart-burning of all good Bohemians--
Those minions of court favour, those court harpies, 75
Who fatten on the wrecks of citizens
Driven from their house and home--who reap no harvests
Save in the general calamity--
Who now, with kingly pomp, insult and mock
The desolation of their country--these, 80
Let these, and such as these, support the war,
The fatal war, which they alone enkindled!

_Butler._ And those state-parasites, who have their feet
So constantly beneath the Emperor's table,
Who cannot let a benefice fall, but they 85
Snap at it with dog's hunger--they, forsooth,
Would pare the soldier's bread, and cross his reckoning!

_Isolani._ My life long will it anger me to think,
How when I went to court seven years ago,
To see about new horses for our regiment, 90
How from one antechamber to another
They dragged me on, and left me by the hour
To kick my heels among a crowd of simpering
Feast-fattened slaves, as if I had come thither
A mendicant suitor for the crumbs of favour 95
That fall beneath their tables. And, at last,
Whom should they send me but a Capuchin!
Straight I began to muster up my sins
For absolution--but no such luck for me!
This was the man, this Capuchin, with whom 100
I was to treat concerning the army horses:
And I was forced at last to quit the field,
The business unaccomplished. Afterwards
The Duke procured me in three days, what I
Could not obtain in thirty at Vienna. 105

_Questenberg._ Yes, yes! your travelling bills soon found their
way to us:
Too well I know we have still accounts to settle.

_Illo._ War is a violent trade; one cannot always
Finish one's work by soft means; every trifle
Must not be blackened into sacrilege. 110
If we should wait till you, in solemn council,
With due deliberation had selected
The smallest out of four-and-twenty evils,
I'faith, we should wait long.--
'Dash! and through with it!'--That's the better watch-word. 115
Then after come what may come. 'Tis man's nature
To make the best of a bad thing once past.
A bitter and perplexed 'what shall I do?'
Is worse to man than worst necessity.

_Questenberg._ Ay, doubtless, it is true: the Duke does spare us 120
The troublesome task of choosing.

_Butler._ Yes, the Duke
Cares with a father's feelings for his troops;
But how the Emperor feels for us, we see.

_Questenberg._ His cares and feelings all ranks share alike,
Nor will he offer one up to another. 125

_Isolani._ And therefore thrusts he us into the deserts
As beasts of prey, that so he may preserve
His dear sheep fattening in his fields at home.

_Questenberg._ Count, this comparison you make, not I.

_Butler._ Why, were we all the Court supposes us, 130
'Twere dangerous, sure, to give us liberty.

_Questenberg._ You have taken liberty--it was not given you.
And therefore it becomes an urgent duty
To rein it in with curbs.

_Octavio._ My noble friend,
This is no more than a remembrancing 135
That you are now in camp, and among warriors.
The soldier's boldness constitutes his freedom.
Could he act daringly, unless he dared
Talk even so? One runs into the other.
The boldness of this worthy officer, [_pointing to BUTLER._ 140
Which now has but mistaken in its mark,
Preserved, when nought but boldness could preserve it,
To the Emperor his capital city, Prague,
In a most formidable mutiny
Of the whole garrison. [_Military music at a distance._ 145
Hah! here they come!

_Illo._ The sentries are saluting them: this signal
Announces the arrival of the Duchess.

_Octavio._ Then my son Max too has returned. 'Twas he
Fetched and attended them from Carnthen hither. 150

_Isolani (to Illo)._ Shall we not go in company to greet them?

_Illo._ Well, let us go.--Ho! Colonel Butler, come.

[_To OCTAVIO._

You'll not forget, that yet ere noon we meet
The noble Envoy at the General's palace.

[_Exeunt all but QUESTENBERG and OCTAVIO._

FOOTNOTES:

[604:1] A town not far from the Mine-mountains, on the high road from Vienna to Prague.

LINENOTES:

[Before 1] _Octavio (still in the distance)._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

[After 4] [_Approaching nearer._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

[17]

We honour in this noble visitor. [_Universal silence._

_Illo (moving towards Questenberg)._ 'Tis not, &c.

1817, 1828, 1829.

[21] _where_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[26] _supplicate_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[30] _compel_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 39] _Isolani (steps up to them)._ _1817_, _1828_, _1829_.

[51] _out_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[58] _you_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[80] _these_ 1800.

[81] _these_ 1800.

[87] _pare_ 1800.

[99] _me_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[100] _This was, &c._ 1800.

[120] _does_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[124] _His_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 129] _Questenberg (with a sneer)._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

[134] _Octavio (interposing and addressing Questenberg)._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

[138] _act_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 149] _Octavio (to Questenberg)._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

[149] _Max_ 1800.

SCENE III

_QUESTENBERG and OCTAVIO._

_Questenberg._ What have I not been forced to hear, Octavio!
What sentiments! what fierce, uncurbed defiance!
And were this spirit universal--

_Octavio._ Hm!
You are now acquainted with three-fourths of the army.

_Questenberg._ Where must we seek then for a second host 5
To have the custody of this? That Illo
Thinks worse, I fear me, than he speaks. And then
This Butler too--he cannot even conceal
The passionate workings of his ill intentions.

