For 265 years, 104 letters [written / writing] to French sailors by their loved [once / ones] sat on a shelf in a government building in the U.K. They were never opened, until [recent / recently] . They were read for the first time in two and a half [centuries / century] . The letters were on the French warship Galatée. The ship was captured [by / at] the British Navy in 1758 during the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763. The sailors on the Galatée were captured [before / after] they had time to open and read their [male / mail] . The letters were taken to London, where they were put in [storage / wastage] and forgotten about, gathering [dust / rust] . An academic from Cambridge University said the letters were in an [arch / archive] in London. He said many of them were love letters.
A group of academics [read / wrote] and studied the letters. Lead researcher Renaud Morieux said the messages provided a [bare / rare] and unique look into history. The writers were from poor people and rich people; from fiancés, parents, [saplings / siblings] and wives. The writing showed the differences in levels of [literate / literacy] among the classes of French society. Professor Morieux said the letters were [important / importance] documents. He said: "They reveal how we all [mope / cope] with major life challenges…like pandemics or [warriors / wars] . We have to work out how to stay [in / on] touch, how to care for people, and how to keep passion [life / alive] . Today, we have Zoom. In the 18th century, people only had letters, but what they wrote about feels very [family / familiar] ."
