WALLENSTEIN (in a convulsion of agony). What? How is that?

ILLO.

He takes that office on him by commission,
Under sign-manual of the Emperor.

TERTSKY.

From the Emperor-hear'st thou, Duke?

ILLO.

At his incitement

The Generals made that stealthy flight

TERTSKY.

ILLO.

Caraffa too, and Montecuculi,

WALLENSTEIN (leaning on BUTLER's shoulders).
Know'st thou already?

That old man has betray'd me to the Emperor.
Duke! hear'st thou? What say'st thou? Thirty years have we together
Lived out, and held out, sharing joy and hardship.
We have slept in one camp-bed, drunk from one glass,
One morsel shared! I lean'd myself on him,

Are missing, with six other Generals,

All whom he had induced to follow him.
This plot he has long had in writing by him
From the Emperor; but 't was finally concluded
With all the detail of the operation
Some days ago with the Envoy Questenberg.
[WALLENSTEIN sinks down into a chair, and covers
his face.

TERTSKY.

O hadst thou but believed me!

SCENE IX.

To them enter the COUNTESS.

COUNTESS.

As now I lean me on thy faithful shoulder.
And now in the very moment, when, all love,
All confidence, my bosom beat to his,

He sees and takes the advantage, stabs the knife
Slowly into my heart.

[He hides his face on BUTLER's breast.

BUTLER.

Forget the false one.

What is your present purpose?

WALLENSTEIN.

Well remember'd!

Courage, my soul! I am still rich in friends,
Still loved by Destiny; for in the moment,
That it unmasks the plotting hypocrite,

It sends and proves to me one faithful heart.
Of the hypocrite no more! Think not, his loss
Was that which struck the pang: O no! his treason
Is that which strikes this pang! No more of him!
Dear to my heart, and honor'd were they both,
And the young man-yes-he did truly love me,
He-he-has not deceived me. But enough,
Enough of this-Swift counsel now beseems us,
The courier, whom Count Kinsky sent from Prague,
[Rushes out of the room. I expect him every moment: and whatever

Hadst thou but believed me!
Now seest thou how the stars have lied to thee.
WALLENSTEIN.

The stars lie not; but we have here a work
Wrought counter to the stars and destiny.
The science is still honest: this false heart
Forces a lie on the truth-telling heaven.
On a divine law divination rests;

Where Nature deviates from that law, and stumbles
Out of her limits, there all science errs.
True, I did not suspect! Were it superstition
Never by such suspicion t' have affronted
The human form, O may that time ne'er come
In which I shame me of the infirmity.
The wildest savage drinks not with the victim,
Into whose breast he means to plunge the sword.
This, this, Octavio, was no hero's deed:

Twas not thy prudence that did conquer mine;
A bad heart triumph'd o'er an honest one.

No shield received the assassin stroke; thou plungest
Thy weapon on an unprotected breast-
Against such weapons I am but a child.

From what?

Some frightful mystery that is hidden from me.
Why does my sister shun me? Don't I see her
Full of suspense and anguish roam about
From room to room?-Art thou not full of terror?
And what import these silent nods and gestures

You know what it contains? Which stealthwise thou exchangest with her?

Into Bavaria, like a winter torrent,

Did that Gustavus pour, and at Vienna
In his own palace did the Emperor tremble.
Soldiers were scarce, for still the multitude
Follow the luck : all eyes were turn'd on me,
Their helper in distress: the Emperor's pride
Bow'd itself down before the man he had injured.
Twas I must rise, and with creative word
Assemble forces in the desolate camps.
I did it. Like a god of war, my name

Went through the world. The drum was beat-and, lo!
The plow, the work-shop is forsaken, all
Swarm to the old familiar long-loved banners;
And as the wood-choir rich in melody
Assemble quick around the bird of wonder,
When first his throat swells with his magic song,
So did the warlike youth of Germany
Crowd in around the image of my eagle.
I feel myself the being that I was.

It is the soul that builds itself a body,
And Friedland's camp will not remain unfill'd.
Lead then your thousands out to meet me-true!
They are accustom'd under me to conquer,
But not against me. If the head and limbs
Separate from each other, 'twill be soon
Made manifest, in which the soul abode.
(ILLO and TERTSKY enter).