_Octavio._ Quickness of temper--irritated pride; 10
'Twas nothing more. I cannot give up Butler.
I know a spell that will soon dispossess
The evil spirit in him.

_Questenberg._ Friend, friend!
O! this is worse, far worse, than we had suffered
Ourselves to dream of at Vienna. There 15
We saw it only with a courtier's eyes,
Eyes dazzled by the splendour of the throne.
We had not seen the War-Chief, the Commander,
The man all-powerful in his camp. Here, here,
'Tis quite another thing. 20
Here is no Emperor more--the Duke is Emperor.
Alas, my friend! alas, my noble friend!
This walk which you have ta'en me through the camp
Strikes my hopes prostrate.

_Octavio._ Now you see yourself
Of what a perilous kind the office is, 25
Which you deliver to me from the Court.
The least suspicion of the General
Costs me my freedom and my life, and would
But hasten his most desperate enterprise.

_Questenberg._ Where was our reason sleeping when we trusted 30
This madman with the sword, and placed such power
In such a hand? I tell you, he'll refuse,
Flatly refuse, to obey the Imperial orders.
Friend, he can do 't, and what he can, he will.
And then the impunity of his defiance-- 35
O! what a proclamation of our weakness!

_Octavio._ D'ye think too, he has brought his wife and daughter
Without a purpose hither? Here in camp!
And at the very point of time, in which
We're arming for the war? That he has taken 40
These, the last pledges of his loyalty,
Away from out the Emperor's domains--
This is no doubtful token of the nearness
Of some eruption!

_Questenberg._ How shall we hold footing
Beneath this tempest, which collects itself 45
And threats us from all quarters? The enemy
Of the empire on our borders, now already
The master of the Danube, and still farther,
And farther still, extending every hour!
In our interior the alarum-bells 50
Of insurrection--peasantry in arms----
All orders discontented--and the army,
Just in the moment of our expectation
Of aidance from it--lo! this very army
Seduced, run wild, lost to all discipline, 55
Loosened, and rent asunder from the state
And from their sovereign, the blind instrument
Of the most daring of mankind, a weapon
Of fearful power, which at his will he wields!

_Octavio._ Nay, nay, friend! let us not despair too soon, 60
Men's words are ever bolder than their deeds:
And many a resolute, who now appears
Made up to all extremes, will, on a sudden
Find in his breast a heart he knew not of,
Let but a single honest man speak out 65
The true name of his crime! Remember, too,
We stand not yet so wholly unprotected.
Counts Altringer and Galas have maintained
Their little army faithful to its duty,
And daily it becomes more numerous. 70
Nor can he take us by surprise: you know,
I hold him all-encompassed by my listeners.
Whate'er he does, is mine, even while 'tis doing--
No step so small, but instantly I hear it;
Yea, his own mouth discloses it.

_Questenberg._ 'Tis quite 75
Incomprehensible, that he detects not
The foe so near!

_Octavio._ Beware, you do not think,
That I by lying arts, and complaisant
Hypocrisy, have skulked into his graces:
Or with the sustenance of smooth professions 80
Nourish his all-confiding friendship! No--
Compelled alike by prudence, and that duty
Which we all owe our country, and our sovereign,
To hide my genuine feelings from him, yet
Ne'er have I duped him with base counterfeits! 85

_Questenberg._ It is the visible ordinance of heaven.

_Octavio._ I know not what it is that so attracts
And links him both to me and to my son.
Comrades and friends we always were--long habit,
Adventurous deeds performed in company, 90
And all those many and various incidents
Which store a soldier's memory with affections,
Had bound us long and early to each other--
Yet I can name the day, when all at once
His heart rose on me, and his confidence 95
Shot out in sudden growth. It was the morning
Before the memorable fight at Lützner.
Urged by an ugly dream, I sought him out,
To press him to accept another charger.
At distance from the tents, beneath a tree, 100
I found him in a sleep. When I had waked him,
And had related all my bodings to him,
Long time he stared upon me, like a man
Astounded; thereon fell upon my neck,
And manifested to me an emotion 105
That far outstripped the worth of that small service.
Since then his confidence has followed me
With the same pace that mine has fled from him.

_Questenberg._ You lead your son into the secret?

_Octavio._ No!

_Questenberg._ What? and not warn him either what bad hands 110
His lot has placed him in?

_Octavio._ I must perforce
Leave him in wardship to his innocence.
His young and open soul--dissimulation
Is foreign to its habits! Ignorance
Alone can keep alive the cheerful air, 115
The unembarrassed sense and light free spirit,
That make the Duke secure.

_Questenberg._ My honoured friend! most highly do I deem
Of Colonel Piccolomini--yet--if----
Reflect a little----

_Octavio._ I must venture it. 120
Hush!--There he comes!

LINENOTES:

[Before 1] _Questenberg (with signs of aversion and astonishment)._ 1817, 1828, 1829.

[13] _him_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

_Questenberg (walking up and down in evident disquiet)._ Friend, &c. 1817, 1828, 1829.

[34] _can_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[59] _he_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[64] knew] wot 1800, 1828, 1829.

