Beschreibung:

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, Signer (Pennsylvania) . Autograph letter signed ("B. Franklin") to David Hartley M.P., later British plenopotentiary and signer of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Passy, France, 8 June 1778. 1 page, 4to, 214 x 185mm. (8 3/8 x 7 1/4 in.), a blank strip of integral address leaf cut away, the panel present, addressed in Franklin's hand: "David Hartley Esq. Member of Parliament Golden Square London," and "per favor Mr. Strange," paper lightly discolored, a clean 2 in. tear neatly repaired, blue morocco gilt case by the Monastery Hill bindery. FRANKLIN AND HARTLEY TRY TO ARRANGE FOR BRITISH-AMERICAN PRISONER EXCHANGES "I wrote you a few lines the 25th of last Month, mentioning that we had here 200 English Prisoners, and desiring you to propose and Exchange. I hope you received my Letter, and that I shall soon be favour'd with an Answer. We are obliged to keep the Prisoners on Shipboard where I doubt they cannot be comfortably accomodated. I am ever, with the greatest Esteem, Dear Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant B. Franklin." 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). Franklin and Hartley found the situation of American prisoners in Britain and British prisoners in France a thorny one. The British ministry officially regarded American prisoners as traitors rather than prisoners of war. "They therefore ignored [Franklin's] readiness to issue paroles to British captives.....Through David Hartley Franklin urged the easing of the lot of prisoners as a step toward reconciliation, sent small sums of money for their relief and sought permission for an American envoy...to inspect the conditions in which American prisoners were kept....Delays and difficulties marred Franklin's plans for prisoner exchange; they were never fully realized until Yorktown" ( ibid ., p.281-282). Probably in recognition of his friendship with Franklin, Hartley was appointed by the Rockingham ministry as plenopotentiary in Paris during the crucial final phases of peace negtiations. "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. Provenance : "A New York Private Collector" (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 9 April 1980, lot 16).