Samuel Curwen to Nathan Goodale, Esq., Nantucket, August 8, 1775

London, August 8, 1775.

DEAR SIR:

It really appears to me that administration will proceed to such extremities as will terminate in the ruin of England and the colonies. It is a capital mistake of our American friends to expect insurrections here; there is not a shadow of hope for such an event. The manufactories are in full employ, and one of the warmest of the friends of America told me that letters from Manchester expressed joy that no American orders had been sent, otherwise there must have been disappointment somewhere. What effects may follow in the spring if orders from Russia and Spain are not received, I cannot foresee: — some foretell discontent in the country which will affect the stocks; whether these will happen depends on contingencies of which I am not a judge. There appears to be a tenderness in the minds of many here for America, even of those who disapprove of the principles of an entire independence of the British legislature, and ardently wish an effort may be taken to accommodate. It is said most vigorous measures will take place in the spring if no offer be made on the part of the colonists.

With much regard, etc.

S. CURWEN.

SOURCE: George Atkinson Ward, Journal and Letters of the Late Samuel Curwen, Judge of Admiralty, etc., An American Refugee in England from 1775 to 1784, p. 35