[Extract]
No. 289

Mylord Sandwich himself assured me day before yesterday that they would not send a single ship carrying more than fifty cannons to America. Admiral Shaldam [Shuldham] will command the squadron which is to sail any day now. The recall of Admiral Graves and that of General Gage have not been decided yet. The entire Council of the King of England does not seem to be favorably disposed towards them. I still persist in believing that they will lose their commands because they have been made responsible for all the defeats. I am far from thinking that their conduct is without reproach, but they deserve mostly to be blamed for having imagined the war in America. However, Mylord Sandwich himself is privately conceived that the Americans will grow weary and that Great Britain will subdue them by force. I must confess I think that these people are delirious. There can be no conciliation, we are certain of that today.