No More Learning

89. Capn. Wadsworth: Joseph W. , an ances? tor of Pound's who in 1687 stole the Con? necticut State Charter and hid it in an oak tree to protect it, "to the embarrassment of legitimist tyranny" [PD,6].
90. ED. Three . . . : The gold double? florins [cf. 86 above] of 1344, "were the first Eng? lish coins of any kind upon which were stamped the words 'Dei gratia. ' Down to that time the kings of England coined by the grace of Caesar, or, as in John's case, the pope, his successor. Edward III. first coined
by the grace of God" [HMS, 241] .
91. sand. paper ordered . . . : Sandpaper was
. . .
67. in 1914: Prob. a ploy on the part of the British banks at the outbreak of WWl. Scar? city at home could only force the govern- ment to meet the banks' demands in costs of credit.
68. Coins . . . Poitou: "In 1189, upon his accession to the throne, Richard [Coeur de Lion] weighed out more than 10,000 marks from his father's treasure . . . in 1190, . . . he found it necessary to command and exhort his followers to accept his money-a tolera- bly sure indication of coinage. . . . Coins which were struck in Poitau under his au- thority are still extant" [HMS, 203? 204].
69. Caxton: "In 1192 Richard was taken prisoner. . . . In 1194 he was ransomed. . . . This ransom was collected in England and from the possessions of the English crown in France. . . . Caxton says that plate 'was mol- ten and made into money'" [HMS, 204].
70. PoIydore: "The old coin and bullion was prob. melted down [to pay the ran? som] . . . and delivered to the German Em- peror's legate-a supposition that predsely agrees with Polydore Vergil's account of the affair" [ibid. , 204? 205].
71. Villon: Not mentioned in the source [cf. 35 above].
72. "blanc": "During the Norman era farms were let . . . upon a money rent (numero) or bullion rent (blanc) . . . which Madox would lead us to infer were always made in silver" [HMS, 196]. "In explaining the use of the term 'blanc,' Madox confuses blanc silver
"Corrupt
coins
66. the plebs
not be forgotten that there were but four classes of people who had anything to do with public affairs-the imperial authorities, the royal authorities, the nobles, and the ecclesiastics. The adulteration of money was committed chiefly by the two last? named classes" [HMS, 194].
: "Plebians. "'
"It should
and blanc money. The former was silver bul- lion, the latter a white money, sometimes called album [white] made wholly or for the most part of tin" [p. 206].
73. Bacchus . . . massacre:
made their appearance in all directions. . . . In that age the solution of all monetary problems was found in torturing the Jews. Henry [III] had resorted to this measure
[once] before the decision of the General Council [to lower the standard of royal silo ver coins in 1247]. He now resorted to it again [the 2d massacre of the Jews was in 1264] . . . but it did not work. With the second persecution of the Jews, the besants
[coins worth 4s, and the most important in trade] became still scarcer. . . . One of the last in . . . besants . . . is a Hebrew bond and mortgage executed during the reign of Henry III. . . . The besants are therein called Iaku of gold . . . Iaku being the Hebrew form of the Greek Iacchus and Roman Bacchus"
[HMS, 212? 213].
74. wheat . . . perch: "The division of the pound of account into twenty parts, and each of these into twelve, was in this reign extended to the pound weight, used for the assize of bread. Still more strangely it was imitated in the subdivisions of the agrarian acre. By the Act 51 Henry Ill. (1266) it was provided . . . that 'when a quarter of wheat is 12d. per quarter, then wastel bread of a farthing shall weight ? 6 I6s. '; by which we suppose was meant 64/5 pounds weight. A similar enactment was made as to acres. The acre was divided into 160 pence. . . . Thus . . . (a penny of land) meant a rod or perch" [HMS, 213].
75. grammar . . . prosody: "If the kings of England previous to Edward III were not vassals [of the emperor], why have we none of their ordinances? . . . It is not alone upon literary evidence that the argument relies; it stands also upon the far more certain evi- dence of coins and nummulary grammar"
[HMS, 224? 225].
