# Hamilton (play)/Act 1

Layout 2
Hamilton
ACT I
Reynolds. [Standing on chair at upper end table r.] I'm selling, I'm selling.
First Man. [Seated r. of table r. down stage end.] Keep quiet there, will you?
Reynolds. [Loudly.] I'm selling, I'm selling. States' securities for the price of printing. I'm selling—I'm selling!
First Man. Can't hear ourselves speak.
Reynolds. What's the use of keeping quiet? Where's a gentleman to do business if he can't do it at the Exchange Coffee House?
​Second Man. [Seated down r. other side of table.] Oh—where's the gentleman?
First Man. Send the gentleman here.
Reynolds. I'm the gentleman. [Laughter.] I'm selling, I'm selling!
Men. Sit down.
First Man. Melissa, a tankard of porter, my dear.
Reynolds. I'm selling, I'm selling!
First Man. Sit down, Reynolds! How can you be selling when there are no buyers! [Enter Tallyrand up l. at back.] Ask that gentleman if he's nearly finished with the newspaper, Melissa.
Reynolds. [Coming down stage c.] Don't any of you gentlemen want to make easy money? I'm offering you states' securities for the price of the printing. ​Here's a hundred dollars going to the highest bidder. Will any one bid five? [Holding up a paper.
First Man. What state is it on?
Reynolds. South Carolina.
First Man. I'll give you sixpence for it.
Giles. [Seated r. of round table, down stage l.] Where'd you get all this paper all of a sudden, Reynolds?
Reynolds. [r. c. down stage.] I got it from the soldiers, Mr. Giles. The poor soldiers have entrusted me ——
Giles. Huh! They'll be very poor soldiers if they trust you.
Reynolds. [Reading from a second paper.] Here's six months' pay due Private Hiram Mott—ninety-six dollars due from the state of Virginia.
​Monroe. [Up stage l.] That's not true, sir; Virginia's paid every cent she owes.
Reynolds. Ah, it's easy to see you come from Virginia, sir, but the poor soldiers ——
Giles. Poor soldiers! It's the fortune of war.
Tallyrand. [He has been settling the score with Melissa up stage. He speaks with a slight French accent.] Ha! Ha! The fortune of war! You bring about the war, your soldiers fight for you and conquer your enemies and then you repudiate their claim for pay. The fortune of war! The war for them—the fortune for you, eh?
Monroe. Well, Tallyrand, I thought you had decided to return to France. Changed your mind, eh? Rather risky yet for the aristocrats to go back.
Tallyrand. I leave to-morrow. I am settling my score with the beautiful Melissa.
Monroe. [Sitting l. of table.] You're going to take the chance, eh? Well, I hope to follow you in a very short time.
Tallyrand. [Leaving Melissa, who curtseys and goes out up r.] To follow me, Senator Monroe?
Monroe. As Minister to France.
Tallyrand. [Back of table l.] Ah, yes, how charming! President Washington has already appointed you, eh?
Giles. Not yet, but we shall get it all right.
​Tallyrand. We? Oh, you also? Two ministers?
Giles. No, not two ministers, but it sometimes takes two men to get one job.
Tallyrand. Ah! You mean it is not so easy. You have to deal with Alexander Hamilton.
Giles. We'll deal with him all right. Alexander Hamilton ——
Monroe. Shh!
Schuyler. Howdy, everybody!
​Tallyrand. [Goes to him effusively.] Ah, General Schuyler, how are you?
Schuyler. [Turning and bowing.] Count Tallyrand.
Tallyrand. And how fares your illustrious son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton?
Schuyler. Why, I guess he's all right. I've just come from Albany. I've been over to his house and find he's not at home.
Tallyrand. Ah, 'tis good for him to get away from his labors sometimes.
Schuyler. Well, it's a queer thing for him to be away this time in the morning. [Turning again to look around to the r. another man rises and says: "Howdy, General."] I thought he might be here ——
Reynolds. [Advancing effusively, taking off his hat and snaking a low bow.] General Schuyler, now I'll sell you one of these ——
​Schuyler. Everybody calls here.
Tallyrand. Yes, everybody comes to see everybody at the Exchange Coffee House. I find it amusing. It is Club, Restaurant, Merchants' Exchange, everything.
