e definitive Treaty of Peace
with the United States. He, too, has dropped out of sight. In the
biographical dictionaries he has only a few lines. But he deserves a
considerable place in the history of our independence.

John Adams was often austere, and sometimes cynical in his judgments.
Evidently he did not like Hartley. In one place he speaks of him as
"talkative and disputatious, and not always intelligible";[66] then, as
"a person of consummate vanity";[67] and then, again, when he was
appointed to sign the definitive Treaty, he says, "it would have been
more agreeable to have finished with Mr. Oswald";[68] and, in still
another place, he records, "Mr. Hartley was as copious as usual."[69]
And yet, when writing most elaborately to Count de Vergennes on the
prospects of the negotiation with England, he introduces opinions of
Hartley at length, saying that he was "more for peace than any man in
the kingdom."[70] Such testimony may well outweigh the other
expressions, especially as nothing of the kind appears in the
correspondence of Franklin, with whom Hartley was much more intimate.

The Parliamentary History is a sufficient monument for Hartley. He was a
frequent speaker, and never missed an opportunity of pleading our cause.
Although without the immortal eloquence of Burke, he was always clear
and full. Many of his speeches seem to have been written out by himself.
He was not a tardy convert. He began as "a new member" by supporting an
amendment favorable to the Colonies, 5th December, 1774. In March, 1775,
he brought forward "propositions for conciliation with America," which
he sustained in an elaborate speech, where he avowed that the American
Question had occupied him already for some time:--

"Though I have so lately had the honor of a seat in this House, yet I
have for many years turned my thoughts and attention to matters of
public concern and national policy. This question of America is now of
many years' standing."[71]

In the course of this speech he thus acknowledges the services of New
England at Louisburg:--

"In that war too, sir, they took Louisburg from the French,
single-handed, without any European assistance,--as mettled an
enterprise as any in our history,--an everlasting memorial of the zeal,
courage, and perseverance of the troops of New England. The men
themselves dragged the cannon over a morass which had always been
thought impassable, where neither horses nor oxen could go, and they