[84] _genuine_ 1800.

[95] _rose_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[118] _Questenberg (anxiously)._ My honoured, &c. 1800, 1828, 1829.

SCENE IV

_MAX PICCOLOMINI, OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI, QUESTENBERG._

_Max._ Ha! there he is himself. Welcome, my father!
You are engaged, I see. I'll not disturb you.

_Octavio._ How, Max? Look closer at this visitor;
Attention, Max, an old friend merits--Reverence
Belongs of right to the envoy of your sovereign. 5

_Max._ Von Questenberg!--Welcome--if you bring with you
Aught good to our head quarters.

_Questenberg (seizing his hand)._ Nay, draw not
Your hand away, Count Piccolomini!
Not on mine own account alone I seized it,
And nothing common will I say therewith. 10

[_Taking the hands of both._

Octavio--Max Piccolomini!
O saviour names, and full of happy omen!
Ne'er will her prosperous genius turn from Austria,
While two such stars, with blessed influences
Beaming protection, shine above her hosts. 15

_Max._ Heh!--Noble minister! You miss your part.
You came not here to act a panegyric.
You're sent, I know, to find fault and to scold us--
I must not be beforehand with my comrades.

_Octavio._ He comes from court, where people are not quite 20
So well contented with the duke, as here.

_Max._ What now have they contrived to find out in him?
That he alone determines for himself
What he himself alone doth understand?
Well, therein he does right, and will persist in 't. 25
Heaven never meant him for that passive thing
That can be struck and hammered out to suit
Another's taste and fancy. He'll not dance
To every tune of every minister.
It goes against his nature--he can't do it. 30
He is possessed by a commanding spirit,
And his too is the station of command.
And well for us it is so! There exist
Few fit to rule themselves, but few that use
Their intellects intelligently.--Then 35
Well for the whole, if there be found a man,
Who makes himself what nature destined him,
The pause, the central point to thousand thousands--
Stands fixed and stately, like a firm-built column,
Where all may press with joy and confidence. 40
Now such a man is Wallenstein; and if
Another better suits the court--no other
But such a one as he can serve the army.

_Questenberg._ The army? Doubtless!

_Octavio (aside)._ Hush! suppress it, friend!
Unless some end were answered by the utterance.-- 45
Of him there you'll make nothing.

_Max._ In their distress
They call a spirit up, and when he comes,
Straight their flesh creeps and quivers, and they dread him
More than the ills for which they called him up.
The uncommon, the sublime, must seem and be 50
Like things of every day.--But in the field,
Aye, there the Present Being makes itself felt.
The personal must command, the actual eye
Examine. If to be the chieftain asks
All that is great in nature, let it be 55
Likewise his privilege to move and act
In all the correspondencies of greatness.
The oracle within him, that which lives,
He must invoke and question--not dead books,
Not ordinances, not mould-rotted papers. 60

_Octavio._ My son! of those old narrow ordinances
Let us not hold too lightly. They are weights
Of priceless value, which oppressed mankind
Tied to the volatile will of their oppressors.
For always formidable was the league 65
And partnership of free power with free will.
The way of ancient ordinance, though it winds,
Is yet no devious way. Straight forward goes
The lightning's path, and straight the fearful path
Of the cannon-ball. Direct it flies and rapid, 70
Shattering that it may reach, and shattering what it reaches.
My son! the road the human being travels,
That on which blessing comes and goes, doth follow
The river's course, the valley's playful windings,
Curves round the corn-field and the hill of vines, 75
Honouring the holy bounds of property!
And thus secure, though late, leads to its end.

_Questenberg._ O hear your father, noble youth! hear him,
Who is at once the hero and the man.

_Octavio._ My son, the nursling of the camp spoke in thee! 80
A war of fifteen years
Hath been thy education and thy school.
Peace hast thou never witnessed! There exists
A higher than the warrior's excellence.
In war itself war is no ultimate purpose. 85
The vast and sudden deeds of violence,
Adventures wild, and wonders of the moment,
These are not they, my son, that generate
The calm, the blissful, and the enduring mighty!
Lo there! the soldier, rapid architect! 90
Builds his light town of canvas, and at once
The whole scene moves and bustles momently,
With arms, and neighing steeds, and mirth and quarrel
The motley market fills; the roads, the streams
Are crowded with new freights, trade stirs and hurries! 95
But on some morrow morn, all suddenly,
The tents drop down, the horde renews its march.
Dreary, and solitary as a church-yard
The meadow and down-trodden seed-plot lie,
And the year's harvest is gone utterly. 100

_Max._ O let the Emperor make peace, my father!
Most gladly would I give the blood-stained laurel
For the first violet[614:1] of the leafless spring,
Plucked in those quiet fields where I have journeyed!

