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V

Whence knoweft thou that I'm not gulling all of
you?

Doft thou know me fo well? When made I thee
Th' intendant of my fecret purposes ?

I am not conscious that I ever open'd

My inmost thoughts to thee. Th' Emperor, it is
true,

Hath dealt with me amifs; and if I would,
I could repay him with ufurious interest
For th' evil he hath done me. It delights me
To know my power; but whether I fhall use it, ̈
Of that, I should have thought that thou could'st
speak

No wifelier than thy fellows.

TERTSKY.

So haft thou always play'd thy game with us.

Enter ILLO.

SCENE XI.

ILLO, WALLENSTEIN, TERTSKY.

WALLENSTEIN.

How ftand affairs without? Are they prepar'd?

ILLO.

You'll find them in the

very mood you wish. They know about the Emperor's requifitions,

And are tumultuous.

WALLENSTEIN.

How hath Ifolan

Declar'd himself?

ILLO,

Since you built

ILLO.

He's your's, both foul and body,

up again his Faro-bank.

WALLENSTEIN.

And which way doth Kolatto bend? Haft thou Made fure of Tiefenbach and Deodate?

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I would you trusted not so much to Octavio,

The fox!

WALLENSTEIN.

Thou teacheft me to know my man? Sixteen campaigns I have made with that old warrior.

Befides, I have his horofcope,

We both are born beneath like ftars in short
(with an air of mystery)

To this belongs its own particular aspect.
If therefore thou canft warrant me the reft

ILLO.

There is among them all but this one voice,

You

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 myfelf to them,
They too muft bind themselves to me.

ILLO.

Of course.

WALLENSTEIN.

Their words of honor they must give, their oaths,
Give them in writing to me, promifing
Devotion to my fervice unconditional.

Why not?

ILLO.

TERTSKY.

Devotion unconditional?

The exception of their duties towards Austria
They'll always place among the premises.
With this reserve-

WALLENSTEIN (Shaking his head.)
All unconditional!

No premises, no referves.

ILLO.

A thought has ftruck me.

Does not Count Tertfky give us a fet banquet

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ILLO (to Wallenftein.)

Say, will you here fully

Commiffion me to use my own discretion?
I'll gain for you the Generals' words of honor,
Even as you wish.

WALLENSTEIN.

Gain me their fignatures!

How you come by them, that is your concern.

ILLO.

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

WALLENSTEIN.

Gain me the fignatures.

The fignatures!

ILLO.

Seize, feize the hour

Ere it flips from you. Seldom comes the moment
In life, which is indeed fublime and weighty.
To make a great decifion poffible,

O! many things, all tranfient and all rapid,
Must meet at once: and, haply, they thus met
May by that confluence be enforc'd to pause
Time long enough for wisdom, though too short,
Far, far too fhort a time for doubt and fcruple!
This is that moment. See, our army chieftains,
Our beft, our nobleft, are affembled round you,

Their kinglike leader! On your nod they wait. The fingle threads, which here your profperous fortune

Hath woven together in one potent web
Inftinct with destiny, O let them not
Unravel of themselves. If you permit
Thefe chiefs to feparate, fo unanimous
Bring you them not a fecond time together.
'Tis the high tide that heaves the ftranded ship,
And every individual's spirit waxes

In the great ftream of multitude. Behold, They are still here, here ftill! But foon the war Bursts them once more asunder, and in small Particular anxieties and interefts

Scatters their spirit, and the sympathy

Of each man with the whole. He, who to-day
Forgets himself, forc'd onward with the stream,
Will become fober, seeing but himself,
Feel only his own weakness, and with speed
Will face about, and march on in the old
High road of duty, the old broad-trodden road,
And feek but to make shelter in good plight.

WALLENSTEIN.

The time is not yet come.

TERTSKY.

So you fay always.

But when will it be time?

WALLENSTEIN.

When I fhall fay it.

ILLO.

You'll wait upon the stars, and on their hours,

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