Schuyler. Ah, we'll alter all that in time. Count Tallyrand. We're young, you know. Give Alexander Hamilton time to sow some seeds. We'll have a real Merchants' Exchange and a real live country that will be able to pay its debts. [Twinge of gout. Melissa gets chair from in front of post r. and brings it down r. of Schuyler, replacing it against table r., then taking tray with other drinks across to table down l., giving one to Giles and one to Monroe.] And I hope I shall have a real foot, which I haven't at this moment. And if you don't mind, Melissa, my girl, I'll just rest it in the parlor before I hobble along. Good-day to you. Count Tallyrand.
Tallyrand. I shall call on Alexander before I leave.
Schuyler. He'll be extremely glad to see you. [Twinge.] Confound this foot.
Reynolds. [Who has been drinking and conversing with one or two shady-looking characters, coming to him.] Count Tallyrand, before you return to la belle ​France, wouldn't you like to buy up the whole of the French Loan? I'll sell it to you for ten cents.
Jefferson. [Coming down stage c.] Good-day to you, Citizens.
Melissa. [Coming forward with a curtsey to l. of Jefferson.] Good-day to you, Mr. Jefferson.
Jefferson. Good-day to you, Melissa. And how is your father to-day? Mending, I hope.
Melissa. Yes, Your Honor. Thank you, Your Honor.
Jefferson. No "Honor" for me; just plain Citizen, Melissa. Tell him I asked after him.
Melissa. Thank you, sir.
​Jefferson. [Turning slightly, raising finger in protest.] Leave off the "Sir."
Melissa. Yes, sir.
Jefferson. [Laughs slightly amused.] A little Madeira now, Melissa. [She goes hurriedly r., and exits.] Citizen Monroe [Shakes hands.] Good-day to you, Citizen Giles. [Does not shake with Giles.
Giles. Howdy, Tom Jefferson.
Jefferson. [Turning in front of table l.] Ah, Citizen Tallyrand.
Tallyrand. [Coming down c.] Count Tallyrand, if you please.
Jefferson. In America there are no titles. Citizen Tallyrand. In this land of the free all men are equal.
Giles. And they say titles ain't so very popular in France just now.
Jefferson. [Sitting r. of table l.] Ah, France! What a glorious change! The apostle of Liberty and Fraternity.
Tallyrand. Liberty! Fraternity! What do you mean by liberty, Mr. Jefferson?
​Jefferson. [Points to cap over mantel.] Ask your own countrymen, Citizen Tallyrand. There you behold the symbol of the liberty of your great land of France. To us in America, that crimson cap stands as a symbol of freedom—a symbol ——
Tallyrand. You call that dirty rag a symbol of Liberty? I call it a symbol of license, of lawlessness, of murder. What say you, Thomas Jefferson, to the murder of my king, Louis of France? Is that, too, a symbol of Liberty, of Fraternity?
Jefferson. It is the will of the people. The time is not far distant, Citizen Tallyrand, when every king in Europe will have been swept into the dust heap of history.
Monroe. Louis the Sixteenth was an oppressor of the people.
Jefferson. A tyrant.
Giles. Yes, sir.
Tallyrand. [To Jefferson.] You say that—you who for five years were Minister to France and enjoyed his friendship? You, who have sat at his table?
Jefferson. It was necessary to use the arm of the people. ​Fate decreed that your newly-founded Republic should be cemented with the blood of aristocrats.
Giles. Down with aristocrats! Down with tyrants everywhere!
Tallyrand. Yes, I know your idea of liberty! Down with aristocrats! Down with everybody—who is in your way!
Giles. I'll tell you one thing, Citizen Tallyrand, and I'll tell it to you now. There are some damned aristocrats in this country that'll get the same treatment your king got if they don't go careful.
Tallyrand. Who helped you win your freedom? The king of France.
Giles. Well, we ain't goin' t' have any kings in this country.
Tallyrand. Who desires to be king?
Giles. [Fiercely.] George Washington does.
Monroe. And Alexander Hamilton wants to be Prime Minister! Wants to be? He is Prime Minister this very minute. Prime Minister of America. Huh!
​Jefferson. [Conciliatory.] I assure you, Citizen Tallyrand, Citizen Giles and Citizen Monroe voice the sentiments of the great body of the American people. [Murmurs of assent from the crowd.] There is a growing unrest all over this land at the aristocratic tendencies of our President. There is bitter and righteous opposition to Alexander Hamilton's efforts to centralize the government and assume the debts of the thirteen free and independent states. Such a centralization of power would inevitably lead to monarchy. I stand on the platform of the Rights of Man—the rights of the individual—the right of each state to its freedom. And I tell you, Citizen Tallyrand, the gravest danger that threatens America to-day rests in the persons of those men who are striving to centralize the power of the United States; striving to establish a military dictatorship.