_Octavio._ What ails thee? What so moves thee all at once? 105

_Max._ Peace have I ne'er beheld? I have beheld it.
From thence am I come hither: O! that sight,
It glimmers still before me, like some landscape
Left in the distance,--some delicious landscape!
My road conducted me through countries where 110
The war has not yet reached. Life, life, my father--
My venerable father, life has charms
Which we have ne'er experienced. We have been
But voyaging along its barren coasts,
Like some poor ever-roaming horde of pirates, 115
That, crowded in the rank and narrow ship,
House on the wild sea with wild usages,
Nor know aught of the main land, but the bays
Where safeliest they may venture a thieves' landing.
Whate'er in the inland dales the land conceals 120
Of fair and exquisite, O! nothing, nothing,
Do we behold of that in our rude voyage.

_Octavio._ And so your journey has revealed this to you?

_Max._ 'Twas the first leisure of my life. O tell me,
What is the meed and purpose of the toil, 125
The painful toil, which robbed me of my youth,
Left me a heart unsoul'd and solitary,
A spirit uninformed, unornamented.
For the camp's stir and crowd and ceaseless larum,
The neighing war-horse, the air-shattering trumpet, 130
The unvaried, still-returning hour of duty,
Word of command, and exercise of arms--
There's nothing here, there's nothing in all this
To satisfy the heart, the gasping heart!
Mere bustling nothingness, where the soul is not-- 135
This cannot be the sole felicity,
These cannot be man's best and only pleasures.

_Octavio._ Much hast thou learnt, my son, in this short journey.

_Max._ O! day thrice lovely! when at length the soldier
Returns home into life; when he becomes 140
A fellow-man among his fellow-men.
The colours are unfurled, the cavalcade
Marshals, and now the buzz is hushed, and hark!
Now the soft peace-march beats, home, brothers, home!
The caps and helmets are all garlanded 145
With green boughs, the last plundering of the fields.
The city gates fly open of themselves,
They need no longer the petard to tear them.
The ramparts are all filled with men and women,
With peaceful men and women, that send onwards 150
Kisses and welcomings upon the air,
Which they make breezy with affectionate gestures.
From all the towers rings out the merry peal,
The joyous vespers of a bloody day.
O happy man, O fortunate! for whom 155
The well-known door, the faithful arms are open,
The faithful tender arms with mute embracing.

_Questenberg._ O! that you should speak
Of such a distant, distant time, and not
Of the to-morrow, not of this to-day. 160

_Max._ Where lies the fault but on you in Vienna?
I will deal openly with you, Questenberg.
Just now, as first I saw you standing here,
(I'll own it to you freely) indignation
Crowded and pressed my inmost soul together. 165
'Tis ye that hinder peace, ye!--and the warrior,
It is the warrior that must force it from you.
Ye fret the General's life out, blacken him,
Hold him up as a rebel, and Heaven knows
What else still worse, because he spares the Saxons, 170
And tries to awaken confidence in the enemy;
Which yet 's the only way to peace: for if
War intermit not during war, how then
And whence can peace come?--Your own plagues fall on you!
Even as I love what's virtuous, hate I you. 175
And here make I this vow, here pledge myself;
My blood shall spurt out for this Wallenstein,
And my heart drain off, drop by drop, ere ye
Shall revel and dance jubilee o'er his ruin. [_Exit._

FOOTNOTES:

[614:1] In the original,

Den blut'gen Lorbeer geb ich him mit Freuden
Fürs erste Veilchen, das der Merz uns bringt,
Das duftige Pffand der neuverjüngten Erde.

_1800_, _1828_, _1829_.

LINENOTES:

[After 1] [_He embraces His father. As he turns round he observes Questenberg, and draws back with a cold and reserved air._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 6] _Max (drily)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 20] _Octavio (to Max)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[38] to] of 1800.

[44] _Octavio (to Questenberg)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[45] _some_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[46] _him_ 1800, 1828, 1829. _Max (continuing)._ In their, &c. 1800, 1828, 1829.

[52] _there_ the _Present Being_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[58] _lives_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[63] _th' oppressed_ MS. R.

[71] _may_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[73] BLESSING 1800, 1828, 1829.

[78] _him_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[106] _have_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[113] _we_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 123] _Octavio (attentive, with an appearance of uneasiness)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 158] _Questenberg (apparently much affected)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 161] _Max (turning round to him, quick and vehement)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[165] peace, _ye_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[172] _how_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[173] _whence_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

SCENE V

_QUESTENBERG, OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI._

_Questenberg._ Alas, alas! and stands it so?
What, friend! and do we let him go away
In this delusion--let him go away?
Not call him back immediately, not open
His eyes upon the spot?

_Octavio._ He has now opened mine, 5
And I see more than pleases me.

_Questenberg._ What is it?

_Octavio._ Curse on this journey!

_Questenberg._ But why so? What is it?

_Octavio._ Come, come along, friend! I must follow up
The ominous track immediately. Mine eyes
Are opened now, and I must use them. Come! 10

[_Draws QUESTENBERG on with him._

_Questenberg._ What now? Where go you then?

_Octavio._ To her herself.

_Questenberg._ To----

_Octavio._ To the Duke. Come, let us go--'Tis done, 'tis done,
I see the net that is thrown over him.
O! he returns not to me as he went.

_Questenberg._ Nay, but explain yourself.

_Octavio._ And that I should not 15
Foresee it, not prevent this journey! Wherefore
Did I keep it from him?--You were in the right.
I should have warned him! Now it is too late.

