l, 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; he is enthusiastic and vehement; but the
fire of his soul burns hid beneath a deep stratum of prudence, guiding
itself by calculations which extend to the extreme limits of his most
minute concerns. This prudence, sometimes almost bordering on
irresolution, forms the outward rind of his character, and for a while
is the only quality which we discover in it. The immense influence
which his genius appears to exert on every individual of his many
followers, prepares us to expect a great man; and, when Wallenstein,
after long delay and much forewarning, is in fine presented to us, we
at first experience something like a disappointment. We find him,
indeed, possessed of a staid grandeur; yet involved in mystery;
wavering between two opinions; and, as it seems, with all his wisdom,
blindly credulous in matters of the highest import. It is only when
events have forced decision on him, that he rises in his native might,
that his giant spirit stands unfolded in its strength before us;

'Night must it be, ere Friedland's star will beam:'

amid difficulties, darkness and impending ruin, at which the boldest
of his followers grow pale, he himself is calm, and first in this
awful crisis feels the serenity and conscious strength of his soul
return. Wallenstein, in fact, though preeminent in power, both
external and internal, of high intellect and commanding will, skilled
in war and statesmanship beyond the best in Europe, the idol of sixty
thousand fearless hearts, is not yet removed above our sympathy. We
are united with him by feelings, which he reckons weak, though they
belong to the most generous parts of his nature. His indecision partly
takes its rise in the sensibilities of his heart, as well as in the
caution of his judgment: his belief in astrology, which gives force
and confirmation to this tendency, originates in some soft kindly
emotions, and adds a new interest to the spirit of the warrior; it
humbles him, to whom the earth is subject, before those mysterious
Powers which weigh the destinies of man in their balance, in whose
eyes the greatest and the least of mortals scarcely differ in
littleness. Wallenstein's confidence in the friendship of Octavio, his
disinterested love for Max Piccolomini, his paternal and brotherly
kindness, are feel