Courage, friends! Courage! We are still unvanquish'd;
I feel my footing firm; five regiments, Tertsky,
Are still our own, and Butler's gallant troops;
And a host of sixteen thousand Swedes to-morrow.
I was not stronger, when nine years ago

I march'd forth, with glad heart and high of hope,
To conquer Germany for the Emperor.

WALLENSTEIN.

Begin your address.

ANSPESSADE (giving the word of command). Shoulder your arms!

WALLENSTEIN (turning to a third).

Thy name is Risbeck; Cologne is thy birth-place.

THIRD CUIRASSIER.

Risbeck of Cologne.

WALLENSTEIN.

It was thou that broughtest in the Swedish colonel Diebald, prisoner, in the camp at Nüremberg.

THIRD CUIRASSIER.

It was not I, General!

WALLENSTEIN.

Perfectly right! It was thy elder brother: thou hadst a younger brother too: where did he stay?

THIRD CUIRASSIER.

He is stationed at Olmütz with the Imperial army.
WALLENSTEIN (to the ANSPESSADE).
Now then-begin.

ANSPESSADE.

There came to hand a letter from the Emperor,
Commanding us

WALLENSTEIN (interrupting him).
Who chose you?

ANSPESSADE.

Drew its own man by lot.

WALLENSTEIN.

Every company

Now! to the business.

ANSPESSADE.

• Anspessade, in German, Gefreiter, a soldier inferior to a There came to hand a letter from the Emperor, corporal, but above the sentinels. The German name implies that he is exempt from mounting guard. Commanding us collectively, from thee

All duties of obedience to withdraw,
Because thou wert an enemy and traitor.

WALLENSTEIN.

And what did you determine?

ANSPESSADE.

All our comrades

At Braunnau, Budweiss, Prague and Olmütz, have
Obey'd already; and the regiments here,
Tiefenbach and Toscano, instantly

Did follow their example. But—but we
Do not believe that thou art an enemy
And traitor to thy country, hold it merely
For lie and trick, and a trump'd-up Spanish story?
[With warmth.

Thyself shalt tell us what thy purpose is,
For we have found thee still sincere and true:
No mouth shall interpose itself betwixt
The gallant General and the gallant troops.

WALLENSTEIN.

Therein I recognize my Pappenheimers.

ANSPESSADE.

And this proposal makes thy regiment to thee:
Is it thy purpose merely to preserve
In thy own hands this military sceptre,
Which so becomes thee, which the Emperor
Made over to thee by a covenant?
Is it thy purpose merely to remain

Supreme commander of the Austrian armies ?-
We will stand by thee, General! and guaranty
Thy honest rights against all opposition.
And should chance, that all the other regiments
Turn from thee, by ourselves will we stand forth
Thy faithful soldiers, and, as is our duty,
Far rather let ourselves be cut to pieces,
Than suffer thee to fall. But if it be
As the Emperor's letter says, if it be true,
That thou in traitorous wise will lead us over
To the enemy, which God in heaven forbid!
Then we too will forsake thee, and obey
That letter-

WALLENSTEIN.

Hear me, children!

ANSPESSADE.

Yes, or no!

There needs no other answer.

WALLENSTEIN.

Yield attention.

You're men of sense, examine for yourselves;
Ye think, and do not follow with the herd:
And therefore have I always shown you honor
Above all others, suffer'd you to reason;
Have treated you as free men, and my orders
Were but the echoes of your prior suffrage.-

ANSPESSADE.

Most fair and noble has thy conduct been

To us, my General! With thy confidence

Hath sacrificed me to my enemies,

And I must fall, unless my gallant troops
Will rescue me. See! I confide in you.
And be your hearts my strong-hold! At this breast
The aim is taken, at this hoary head.
This is your Spanish gratitude, this is our
Requital for that murderous fight at Lutzen!
For this we threw the naked breast against
The halbert, made for this the frozen earth
Our bed, and the hard stone our pillow! never stream
Too rapid for us, nor wood too impervious:
With cheerful spirit we pursued that Mansfield
Through all the turns and windings of his flight;
Yea, our whole life was but one restless march;
And homeless as the stirring wind, we travell'd
O'er the war-wasted earth. And now, even now,
That we have well-nigh finish'd the hard toil,
The unthankful, the curse-laden toil of weapons,
With faithful indefatigable arm

Have roll'd the heavy war-load up the hill,
Behold! this boy of the Emperor's bears away
The honors of the peace, an easy prize!
He'll weave, forsooth, into his flaxen locks
The olive-branch, the hard-earn'd ornament
Of this gray head, grown gray beneath the helmet.