_Questenberg._ But what's too late? Bethink yourself, my friend,
That you are talking absolute riddles to me. 20

_Octavio._ Come!--to the Duke's. 'Tis close upon the hour
Which he appointed you for audience. Come!
A curse, a threefold curse, upon this journey!

[_He leads QUESTENBERG off._

LINENOTES:

[After 1] [_Then in pressing and impatient tones._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[5] _Octavio (recovering himself out of a deep study)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[11] _Where_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 12] _Octavio (interrupting him, and correcting himself)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[19] _what's_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 21] _Octavio (more collected)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

SCENE VI

_Changes to a spacious chamber in the house of the Duke of Friedland._--Servants _employed in putting the tables and chairs in order. During this enters SENI, like an old Italian doctor, in black, and clothed somewhat fantastically. He carries a white staff, with which he marks out the quarters of the heaven._

_First Servant._ Come--to it, lads, to it! Make an end of it.
I hear the sentry call out, 'Stand to your arms!' They will
be there in a minute.

_Second Servant._ Why were we not told before that the
audience would be held here? Nothing prepared--no orders--no 5
instructions--

_Third Servant._ Ay, and why was the balcony-chamber
countermanded, that with the great worked carpet?--there one can
look about one.

_First Servant._ Nay, that you must ask the mathematician there. 10
He says it is an unlucky chamber.

_Second Servant._ Poh! stuff and nonsense! That's what I call
a hum. A chamber is a chamber; what much can the place
signify in the affair?

_Seni._ My son, there's nothing insignificant, 15
Nothing! But yet in every earthly thing
First and most principal is place and time.

_First Servant (to the Second)._ Say nothing to him, Nat. The
Duke himself must let him have his own will.

_Seni (counts the chairs, half in a loud, half in a low voice, till
he comes to eleven, which he repeats)._ Eleven! an evil number!
Set twelve chairs. 20
Twelve! twelve signs hath the zodiac: five and seven,
The holy numbers, include themselves in twelve.

_Second Servant._ And what may you have to object against
eleven? I should like to know that now.

_Seni._ Eleven is--transgression; eleven oversteps 25
The ten commandments.

_Second Servant._ That's good! and why do you call five an
holy number?

_Seni._ Five is the soul of man: for even as man
Is mingled up of good and evil, so 30
The five is the first number that's made up
Of even and odd.

_Second Servant._ The foolish old coxcomb!

_First Servant._ Ey! let him alone though. I like to hear
him; there is more in his words than can be seen at first sight. 35

_Third Servant._ Off! They come.

_Second Servant._ There! Out at the side-door.

[_They hurry off. SENI follows slowly. A page brings the
staff of command on a red cushion, and places it on
the table near the DUKE'S chair. They are announced
from without, and the wings of the door fly open._

LINENOTES:

[13] _hum_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 15] _Seni (with gravity)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[15] _nothing_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[16] _Nothing_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

SCENE VII

_WALLENSTEIN, DUCHESS._

_Wallenstein._ You went then through Vienna, were presented
To the Queen of Hungary?

_Duchess._ Yes, and to the Empress too,
And by both Majesties were we admitted
To kiss the hand.

_Wallenstein._ And how was it received,
That I had sent for wife and daughter hither 5
To the camp, in winter time?

_Duchess._ I did even that
Which you commissioned me to do. I told them,
You had determined on our daughter's marriage,
And wished, ere yet you went into the field,
To shew the elected husband his betrothed. 10

_Wallenstein._ And did they guess the choice which I had made?

_Duchess._ They only hoped and wished it may have fallen
Upon no foreign nor yet Lutheran noble.

_Wallenstein._ And you--what do you wish, Elizabeth?

_Duchess._ Your will, you know, was always mine.

_Wallenstein._ Well, then? 15
And in all else, of what kind and complexion
Was your reception at the court?
Hide nothing from me. How were you received?

_Duchess._ O! my dear lord, all is not what it was.
A cankerworm, my lord, a cankerworm 20
Has stolen into the bud.

_Wallenstein._ Ay! is it so!
What, they were lax? they failed of the old respect?

_Duchess._ Not of respect. No honours were omitted,
No outward courtesy; but in the place
Of condescending, confidential kindness, 25
Familiar and endearing, there were given me
Only these honours and that solemn courtesy.
Ah! and the tenderness which was put on,
It was the guise of pity, not of favour.
No! Albrecht's wife, Duke Albrecht's princely wife, 30
Count Harrach's noble daughter, should not so--
Not wholly so should she have been received.

_Wallenstein._ Yes, yes; they have ta'en offence. My latest
conduct,
They railed at it, no doubt.

_Duchess._ O that they had!
I have been long accustomed to defend you, 35
To heal and pacify distempered spirits.
No; no one railed at you. They wrapped them up,
O Heaven! in such oppressive, solemn silence!--
Here is no every-day misunderstanding,
No transient pique, no cloud that passes over; 40
Something most luckless, most unhealable,
Has taken place. The Queen of Hungary
Used formerly to call me her dear aunt,
And ever at departure to embrace me--

_Wallenstein._ Now she omitted it?