76. 7rpoaoooc; . . . : H, "the regular income of taxes. "
1,
1
? ? ? ? 616
97/672
97/672-673
used instead of clipping to remove small quantities of gold or silver from coins.
92. Mons of Jute . . . record: King Christian of Denmark, "a tyrant as well as a Zealot," and his minister, "who was little better than a wild beast," by "the grossest indigni- ties . . . had fired the Gothic blood. " The Pope's legate "by the sale of indulgences and other artifices . . . [had] managed to squeeze Qut of the poorest country in Europe nearly 'two millions of florins'. . . . " At this point, "It was not merely Norway and Sweden that rose up to throw off the shackles of Rome, it was all Scandinavia. . . . Jutland . . . trans- mitted to the tyrant of Denmark a demand
of deposition which was read to him by a single unarmed man . . . whose act should never be permitted to fall into oblivion. This hero's name was Mons, and it deserves to be written over the gateway of every oppres- sor" [HMS, 278-279]. Justice, as in Dante's "Thrones," demands that he not be for- gotten. .
93. Vasa klipped . . . : "The unlooked? for result of Mons' brave act was the abdication and flight of the cowardly Christian.
His uncle Frederick was chosen in his place but the real sovereign was Gustavus Vasa. . . [King] Christian . . . had introduced the klip- pings for the sake of personal profit; Gusta- vus issued them for the benefit of his country" [HMS,279].
94. Lycurgus, nomisma: "All the great en- franchisements of society have been accom- plished with the aid of fiduciary money. The Spartans won their liberties with the iron discs of Lycurgus; the Athenians . . . rehabil- itated the republic with 'nomisma,' a highly overvalued copper issue" [HMS, 279].
95. "limitation . . . OJ: "When the people take the government of a country into their own hands wealth naturally hides itself, and the first form of wealth to disappear is the precious metals. The moment a revolution or a civil war is declared gold and silver disap- pear [cf. 67 above]. Thereupon the emission of fiduciary money by the State becomes imperative" [HMS, 280]. A central thesis of
Social Credit, Douglas, and The Cantos. But the key to preventing infiation is the proper relation of "fiduciary money" to tax policy and the production of goods and services, or "limitation": "These [are the] principles of money-namely, that Money is a Mea- sure, . . . that the Unit of money is All Mon- ey within a given legal jurisdiction, [and] that the practical Essence of money is Limi- tation" [HMS, preface, 8; Science, 25-55].
96. Goertz von Schlitz: George Heinrich de Goertz, Baron von Schlitz, financial adviser to Charles XII of Sweden. "After the defeat of Charles XII. at Pultowa and his return from captivity money was scarce. . . . " Goertz had what seemed a good idea: issue copper dollars with the king's stamp as legal tender. The idea might have worked except for two factors: "First, government was too prostrate and weak to sustain a fiduciary money. Second, Goertz did not place any limitations upon the coinage. This (limita- tion) is the main principle and essence of money" [HMS,295. 296].
97. executed: After the death of King Charles in 1718, Goertz was charged with a dozen monetary crimes, including pecula- tion and ruining the public credit. Del Mar quotes from another source: "'the case went on without regard to formality or per- haps to equity. The court and the citizens seemed equally determined to hound him to death. _. . He was condemned to lose his head, and at a place appointed for the execu- tion of felons'" [Modern Univers. Hist. , XXX, 288]. Del Mar concludes: "This cruel
was ordered. " After that the king quit, and "a new bank was created which was . . . in- dependent of the government. " Then the bankers began their crooked deals over again [HMS, 303? 304].
99. 15. 08 . . . 1873: "The Scandinavian States practically demonetized silver. . . . 'The basis of conversion adopted was the proportion of silver to gold of 15. 08 for 1'. . . . These provisions were adopted in the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian laws of May 23,1873" [HMS, 306].
