Wallenstein

“ Wallenstein had made no demur, raised no standard of rebellion, had gone into retirement. The army mouldered away regiment by regiment. Some had joined Tilly, like Nigel. More had become idlers in the great cities. It had been Wallenstein's army. Without him to command even the Emperor could not keep the snows from melting.
And now came this mysterious message that Wallenstein would be summoned again. His old officers would be flocking back. Nigel felt it in his bones. Loyalty to a great leader is one of the strongest engines in the world, least visible to the eye, most potent in effect. ”

“ ILLO exit. WALLENSTEIN is following him. COUNTESS. Let him not leave thee, sister! go, detain him! There's some misfortune. DUCHESS (clinging to him) . Gracious Heaven! What is it? WALLENSTEIN. Be tranquil! leave me, sister! dearest wife! We are in camp, and this is naught unusual; Here storm and sunshine follow one another With rapid interchanges. These fierce spirits Champ the curb angrily, and never yet Did quiet bless the temples of the leader; If I am to stay go you. The plaints of women Ill suit the scene where men must act. ”

“ Thy heart is rich enough to vivify Itself. Thou lovest and prizest virtues in him, The which thyself didst plant, thyself unfold. WALLENSTEIN (stepping to the door) . Who interrupts us now at this late hour? It is the governor. He brings the keys Of the citadel. 'Tis midnight. Leave me, sister! COUNTESS. Oh, 'tis so hard to me this night to leave thee; A boding fear possesses me! WALLENSTEIN. Fear! Wherefore? COUNTESS. Shouldst thou depart this night, and we at waking Never more find thee! ”

“ The dagger of the murderers snatches Wallenstein from his dreams of ambition, even as the voice of the turnpike-man put an end to my dream of love. Both Schiller and Benjamin Constant, who gave proof of a new talent by imitating the German tragic poet, have gone to join Wallenstein, while I, at the gates of Eger, recall their treble fame. ”

“ MAX. The heart's voice thou hast not o'erpowered—as little Will Wallenstein be able to o'erpower it. OCTAVIO. O, Max.! I see thee never more again! MAX. Unworthy of thee wilt thou never see me. OCTAVIO. I go to Frauenberg—the Pappenheimers I leave thee here, the Lothrings too; Tsokana And Tiefenbach remain here to protect thee. They love thee, and are faithful to their oath, And will far rather fall in gallant contest Than leave their rightful leader and their honor. MAX. Rely on this, I either leave my life In the struggle, or conduct them out of Pilsen. ”

“ My lady explained that Wallenstein's army lay along this ridge--seventy thousand men, and forty thousand horses, and Wallenstein himself. His camp we heard was eight miles round, the front guarded by a line of cannon, and taking in whole villages and castles. And now I looked again I saw the smoke hang among the trees. They whispered in Nuremberg that no man in that army took pay; that all served for booty; and that the troopers that sacked Magdeburg and followed Tilly were, beside these, gentle and kindly men. ”

“ A human creature could not so at once Have vanished. ILLO (enters) . Is it true that thou wilt send Octavio? TERZKY. How, Octavio! Whither send him? WALLENSTEIN. He goes to Frauenberg, 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 this! No! I pray thee, no! WALLENSTEIN. Ye are whimsical. ILLO. O but for this time, duke, Yield to our warning! ”

“ The more he thought of the miraculous recovery of his wallet the less could he understand it. It must have been brought to Wallenstein by some emissary who had intercepted the robber. Or was it the man on the sorrel horse, that man of pots and phials and orbits and horoscopes, after all? Had he sought to propitiate Wallenstein, and had Wallenstein, recognising his duty to the Emperor, taken this circuitous way of returning it to the messenger, knowing full well what penalty he might otherwise expect? Yes! ”

“ The Archduchess drew up her head and pouted her red lips.
"We will consider this matter. The Empire shall not perish for need of us. Though, in faith, wanting Maximilian, the Empire still has Wallenstein!" She looked covertly at the priest as she mentioned the name.
"Your Highness has at times much prized our Wallenstein!"
"Yes, and with cause! By Wallenstein and not by Maximilian shall we be delivered. By all means let us use Maximilian as our buttress, but our sword and buckler in the open field will be Wallenstein. I would it were he and not Maximilian that I had to seek out!" ”