_Duchess._ She did embrace me, 45
But then first when I had already taken
My formal leave, and when the door already
Had closed upon me, then did she come out
In haste, as she had suddenly bethought herself,
And pressed me to her bosom, more with anguish 50
Than tenderness.

_Wallenstein (seizes her hand soothingly)._ Nay, now collect
yourself,
And what of Eggenberg and Lichtenstein,
And of our other friends there?

_Duchess._ I saw none.

_Wallenstein._ The Ambassador from Spain, who once was wont
To plead so warmly for me?--

_Duchess._ Silent, Silent! 55

_Wallenstein._ These suns then are eclipsed for us. Henceforward
Must we roll on, our own fire, our own light.

_Duchess._ And were it--were it, my dear lord, in that
Which moved about the court in buzz and whisper,
But in the country let itself be heard 60
Aloud--in that which Father Lamormain
In sundry hints and----

_Wallenstein._ Lamormain! what said he?

_Duchess._ That you're accused of having daringly
O'erstepped the powers entrusted to you, charged
With traitorous contempt of the Emperor 65
And his supreme behests. The proud Bavarian,
He and the Spaniards stand up your accusers--
That there's a storm collecting over you
Of far more fearful menace than that former one
Which whirled you headlong down at Regensburg. 70
And people talk, said he, of----Ah!--

_Wallenstein._ Proceed!

_Duchess._ I cannot utter it!

_Wallenstein._ Proceed!

_Duchess._ They talk----

_Wallenstein._ Well!

_Duchess._ Of a second----

_Wallenstein._ Second----

_Duchess._ More disgraceful
----Dismission.

_Wallenstein._ Talk they?
O! they force, they thrust me
With violence, against my own will, onward! 75

_Duchess_. O! if there yet be time, my husband! if
By giving way and by submission, this
Can be averted--my dear lord, give way!
Win down your proud heart to it! Tell that heart
It is your sovereign lord, your Emperor 80
Before whom you retreat. O let no longer
Low tricking malice blacken your good meaning
With abhorred venomous glosses. Stand you up
Shielded and helm'd and weapon'd with the truth,
And drive before you into uttermost shame 85
These slanderous liars! Few firm friends have we--
You know it!--The swift growth of our good fortune
It hath but set us up, a mark for hatred.
What are we, if the sovereign's grace and favour
Stand not before us? 90

LINENOTES:

[14] _you_ wish 1800, 1828, 1829.

[15] _Wallenstein (after a pause)._ Well, then? 1800, 1828, 1829.

[After 17] [_The DUCHESS casts her eyes on the ground and remains silent._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[31] _so_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[45] _Now_ 1800, 1828, 1829. _Duchess (wiping away her tears, after a pause)._ 1800, 1828, 1829. _did_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[53] _Duchess (shaking her head)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[62] _Wallenstein (eagerly)._ Lamormain, &c. 1800, 1828, 1829. _he_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[71]

And people . . . Ah!-- [_Stifling extreme emotion._

1800, 1828, 1829.

[73] _Duchess._ Of a second---- (_catches her voice and hesitates_). 1800, 1828, 1829.

[74]

_Wallenstein._ Talk they? [_Strides across the chamber in vehement
agitation._

1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 76] _Duchess (presses near to him, in entreaty)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

SCENE VIII

_Enter the COUNTESS TERTSKY, leading in her hand the PRINCESS THEKLA, richly adorned with brilliants._

_COUNTESS, THEKLA, WALLENSTEIN, DUCHESS._

_Countess._ How, sister? What already upon business,
And business of no pleasing kind I see,
Ere he has gladdened at his child. The first
Moment belongs to joy. Here, Friedland! father!
This is thy daughter. 5

(_THEKLA approaches with a shy and timid air, and bends
herself as about to kiss his hand. He receives her
in his arms, and remains standing for some time
lost in the feeling of her presence._)

_Wallenstein._ Yes! pure and lovely hath hope risen on me:
I take her as the pledge of greater fortune.

_Duchess._ 'Twas but a little child when you departed
To raise up that great army for the Emperor:
And after, at the close of the campaign, 10
When you returned home out of Pomerania,
Your daughter was already in the convent,
Wherein she has remain'd till now.

_Wallenstein._ The while
We in the field here gave our cares and toils
To make her great, and fight her a free way 15
To the loftiest earthly good, lo! mother Nature
Within the peaceful silent convent walls
Has done her part, and out of her free grace
Hath she bestowed on the beloved child
The godlike; and now leads her thus adorned 20
To meet her splendid fortune, and my hope.

_Duchess (to Thekla)._ Thou wouldst not have recognized thy father,
Wouldst thou, my child? She counted scarce eight years,
When last she saw your face.

_Thekla._ O yes, yes, mother!
At the first glance!--My father is not altered. 25
The form, that stands before me, falsifies
No feature of the image that hath lived
So long within me!

_Wallenstein._ The voice of my child!

[_Then after a pause._

I was indignant at my destiny
That it denied me a man-child to be 30
Heir of my name and of my prosperous fortune,
And re-illume my soon extinguished being
In a proud line of princes.
I wronged my destiny. Here upon this head
So lovely in its maiden bloom will I 35
Let fall the garland of a life of war,
Nor deem it lost, if only I can wreath it
Transmitted to a regal ornament,
Around these beauteous brows.