ANSPESSADE.

That shall he not, while we can hinder it!
No one, but thou, who hast conducted it
With fame, shall end this war, this frightful war.
Thou ledd'st us out into the bloody field

Of death; thou and no other shall conduct us home,
Rejoicing to the lovely plains of peace-

Shalt share with us the fruits of the long toil

WALLENSTEIN.

What? Think you then at length in late old age
To enjoy the fruits of toil? Believe it not.
Never, no never, will you see the end
Of the contest! you and me, and all of us,
This war will swallow up! War, war, not peace,
Is Austria's wish; and therefore, because I
Endeavor'd after peace, therefore I fall.
For what cares Austria, how long the war
Wears out the armies and lays waste the world?
She will but wax and grow amid the ruin,
And still win new domains.

[The Cuirassiers express agitation by their gestures.
Ye're moved-I see
A noble rage flash from your eyes, ye warriors!
Oh that my spirit might possess you now
Daring as once it led you to the battle!
Ye would stand by me with your veteran arms,
Protect me in my rights; and this is noble!
But think not that you can accomplish it,
Your scanty number! to no purpose will you
Have sacrificed you for your General.

[Confidentially No! let us tread securely, seek for friends!

Thou hast honor'd us, and shown us grace and favor The Swedes have proffer'd us assistance, let us

The Emperor? Wilt not turn us into Swedes?
This is the only thing which we desire
To learn from thee.

WALLENSTEIN.

What care I for the Swedes?
I hate them as I hate the pit of hell,
And under Providence I trust right soon
To chase them to their homes across the Baltic.
My cares are only for the whole: I have
A heart-it bleeds within me for the miseries
And piteous groaning of my fellow Germans.
Ye are but common men, but yet ye think
With minds not common; ye appear to me
Worthy before all others, that I whisper ye
A little word or two in confidence!
See now! already for full fifteen years
The war-torch has continued burning, yet

No rest, no pause of conflict. Swede and German,
Papist and Lutheran! neither will give way
To the other, every hand's against the other.
Each one is party, and no one a judge.
Where shall this end? Where's he that will unravel
This tangle, ever tangling more and more.
It must be cut asunder.

I feel that I am the man of destiny,

And trust, with your assistance, to accomplish it.

BUTLER.

It is an open proclamation

Of insurrection.

WALLENSTEIN.

Well, well-but what is it?
BUTLER,

Where can he be? He's

Gone over to the Emperor with his father.

[THEKLA rushes out into the arms of her mother, hiding her face in her bosom.

DUCHESS (infolding her in her arms).

Unhappy child! and more unhappy mother!

WALLENSTEIN (aside to TERTSKY).

Quick! Let a carriage stand in readiness
In the court behind the palace. Scherfenberg
Be their attendant; he is faithful to us;
To Egra he'll conduct them, and we follow.
[To ILLO, who returns.

Thou hast not brought them back?

ILLO.

Hear'st thou the uproar?
The whole corps of the Pappenheimers is
Drawn out: the younger Piccolomini,
Their colonel, they require: for they affirm,
That he is in the palace here, a prisoner;
And if thou dost not instantly deliver him,

Count Tertsky's regiments tear the Imperial Eagle They will find means to free him with the sword.

From off the banners, and instead of it,

Have rear'd aloft thy arms.

ANSPESSADE (abruptly to the Cuirassiers).
Right about! March!

WALLENSTEIN.

Cursed be this counsel, and accursed who gave it!
[To the Cuirassiers, who are retiring.
Halt, children, halt! There's some mistake in this;
Hark! I will punish it severely. Stop!
They do not hear. (To ILLO). Go after them, assure
them,

And bring them back to me, cost what it may.
[ILLO hurries out.
This hurls us headlong. Butler! Butler!
You are my evil genius: wherefore must you
Announce it in their presence? It was all

In a fair way. They were half won, those madmen
With their improvident over-readiness-
A cruel game is Fortune playing with me.
The zeal of friends it is that razes me,
And not the hate of enemies.

TERTSKY.

What shall we make of this?

WALLENSTEIN.

[All stand amazed.

Said I not so?
He has not betray'd me—he could not betray me.
O my prophetic heart! he is still here.
I never doubted of it.