“ SCENE XIII. A spacious room in the Duke of Friedland's palace. WALLENSTEIN (in armor) . Thou hast gained thy point, Octavio! Once more am I Almost as friendless as at Regensburg. There I had nothing left me but myself; But what one man can do you have now experience. The twigs have you hewed off, and here I stand A leafless trunk. But in the sap within Lives the creating power, and a new world May sprout forth from it. Once already have I Proved myself worth an army to you—I alone! Before the Swedish strength your troops had melted; Beside the Lech sank Tilly, your last hope ”

“ The immense riches Wallenstein possessed, the universal reputation he enjoyed, the rapidity with which six years before he had assembled an army of 40,000 men, the little expense at which he had maintained this formidable force, the actions he had performed at its head, and lastly, the zeal and fidelity he had displayed for his master's honor, still lived in the Emperor's recollection and made Wallenstein seem to him the ablest instrument to restore the balance between the belligerent powers, to save Austria, and preserve the Catholic religion. ”

“ To this proud subject of his, fresh from his dalliances with his enemies, the emperor now appealed for help. Wallenstein agreed to raise an army, provided his control of it should be absolute. Ferdinand was constrained to grant all that his old general demanded. Wallenstein now raised his standard, to which rallied the adventurers not only of Germany, but of all Europe as well. The array was a vast and heterogeneous host, bound together by no bonds of patriotism, loyalty, or convictions, but by the spell and prestige of the name of Wallenstein. ”

“ Death and hell! I will—— TERZKY. Expose thyself to their blind frenzy? DUCHESS and COUNTESS. No! For God's sake, no! ILLO. Not yet, my general! Oh, hold him! hold him! WALLENSTEIN. Leave me—— MAX. Do it not; Not yet! This rash and bloody deed has thrown them Into a frenzy-fit—allow them time—— WALLENSTEIN. Away! too long already have I loitered. They are emboldened to these outrages, Beholding not my face. They shall behold My countenance, shall hear my voice— Are they not my troops? Am I not their general, And their long-feared commander! ”

“ But Wallenstein had many enemies; and never has any man been hated by a greater variety of foes at once. All who were envious or jealous of him—all whom he had eclipsed and mortified, and whom he had dispossessed of lands; all whom he had offended by his own haughtiness; all foreigners, because he openly disliked them; all priests, because he secretly distrusted them;—these and his Protestant countrymen joined in common action against him, under the lead of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. ”

“ Yet Wallenstein never allowed this luxury and splendour to stand in the way of higher objects. He was himself a strategist of no mean order. He had a keen eye for military capacity. He never troubled himself to inquire what a man's religion was if he thought he could render good service as a soldier. There were generals in his army whose ancestry was as illustrious as that of any sovereign in Europe, and generals who had no other title to eminence than their skill and valour. ”

“ Make you the son's fidelity Outweigh the father's treason, that the name Of Piccolomini be not a proverb Of infamy, a common form of cursing To the posterity of Wallenstein. MAX. Where is that voice of truth which I dare follow! It speaks no longer in my heart. We all But utter what our passionate wishes dictate: Oh that an angel would descend from heaven, And scoop for me the right, the uncorrupted, With a pure hand from the pure Fount of light. ”

“ Wallenstein appealed to the Scot in Nigel as a thorough man, no less brave than Tilly, but a genius for organising armies, a good Catholic, but no fanatic. It was like a shrill summons to Nigel to hear that Wallenstein might take the field again. But how could this proud damsel of Thüringen know? Who was she?
To be the daughter of the Landgrave of Thüringen was to be almost the daughter of a prince. She had not admitted it, but that she came of very noble birth he [16] was sure. She must be steeped in Lutheranism to be in Magdeburg during the siege. ”