[_He clasps her in his arms as PICCOLOMINI enters._

LINENOTES:

[After 1] [_Observing the countenance of the Duchess._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

SCENE IX

_Enter MAX PICCOLOMINI, and some time after COUNT TERTSKY, the others remaining as before._

_Countess._ There comes the Paladin who protected us.

_Wallenstein._ Max! Welcome, ever welcome! Always wert thou
The morning star of my best joys!

_Max._ My General----

_Wallenstein._ 'Till now it was the Emperor who rewarded thee,
I but the instrument. This day thou hast bound 5
The father to thee, Max! the fortunate father,
And this debt Friedland's self must pay.

_Max._ My prince!
You made no common hurry to transfer it.
I come with shame: yea, not without a pang!
For scarce have I arrived here, scarce delivered 10
The mother and the daughter to your arms,
But there is brought to me from your equerry
A splendid richly-plated hunting dress
So to remunerate me for my troubles----
Yes, yes, remunerate me! Since a trouble 15
It must be, a mere office, not a favour
Which I leapt forward to receive, and which
I came already with full heart to thank you for.
No! 'twas not so intended, that my business
Should be my highest best good fortune! 20

[_TERTSKY enters, and delivers letters to the DUKE, which
he breaks open hurryingly._

_Countess (to Max)._ Remunerate your trouble! For his joy
He makes you recompense. 'Tis not unfitting
For you, Count Piccolomini, to feel
So tenderly--my brother it beseems
To shew himself for ever great and princely. 25

_Thekla._ Then I too must have scruples of his love:
For his munificent hands did ornament me
Ere yet the father's heart had spoken to me.

_Max._ Yes; 'tis his nature ever to be giving
And making happy.
How my heart pours out 30
Its all of thanks to him: O! how I seem
To utter all things in the dear name Friedland.
While I shall live, so long will I remain
The captive of this name: in it shall bloom
My every fortune, every lovely hope. 35
Inextricably as in some magic ring
In this name hath my destiny charm-bound me!

_Countess._ My brother wishes us to leave him. Come.

_Wallenstein (turns himself round quick, collects himself, and
speaks with cheerfulness to the Duchess)._ Once more I
bid thee welcome to the camp,
Thou art the hostess of this court. You, Max, 40
Will now again administer your old office,
While we perform the sovereign's business here.

[_MAX PICCOLOMINI offers the DUCHESS his arm, the
COUNTESS accompanies the PRINCESS._

_Tertsky (calling after him)._ Max, we depend on seeing you at the
meeting.

LINENOTES:

[30]

And making happy. [_He grasps the hand of the DUCHESS with still
increasing warmth._

1800, 1828, 1829.

[Before 38] _Countess (who during this time has been anxiously watching the Duke, and remarks that he is lost in thought over the letters)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

SCENE X

_WALLENSTEIN, COUNT TERTSKY._

_Wallenstein (to himself)._ She hath seen all things as they are--It
is so
And squares completely with my other notices.
They have determined finally in Vienna,
Have given me my successor already;
It is the king of Hungary, Ferdinand, 5
The Emperor's delicate son! he's now their saviour,
He's the new star that's rising now! Of us
They think themselves already fairly rid,
And as we were deceased, the heir already
Is entering on possession--Therefore--dispatch! 10

[_As he turns round he observes TERTSKY, and gives him
a letter._

Count Altringer will have himself excused,
And Galas too--I like not this!

_Tertsky._ And if
Thou loiterest longer, all will fall away,
One following the other.

_Wallenstein._ Altringer
Is master of the Tyrole passes. I must forthwith 15
Send some one to him, that he let not in
The Spaniards on me from the Milanese.
----Well, and the old Sesin, that ancient trader
In contraband negotiations, he
Has shewn himself again of late. What brings he 20
From the Count Thur?

_Tertsky._ The Count communicates,
He has found out the Swedish chancellor
At Halberstadt, where the convention's held,
Who says, you've tired him out, and that he'll have
No further dealings with you.

_Wallenstein._ And why so? 25

[625:1]_Tertsky._ He says, you are never in earnest in your
speeches,
That you decoy the Swedes--to make fools of them,
Will league yourself with Saxony against them,
And at last make yourself a riddance of them
With a paltry sum of money.

_Wallenstein._ So then, doubtless, 30
Yes, doubtless, this same modest Swede expects
That I shall yield him some fair German tract
For his prey and booty, that ourselves at last
On our own soil and native territory,
May be no longer our own lords and masters! 35
An excellent scheme! No, no! They must be off,
Off, off! away! we want no such neighbours.

_Tertsky._ Nay, yield them up that dot, that speck of land--
It goes not from your portion. If you win
The game what matters it to you who pays it? 40

_Wallenstein._ Off with them, off! Thou understand'st not this.
Never shall it be said of me, I parcelled
My native land away, dismembered Germany,
Betrayed it to a foreigner, in order
To come with stealthy tread, and filch away 45
My own share of the plunder--Never! never!--
No foreign power shall strike root in the empire,
And least of all, these Goths! these hunger-wolves!
Who send such envious, hot and greedy glances
T'wards the rich blessings of our German lands! 50
I'll have their aid to cast and draw my nets,
But not a single fish of all the draught
Shall they come in for.

