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Lot Essay
FRANKLIN, Benjamin (1706-1790). Letter signed ("B Franklin") to David Hartley, Passy, 25 January 1779.
Three pages, bifolium, 228 x 178mm.
A sharp letter from Franklin to Hartley expressing his dismay over a recent setback in their efforts to effect exchanges of prisoners between the United States and Great Britain: "I a long time believed that your Government were in earnest in agreeing to an Exchange of Prisoners. I begin now to think I was mistaken. It seems they cannot give up the pleasing Idea of having at the End of the War 1000 Americans to hang for high Treason. You were also long of Opinion, that the Animosity against America was not national or general: But having seen the exterminating Proclamation of the Commissioners approved by King Lords & Commons, and that not attended with any Marks of Popular Disapprobation, perhaps you too begin to think that you were mistaken." Soon after Franklin established himself as the U.S. Minister to France, he made an appeal to London to effect prisoner exchanges—a request curtly rebuffed in the form of a letter from British Ambassador to France that he would not accept "applications from rebels, unless they come to implore his Majesty’s mercy.” (Franklin, Papers, 23:548). Franklin turned to his old friend David Hartley, who was a member of Parliament to help him organize material relief for Americans in captivity. However the capture of Burgoyne's army and the Franco-American alliance renewed hopes for exchanges of prisoners. Yet, over and over, again their efforts were frustrated by British officials, and it would not be until Yorktown that exchanges occurred.
Franklin then turns to Hartley's writings: " I thank you for writing those excellent Letters to your Constituents. I like all but your Reflections against the King of France for assisting us. In my Mind, the Coming to the Relief of an innocent People under the bloody Oppression your Ministers were exercising over them, and exposing himself and Nation, to a War on their Account, was not only what any Prince had a Right to do for the sake of common Humanity, but was a magnanimous & heroic Action, that is admired at present by the wise & good through all Europe, and will hand his Name down with Glory to Posterity!"
In closing, Franklin takes a moment to shore up their friendship, assuring Hartley that their "different ways of thinking in this particular will not however diminish our private Friendship, nor impair those Sentiments of sincere Esteem and Respect."
David Hartley, Jr. (1732-1813), M.P. for Hull from 1774 to 1780 and from 1782 to 1784, is a figure of considerable interest. An amateur scientist and inventor, he became a friend of Franklin in the 1760s. Strongly liberal in his politics, Hartley opposed the war with the American colonies and was greatly concerned that America, if pressed by Great Britain, would conclude an alliance with France, to the detriment of Britain's long-term trade. Hartley was one of an important group of Franklin's English friends (including Sir Joseph Banks, Richard Price, Joseph Priestly and others), many of whom "saw the events of 1776 as heralding a new liberated age.....This was an intellectual underground that was international, rooted in deism and liberalism--a product of Freemasonry, of the Enlightenment, and of the still-optimistic faith in reason. From these intellectual liberals came the contacts that led to the peace. They dreamed of a league of peaceful nations" (Esmond Wright, Franklin of Philadelphia, 1986, p.322).
Probably in recognition of his friendship with Franklin, Hartley was appointed by the Rockingham ministry as plenipotentiary in Paris during the crucial final phases of peace negotiations. "With Anglo-American friendship as his longer-range objective, Hartley predicted that the American States would be 'the foundation of great events in the new page of life'" (Richard B. Morris, The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence, 1965, p.432). On 3 September 1783 Hartley, Franklin, John Adams and John Jay signed the definitive treaty recognizing American independence. Published in Franklin, Papers, 28:169.
Three pages, bifolium, 228 x 178mm.
A sharp letter from Franklin to Hartley expressing his dismay over a recent setback in their efforts to effect exchanges of prisoners between the United States and Great Britain: "I a long time believed that your Government were in earnest in agreeing to an Exchange of Prisoners. I begin now to think I was mistaken. It seems they cannot give up the pleasing Idea of having at the End of the War 1000 Americans to hang for high Treason. You were also long of Opinion, that the Animosity against America was not national or general: But having seen the exterminating Proclamation of the Commissioners approved by King Lords & Commons, and that not attended with any Marks of Popular Disapprobation, perhaps you too begin to think that you were mistaken." Soon after Franklin established himself as the U.S. Minister to France, he made an appeal to London to effect prisoner exchanges—a request curtly rebuffed in the form of a letter from British Ambassador to France that he would not accept "applications from rebels, unless they come to implore his Majesty’s mercy.” (Franklin, Papers, 23:548). Franklin turned to his old friend David Hartley, who was a member of Parliament to help him organize material relief for Americans in captivity. However the capture of Burgoyne's army and the Franco-American alliance renewed hopes for exchanges of prisoners. Yet, over and over, again their efforts were frustrated by British officials, and it would not be until Yorktown that exchanges occurred.
Franklin then turns to Hartley's writings: " I thank you for writing those excellent Letters to your Constituents. I like all but your Reflections against the King of France for assisting us. In my Mind, the Coming to the Relief of an innocent People under the bloody Oppression your Ministers were exercising over them, and exposing himself and Nation, to a War on their Account, was not only what any Prince had a Right to do for the sake of common Humanity, but was a magnanimous & heroic Action, that is admired at present by the wise & good through all Europe, and will hand his Name down with Glory to Posterity!"
In closing, Franklin takes a moment to shore up their friendship, assuring Hartley that their "different ways of thinking in this particular will not however diminish our private Friendship, nor impair those Sentiments of sincere Esteem and Respect."
David Hartley, Jr. (1732-1813), M.P. for Hull from 1774 to 1780 and from 1782 to 1784, is a figure of considerable interest. An amateur scientist and inventor, he became a friend of Franklin in the 1760s. Strongly liberal in his politics, Hartley opposed the war with the American colonies and was greatly concerned that America, if pressed by Great Britain, would conclude an alliance with France, to the detriment of Britain's long-term trade. Hartley was one of an important group of Franklin's English friends (including Sir Joseph Banks, Richard Price, Joseph Priestly and others), many of whom "saw the events of 1776 as heralding a new liberated age.....This was an intellectual underground that was international, rooted in deism and liberalism--a product of Freemasonry, of the Enlightenment, and of the still-optimistic faith in reason. From these intellectual liberals came the contacts that led to the peace. They dreamed of a league of peaceful nations" (Esmond Wright, Franklin of Philadelphia, 1986, p.322).
Probably in recognition of his friendship with Franklin, Hartley was appointed by the Rockingham ministry as plenipotentiary in Paris during the crucial final phases of peace negotiations. "With Anglo-American friendship as his longer-range objective, Hartley predicted that the American States would be 'the foundation of great events in the new page of life'" (Richard B. Morris, The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence, 1965, p.432). On 3 September 1783 Hartley, Franklin, John Adams and John Jay signed the definitive treaty recognizing American independence. Published in Franklin, Papers, 28:169.