Monroe. A condition that will involve us in European quarrels in which it should be our policy to take no part.
Tallyrand. How can you keep out of European quarrels when your interests are bound up with those of Europe?
Monroe. Our riches and resources can bid defiance to any power on earth. It is only when our rights are invaded that we should make preparation for our defense.
​Tallyrand. [With a shrug.] Yes, and then it will be perhaps too late.
Jefferson. Citizen Tallyrand, I look for the day when during the rage of eternal wars in Europe, the lion and the lamb within our regions shall lie down together in peace.
Tallyrand. [Down beside Jefferson.] Yes, they would lie down together—until the lion feel hungry, then he would get up and eat the lamb.
Monroe. Against this tendency toward centralization, we who love the freedom of our own state will fight to the death.
Tallyrand. [Moving to c.] Yes, thirteen jealous states all working against each other. How are you going to pay your debts without a central government? You have no credit abroad. Your paper is not worth five cents on the dollar. Why don't you pay the men who furnished you supplies for your war? Why don't you pay the soldiers who gained you that liberty that you love so dearly?
Giles. Damn the soldiers. This country's goin' to put a stop to Washington's coddling of the army.
Tallyrand. [Advancing a little to Giles.] It was the soldiers who won you your precious freedom.
​Monroe. Well, Virginia's paid her soldiers.
Tallyrand. [Coming down on Monroe's level.] Has South Carolina? Has Rhode Island?
Monroe. That's no affair of Virginia.
Giles. No, sir.
Tallyrand. Why not? Did not the soldiers of Rhode Island help Virginia to her liberty? Each one fought for the common good. Each one should be paid.
Jefferson. By that, Citizen Tallyrand, I understand you to mean that the government should assume the war debts of all the states.
Tallyrand. Those debts were the price of your liberty. If you have a government, it should pay the country's debts.
Jefferson. Citizen Tallyrand, you are simply speaking from Alexander Hamilton's platform. You are an aristocrat.
Monroe. So's Hamilton.
​Jefferson. As such you cannot possibly understand the love of liberty that burns in the heart of every loyal American. [Rising and coming to Tallyrand.] This attempt by Alexander Hamilton to compel the central government to assume the debts of the thirteen states is merely a trick, a manœuvre, to give greater power to that central body and to ruthlessly crush the freedom of the states. We, as Virginians, love Virginia. Her freedom ——We will fight for her freedom ——
Tallyrand. [Coming toward him.] Mon Dieu! Fight! Where were you when Alexander Hamilton stormed the redoubts at Yorktown?
Jefferson. As you know, Citizen Tallyrand, I am not a soldier.
Giles. [Winking at Monroe.] Jefferson has never been a fighter, you know, Citizen Tallyrand.
Tallyrand. [c.] Citizen! Citizen! Citizen! You prate and boast about the rights of man, and sneer at Alexander Hamilton as an aristocrat. Have any of you worked for the Rights of Man as he has? When it was an affair of fighting for your liberty, he fought. At the age of nineteen—twenty years, he had risen to be Colonel and was leading the victorious charge at Yorktown. At the hour when your liberty was assured he lay down his arms and ​commenced to make a nation of you. I tell you I have known all the great men of my time—Pitt, Fox, Washington,—and of them all it is my boast that know Alexander Hamilton. Adieu!
Giles. Why, the crazy ——
Jefferson. Hush! He's right, friend, he's right. Hamilton is a great man, but his energies are misdirected.
Great man! Why, he ain't got half the following you have!
Monroe. That infernal French aristocrat has put the whole thing in a nutshell. Hamilton and Washington are working against the interests of the individual. They're working against us.
Jefferson. Come, come, we mustn't say that.
Monroe. Well, it's true!
Jefferson. That may be, but ——
Giles. Well, what you goin' t' do about it!
Jefferson. [To Melissa.] Ah, thank you, my dear. [He and Monroe drink. As they drink Reynolds flirts with Melissa; see above.] Citizen Monroe, I came in the hope of finding you here this morning because I have decided that it is necessary that you ​and I should make a friendly call upon Alexander Hamilton.
Monroe. A friendly call!
Jefferson. To conciliate him.
Monroe. With what object?
Jefferson. We need his cooperation. [Sits again.] The decision of the location of the Capital of the United States is now a matter of urgent necessity. It is vitally necessary that we should secure the Capital for the South, where our influence is paramount.