_Tertsky._ You will deal, however,
More fairly with the Saxons? They lose patience
While you shift ground and make so many curves. 55
Say, to what purpose all these masks? Your friends
Are plunged in doubts, baffled, and led astray in you.
There's Oxenstirn, there's Arnheim--neither knows
What he should think of your procrastinations.
And in the end I prove the liar: all 60
Passes through me. I have not even your hand-writing.

_Wallenstein._ I never give my handwriting; thou knowest it.

_Tertsky._ But how can it be known that you're in earnest,
If the act follows not upon the word?
You must yourself acknowledge, that in all 65
Your intercourses hitherto with the enemy
You might have done with safety all you have done,
Had you meant nothing further than to gull him
For the Emperor's service.

_Wallenstein (after a pause, during which he looks narrowly on
Tertsky)._ And from whence dost thou know
That I'm not gulling him for the Emperor's service? 70
Whence knowest thou that I'm not gulling all of you?
Dost thou know me so well? When made I thee
The intendant of my secret purposes?
I am not conscious that I ever open'd
My inmost thoughts to thee. The Emperor, it is true, 75
Hath dealt with me amiss; and if I would,
I could repay him with usurious interest
For the evil he hath done me. It delights me
To know my power; but whether I shall use it,
Of that, I should have thought that thou could'st speak 80
No wiselier than thy fellows.

_Tertsky._ So hast thou always played thy game with us.

[_Enter ILLO._

FOOTNOTES:

[625:1] This passing off of his real irresolution and fancy-dalliance for depth of Reserve and for Plan formed within the magic circle of his own inapproachable spirits is very fine; but still it is not tragic--nay scarce obvious enough to be altogether _dramatic_, if in this word we involve theatre-representation. Iago (so far only analogous to Wallenstein as in him an _Impulse_ is the source of his conduct rather than the _motive_), always acting is not the object of Interest, [but] derives a constant interest from Othello, on whom he is acting; from Desdemona, Cassio, every one; and, besides, for the purpose of theatric comprehensibility he is furnished with a set of outside motives that actually pass with the groundling for the true springs of action. _MS. R_.

LINENOTES:

[Before 1] _Wallenstein (in deep thought to himself)._ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[37] _we_ 1800

[62] _never_ 1800.

[63] _known_ 1800.

[69] _thou_ 1800.

[70] _not_ 1800.

[72] _me_ 1800.

[76] _would_ 1800.

[79] _power_ 1800.

SCENE XI

_ILLO, WALLENSTEIN, TERTSKY._

_Wallenstein._ How stand affairs without? Are they prepared?

_Illo._ You'll find them in the very mood you wish.
They know about the Emperor's requisitions,
And are tumultuous.

_Wallenstein._ How hath Isolan
Declared himself?

_Illo._ He's yours, both soul and body, 5
Since you built up again his Faro-bank.

_Wallenstein._ And which way doth Kolatto bend? Hast thou
Made sure of Tiefenbach and Deodate?

_Illo._ What Piccolomini does, that they do too.

_Wallenstein._ You mean then I may venture somewhat with them? 10

_Illo._--If you are assured of the Piccolomini.

_Wallenstein._ Not more assured of mine own self.

_Tertsky._ And yet
I would you trusted not so much to Octavio,
The fox!

_Wallenstein._ Thou teachest me to know my man?
Sixteen campaigns I have made with that old warrior. 15
Besides, I have his horoscope,
We both are born beneath like stars--in short
To this belongs its own particular aspect,
If therefore thou canst warrant me the rest----

_Illo._ There is among them all but this one voice, 20
You must not lay down the command. I hear
They mean to send a deputation to you.

_Wallenstein._ If I'm in aught to bind myself to them,
They too must bind themselves to me.

_Illo._ Of course.

_Wallenstein._ Their words of honour they must give, their oaths, 25
Give them in writing to me, promising
Devotion to my service unconditional.

_Illo._ Why not?

_Tertsky._ Devotion unconditional?
The exception of their duties towards Austria
They'll always place among the premises. 30
With this reserve----

_Wallenstein._ All unconditional!
No premises, no reserves.

_Illo._ A thought has struck me.
Does not Count Tertsky give us a set banquet
This evening?

_Tertsky._ Yes; and all the Generals
Have been invited.

_Illo (to Wallenstein)._ Say, will you here fully 35
Commission me to use my own discretion?
I'll gain for you the Generals' words of honour,
Even as you wish.

_Wallenstein._ Gain me their signatures!
How you come by them, that is your concern.

_Illo._ And if I bring it to you, black on white, 40
That all the leaders who are present here
Give themselves up to you, without condition;
Say, will you then--then will you shew yourself
In earnest, and with some decisive action
Make trial of your luck?

_Wallenstein._ The signatures! 45
Gain me the signatures.