Trampledst to earth each rank, each magistracy,
All to extend thy Sultan’s domination? 
Then was the time to break thee in, to curb
Thy haughty will, to teach thee ordinance. 
But no, the Emperor felt no touch of conscience;
What served him pleased him, and without a murmur
He stamp’d his broad seal on these lawless deeds. 
What at that time was right, because thou didst it
For him, today is all at once become
Opprobrious, foul, because it is directed
Against him.—­O most flimsy superstition!

WALLENSTEIN (rising).

I never saw it in this light before;
’Tis even so.  The Emperor perpetrated
Deeds through my arm, deeds most unorderly. 
And even this prince’s mantle, which I wear,
I owe to what were services to him,
But most high misdemeanors ’gainst the empire.

COUNTESS.

Then betwixt thee and him (confess it Friedland!)
The point can be no more of right and duty,
Only of power and the opportunity. 
That opportunity, lo! it comes yonder
Approaching with swift steeds; then with a swing
Throw thyself up into the chariot-seat,
Seize with firm hand the reins, ere thy opponent
Anticipate thee, and himself make conquest
Of the now empty seat.  The moment comes;
It is already here, when thou must write
The absolute total of thy life’s vast sum. 
The constellations stand victorious o’er thee,
The planets shoot good fortune in fair junctions,
And tell thee, “Now’s the time!” The starry courses
Hast thou thy life long measured to no purpose? 
The quadrant and the circle, were they play-things?

[Pointing to the different objects in the room.]

The zodiacs, the rolling orbs of heaven,
Hast pictured on these walls, and all around thee
In dumb, foreboding symbols hast thou placed
These seven presiding Lords of Destiny—­
For toys?  Is all this preparation nothing? 
Is there no marrow in this hollow art,
That even to thyself it doth avail
Nothing, and has no influence over thee
In the great moment of decision?—­

WALLENSTEIN. (during this last speech walks up and down with inward struggles, laboring with passion; stops suddenly, stands still, then interrupting the COUNTESS).

Send Wrangel to me—­I 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 angel—­dark misgiving,
An ominous sinking at the inmost heart. 
He can no longer trust me.  Then no longer
Can I retreat—­so come that which must come. 
Still destiny preserves its due relations,
The heart within us is its absolute
Vicegerent.