Monroe. Don't see any need to worry about that. The North hasn't got any chance anyway. Why, Washington's a Virginian—if he is under Alexander Hamilton's thumb.
Giles. [Rising.] George Washington ain't got a damned bit of loyalty in him!
​Jefferson. Come, come! I cannot discuss this matter with you, Citizen Giles, unless you refrain from invective.
Giles. Well—he's a Virginian, and yet he is just as interested in New York and Massachusetts as he is in Virginia. It makes me sick.
Monroe. The Capital of the United States doesn't go to the North as long as James Monroe has a fight in him.
Jefferson. Let us consider our own position. Hamilton is straining every nerve to pass through Congress his Bill for the Government Assumption of States' Debts.
Giles. It's an outrage. Let every state pay its own debts.
Monroe. Well, we're blocking that bill, and will continue to block it to the last ditch.
Jefferson. Without our coöperation—which we cannot possibly extend—his bill cannot go through.
​Monroe. Then what's the use of us going to ask favors of him when he knows perfectly well that we are the most active opponents of his bill?
Giles. I say, fight him.
Monroe. I believe you're right, Giles, fight him!
Jefferson. [Coming toward table l.] Come, come, Monroe, more flies may be caught with a dish of molasses than with a sea of vinegar. You know you've set your heart on being appointed Minister to France.
Monroe. I have.
Jefferson. Hamilton's word will go a long way with Washington. [Reynolds turns his head slightly toward them, then picking up paper sits on seat r. of fireplace and reads, removing his hat, which he places beside him.] Come, we'll make a friendly call.
Giles. Hamilton will fight tooth and nail to have the Capital in New York.
Jefferson. That may be. Hamilton is a New Yorker.
Giles. [Sneers.] Is he? He comes from God knows where.
​Jefferson. Sh—sh!
Giles. A bastard, born in the ——
Monroe. We don't need to discuss his arrival into the world, Giles. I am far more interested in his removal.
Jefferson. [Moving to c.] We must be prepared for his opposition to the South ——
Monroe. It will be a lasting disgrace to this country if the Capital is not in Virginia.
Jefferson. Too remote, Monroe. You see we've no post-roads. Inaccessible from New England.
Giles. Damn it! Ain't you workin' for Virginia?
Jefferson. I'm afraid we cannot hope for Virginia. I believe, though, if we go carefully, there is a chance of getting it for the South.
Monroe. Where?
​Jefferson. On the Potomac.
Giles. Well, that's a damned sight better'n New York.
Jefferson. [Coming back to table.] Come, we will call on Hamilton this evening—a friendly call—after supper, perhaps. But remember we must steer clear of any mention of his Bill for the Government Assumption of States' Debts.
Monroe. It doesn't suit me to go begging to Hamilton.
Giles. He's got the President wound round his little finger.
Monroe. And the people trust him.
Giles. Shake the people's faith in him, that's the thing.
Jefferson. He's honest, Giles. We've tested his honesty.
Monroe. Yes, the Anti-Federalists have attacked his honesty as Secretary of the Treasury from every possible angle, and he's always beaten us.
Giles. We ain't used up our whole bag o' tricks yet, not by a damned sight.
​Jefferson. [With a slight look of disapproval at Giles.] Then, Citizen Monroe, we will meet here this evening at nine. [Monroe rises.] We will make a late call on Hamilton, as I wish our visit to be regarded scarcely as one relating to business.
Giles. [Scratching chin.] If we could only make the people believe that Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, ain't playin' fair with the gate-money—why, we'd have the hull country in our pockets.
Schuyler. I think I'll be hobbling off, Melissa. My regards to your father.
Jefferson. Good-day to you. Citizen Schuyler.
Schuyler. [At post l. of fireplace.] Howdy do, Mr. Jefferson. Howdy do, Senator Monroe.
Jefferson. And how's the gout?
​Schuyler. Well, it's —— [Gets a twinge.] Oh—I can't tell you in the presence of this young lady.
Monroe. [Coming up l.] We were just talking about your son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton.
Schuyler. [With a grunt.] Ah! That doesn't surprise me.
Jefferson. Mrs. Hamilton is not back from England yet?
Schuyler. No, Betsy's not back yet.
Jefferson. I understand she went over to see your other daughter who was sick. I trust she is better.
Schuyler. Yes, she's all right now, thank God!
Monroe. Mr. Jefferson and I propose to drop in and see Alexander Hamilton to-night.
Jefferson. I hope that he is well.
Schuyler. Yes, he's as well as you fellows will let him be.
