The world will judge me sternly, I expect it. Already have I said to my own self All thou canst say to me. Who but avoids The extreme, can he by going round avoid it? But here there is no choice. Yes--I must use Or suffer violence--so stands the case; There remains nothing possible but that.
O that is never possible for thee! 'Tis the last desperate resource of those Cheap souls to whom their honor, their good name Is their poor _saving_, their last worthless _keep_, Which, having staked and lost, they stake themselves In the mad rage of gaming. Thou art rich And glorious; with an unpolluted heart Thou canst make conquest of whate'er seems highest! But he, who once hath acted infamy, Does nothing more in this world.
Calmly, Max! Much that is great and excellent will we Perform together yet. And if we only Stand on the height with dignity, 'tis soon Forgotten, Max, by what road we ascended. Believe me, many a crown shines spotless now That yet was deeply sullied in the winning. To the evil spirit doth the earth belong, Not to the good. All that the powers divine Send from above are universal blessings, Their light rejoices us, their air refreshes, But never yet was man enrich'd by them In their eternal realm no _property_ Is to be struggled for--all there is general The jewel, the all-valued gold we win From the deceiving Powers, depraved in nature, That dwell beneath the day and blessed sun-light. Not without sacrifices are they render'd Propitious, and there lives no soul on earth That e'er retired unsullied from their service.
Whate'er is human, to the human being Do I allow--and to the vehement And striving spirit readily I pardon The excess of action; but to thee, my General, Above _all_ others make I large concession. For thou must move a world, and be the master-- He kills thee who condemns thee to inaction. So be it then! maintain thee in thy post By violence. Resist the Emperor, And, if it must be, force with force repel: I will not praise it, yet I can forgive it. But not--not to the _traitor_--yes!--the word Is spoken out-- Not to the traitor can I yield a pardon. That is no mere excess! that is no error Of human nature--that is wholly different; O that is black, black as the pit of hell!