100. Mr Benton: [88:80,95:22].
101. Friesland . . . : In a chapter on the Netherlands, Del Mar traces the coinage of early centuries and relates it to the coinage of other states at the time. "1 regard the silver pieces of Friesland. . . as typically quarter-dirhems _. . or half-deniers. It is of no practical consequence [which] _. . jf as half-deniers, they should bear a ratio of 12 to the gold shilling of the empire, which they do not; whereas, if as quarter-dirhems,
they should bear a ratio of 61/2 to the quarter-dinars of Saracenic Spain, which they do" [HMS,312].
102. "The olde double-ducat: "During the Burgundian period, some of the Dutch du- cats now called double ducats . . . were 23 carats 31/2 grains fine (Budelins, p. 249, 'Old Double Ducat')" [HMS,315].
103. The olde turkish grouch": '7here was also a silver dollar . . . the prototype of the eXisting German thaler, the old Turkish grouch, and many other coins" [ibid. ].
104. Amsterdam . . . : "The 'Confederation of Bergers' was formed in 1566; the revolu? tion was proclaimed in 1572; paper money
. was issued in 1574; the Jews of Amsterdam organized a sort of Wissel bank in 1607; and the bank of Amsterdam, which, under the authority of the city, imitated and then des- troyed the Wissel bank and forbade the Jews from dealing in exchange, was established in 1609" [HMS,321. 322].
617
not in the source, are Pound's summary of a central Social Credit thesis.
106. Ike, '55: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890-1969, president of the U. S. , 1953- 1961.
107. Baffico . . . papers: In "Economic Na- ture of the United States," Pound wrote: "A perfect example of instinctive monetary good sense is met today in this small town. The newsvendor, -Mr. Baffico . . . because he lacked the necessary sma1l change . . . has had some little tags printed which he now gives to his patrons" [IMP, 39;SP, 184].
108. giornaIi: I, "newspapers. "
109. legat de Leices! re: L, "envoy from Lei- cester. "
sentence was enforced
[HMS,297-298].
March 3,
1719"
98. Copjenhaven . . . : "In 1745 it [the Bank of Copenhagen, founded in 1736] was released from the obligation of discharging its notes in coin. . . . This bank had issued paper to the amount of eleven millions of riksdalers, when the king returned their de- posits to the shareholders and became him- self the sole proprietor" [HMS, 303]. Then, "all further emission of notes was forbidden, and a progressive liquidation of the p~per
105. Del Mar . . . buyables: These four
lines,
110. Thomas
Henry VI11 issued an ordinance to "Thomas, Cardinal of York, . . . legat de Leicestre of the See Apostolic. . . . " Since gold and silver coins, "in the realm of France, as also in the emperor's Low Countries," were bringing higher prices than they were in England, "the money of our realm is daily . . . con-
veyed out of this realm into parts beyonds the seas. " Something had to be done to stop the flow. The king "determined that OUr coins . . . shall be . . . from henceforth made of such fineness . . . as may be equivalent . . . in outward parts" [HMS, 323].
111. "Ad perpetuam . . . memoriam": L, "In perpetual memory of their divine libera- tion from tyranny" [HMS, 327].
112. "'Rien de ce rnonde": P, "nothing in this world. "
113. "Godt behoede": D, "God protect. "
114. Pugno pro patria: L, "Fight for [your] country. " "The revolutionary moneys of Leyden were of white pasteboard, round, about I 1/2 inches in diameter and stamped or embossed to resemble a coin . . . . Their deonominations were 24 and 40 stivers. The former bore on one side . . . 'Godt behoede Leyden,' or God protect Leyden. The latter
. Realm: In 1526
? I
618
had the city arms on one side, and 'Pugno propatria' " [HMS,327n. ].
97/673
. . .
"Is it
of Prussia were nationalized in 1806 and are in circulation today" [HMS, 353].
120. Octonary sun-worshiping: Del Mar dis- cusses two systems of weights for coinage in the 16th century and concludes: "To the experienced metrologist it is evident that both of these are hybrid systems, originating remotely in the octonary numbers and rela- tions of the sun-worship practiced in the countries of the Baltic" [HMS, 356]. Pound uses it as a musical figure recalling the sun- rites of Sargon the Great [94:55; cf. 240
below], already dealt with, and rites to come in later cantos [Peck, Pai, 1-1,27-28].