​Monroe. [A step toward him angrily.] What do you mean by that, General Schuyler?
Schuyler. [Responding with anger.] You know what I mean.
Jefferson. [Between them and laughing.] Come, come, do not let us quarrel. We're coming in to have a little chat with Citizen Hamilton concerning the location of the Capital. [Schuyler looks interested.] Citizen Schuyler, I bid you good-day, sir. Good-day to you, Citizen Giles.
Monroe. Good-day.
Giles. Good-day. [Exit Jefferson and Monroe to l. through street door.] Give my love to Alexander.
Schuyler. [Looks after Jefferson and Monroe and then at Giles.] You're cooking something for him between you, and you're the chief stoker.
Giles. I'm a fighter, if that's what you mean.
Schuyler. Yes, you're a fighter, but a damned poor sportsman. When your party wants to circulate any damnable insinuations about Alexander Hamilton, they go to Giles of Virginia and he does the dirty ​work. [Giles turns.] Because you and your gang know that Alexander has the confidence of the people and that he means to make the government assume the states' debts, you are forever trying to trip him up—shouting corruption in the Treasury, dishonesty in the Treasury, and God knows what. [Moving toward l. and turning again.] I don't say who's the author of the accusations. I don't say it's Tom Jefferson or Senator Monroe, but I know where to put my hand on the man who does the dirty work. [Giles crosses angrily toward him.] Yes, you're a fighter, but you know only one knockout blow, and that's the one below the belt. You needn't glare at me. I wouldn't soil my hands with you, but this is one of the times when I wish I had gout anywhere but in my foot.
Reynolds. [Who has been listening and enjoying the row, says meditatively.] Shake the people's faith in him.
Giles. [Turning to him.] What d'you say?
Reynolds. [Smiling.] Shake the people's faith in him.
Giles. You've been listening, eh?
​Reynolds. Well, that's the only way I get a living, Mr. Giles—keeping my ears open.
Giles. Well, keep your mouth shut.
Reynolds. [Rising and coming to c. slowly, laughing.] Pretty hard job to shake the people's faith in Alexander Hamilton, ain't it?
Giles. Mind your own damn business.
Reynolds. [Laughs and crosses to chair back of table l.; puts his hat down on table.] You've tried to prove him incompetent; you've tried to prove him dishonest; but there's one thing you haven't tried, Mr. Giles.
Giles. [Turning away from him.] Go to the devil.
Reynolds. And it's strange you haven't thought of it. How about a woman?
Giles. You're a little gentleman, ain't yer, Reynolds?
​Reynolds. Women are the deuce for tangling up a man's finances.
Giles. You know all about it, don't you?
Reynolds. Yes, I know a good deal about women. I'm married, you know.
Giles. Yes, I know.
Reynolds. I know a good deal about men, too. Now Mrs. Hamilton is away, been away a long time in England. Now, what do you say ——
Giles. [Turning away.] I don't want any advice from you. Besides, as you know so much, you know that Hamilton hardly ever leaves his house.
Reynolds. Makes it all the easier. Send the woman to the house.
Giles. [Looking in front of him.] What the devil do you mean?
Reynolds. It's a matter of choosing the right woman and the right moment. [Puts down pipe and leans forward.] You've seen Mrs. Reynolds, haven't you?
​Giles. Your wife?
Reynolds. Yes.
Giles. [Turning squarely toward him.] God, you're a bad 'un, ain't you?
Reynolds. [Leaning back and smiling.] I'm what may be called a soldier of fortune, Mr. Giles.
Giles. You come in on the blackmailing end of the game, eh? You'd do any damned thing for a ten dollar piece, wouldn't you?
Reynolds. Yes, I'm afraid my price is a little lower than yours, Mr. Giles. [Leans forward again.] You might see Mrs. Reynolds. She's a nice little thing. I'm very fond of her, but she's too good for me.
Giles. [Looking in front of him again.] Oh!
Reynolds. Yes, it's the clothes, you know, that cause the trouble. She must have pretty clothes. She's young, you see. She —— [Noticing that Giles is interested he takes a pen and writes on a slip of paper, rises and puts the paper on Giles' knee.] That's our address, Mr. Giles.
​Giles. She be at home now?
Reynolds. [Smiling and coming back a step.] Yes, I think so. You've seen her with me, haven't you?
Giles. Yes.
Reynolds. She's a pretty little thing, ain't she? [Giles looks at him sideways.] She's a clever little thing, too. Well, good-day, Mr. Giles.
CURTAIN