“ Wallenstein was quickly taught how little he could trust his troops and officers. Many of his generals fell from him at once. A few regiments only remained faithful, and even in their ranks traitors lurked. With but a thousand men to follow him he proceeded to Eger, and from there asked aid of Bernhard of Weimar, as if he purposed to join with those against whom he had so long fought. Bernhard received the message with deep astonishment, and exclaimed, moved by his belief that Wallenstein was in league with the devil,—
"He who does not trust in God can never be trusted by man!" ”

“ While these feelings were gathering strength in Germany; while Wallenstein, with no friends, though many supporters, saw himself an object of jealousy or hatred to the leaders of every party throughout the empire; and while the suppressed but cherished indignation of all Protestant Germany was preparing for the emperor a dreadful day of reckoning, events were taking place in other countries which hurried on rapidly the dangers that Wallenstein had foreseen. In France, a weak king, and a powerful, politic, and relentless minister, appeared in undissembled hostility to the house of Austria ”

“ Of the individuals that figure in this world of war, Wallenstein himself, the strong Atlas which supports it all, is by far the most imposing. Wallenstein is the model of a high-souled, great, accomplished man, whose ruling passion is ambition. He is daring to the utmost pitch of manhood ”

“ Ferdinand, to gain his aid, gave him uncontrolled authority over the army he should raise and all its operations.
Wallenstein began recruiting. He soon had forty thousand men. The Catholics grew braver when the reconciliation of Wallenstein and the Emperor became known. This, added to the suspicions of the allies, constrained Gustavus to cease his successful offensive for a cautious holding of what he already had.
Wallenstein marched into Bohemia, the Saxons offering no resistance, and took Prague. He then moved to Bavaria and joined the Elector. ”

“ Thus did Wallenstein, at the age of fifty, terminate his active and extraordinary life. To ambition, he owed both his greatness and his ruin; with all his failings, he possessed great and admirable qualities, and had he kept himself within due bounds, he would have lived and died without an equal. The virtues of the ruler and of the hero, prudence, justice, firmness, and courage, are strikingly prominent features in his character; but he wanted the gentler virtues of the man, which adorn the hero, and make the ruler beloved. ”

“ Wallenstein. What is it then?
Seni (still more urgently) . O wait not the arrival of these Swedes!
An evil near at hand is threatening thee
From false friends. All the signs stand full of horror! 10
Near, near at hand the net-work of perdition—
Yea, even now 'tis being cast around thee!
Wallenstein. Baptista, thou art dreaming!—Fear befools thee.
Seni. Believe not that an empty fear deludes me. ”

“ He was first made Count, and then Duke of Friedland, with the authority of an independent prince of the Empire.
1625.
Wallenstein was superstitious, and his studies in astrology gave him the belief that a much higher destiny awaited him. Here was the opportunity: he offered to raise and command a second army, in the Emperor's service. Ferdinand II. accepted the offer with joy, and sent word to Wallenstein that he should immediately proceed to enlist 20,000 men. "My army," the latter answered, "must live by what it can take: 20,000 men are not enough. ”

“ The impetuous Pappenheim, ever anxious for separate command, had persuaded an Imperial council of war to detach him with a large force against Halle. The rest of the Imperialists, under Wallenstein, were quartered in the villages around Lutzen, close within the king's reach, and unaware of his approach. "The Lord," cried Gustavus, "has delivered him into my hand," and at once he swooped upon his prey.
"Break up and march with every man and gun. The enemy is advancing hither. He is already at the pass by the hollow road." So wrote Wallenstein to Pappenheim. ”

“ FIRST YAGER. Whatever I think may be said by me, For the general tells us the word is free. SERGEANT. True—that he said so I fully agree, I was standing by. "The word is free— The deed is dumb—obedience blind!" His very words I can call to mind. FIRST YAGER. I know not if these were his words or no, But he said the thing, and 'tis even so. SECOND YAGER. Victory ne'er will his flag forsake, Though she's apt from others a turn to take: Old Tilly outlived his fame's decline, But under the banner of Wallenstein, There am I certain that victory's mine! Fortune is spell-bound to him, and must yield ”