London 13 July 1775
[Extract]
'Tis a lamentable circumstance that a set of miscreant ministers shd have forced us into a Civil War; but as they have begun, I hope the Amerins. will remember the advice of Polonius to his Son Laertes in Hamlet "Beware of entrance into a quarrel, butt being in, bear it that the opposer may beware of thee." Capt [Nathaniel] Falconer has all the Public News which is not very material, as this is a dead season of the year in London, except that we have great reason to believe that the Spaniards are now, or will be very soon besieging Gibralter.
1. William Lee Letter Book, VHS.