Tea at Trianon: Hamilton the Mythical Musical

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Hamilton the Mythical Musical

From Progress:

Hamilton allied himself with others of scanty scruples, one being fellow immigrant Robert Morris. Like Hamilton, Morris had a Scotsman father, but unlike Hamilton his father was rich. How they enriched themselves was not a matter of morals.

Morris would sell the ragged Continental Army faulty military supplies at outrageous prices, enfeebling the already feeble bluecoat army. A frustrated General George Washington complained that the military contractor at home was a second front worse than the enemy in the field since the latter may be defeated while the former is as intractable as soldiers cussing.

Later Morris enticed Ben Franklin to join him in a land speculation deal. Ben lost all his money but being lovable his friends bailed him out. Years later, Morris set up an even bigger deal and lost all his own money. Not being nearly so lovable, he died friendless in abject poverty. Friend Hamilton died rich.

While both were in Congress, Hamilton put Morris in charge of the first National Bank which had been set up to house the gift of gold from the French king, Louis XVI (who was thinking less gift, more loan, silly him). Morris and friends (including Hamilton is not easy to show) did a series of paper transactions. They lent the gold to themselves, used it to buy the bank, and paid themselves enormous salaries and dividends.

Additionally, they printed too much currency, inflaming inflation, inflating land prices, further enriching land speculators. When their banknotes lost value, they refused to redeem them, preferring to keep the gold for themselves. Essentially, they legally looted the US’s first national bank. (Read more.)