[1777. August] 22. We hear that Ticonderoga is taken by the King's troops, and also Philadelphia; that the Hancock, Captain Manley, is taken, and the Fox retaken; but we cannot tell what to believe by what we hear; for since we have been taken we have heard, nearly twenty times, that Philadelphia was taken, and as many times that Washington was killed; that Congress was divided, that continental money was disgraced, that the Americans had laid down their arms, and that they were starving to death for want of provisions, and naked for want of clothing; all these things have been published in the newspapers, times without number, since we have been taken.