From the pen of Benjamin Franklin comes a furious letter, written in 1775 to William Strahan — a British Member of Parliament who had, until that point, been a friend of thirty years — as the American Revolutionary War took hold. Franklin quickly had a change of mind after penning it, and it was never sent; however, word of its content later circulated and it soon become famous.

If anything, it’s a lesson in how to sign-off with style.

Transcript follows. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Transcript

Philada. July 5. 1775 Mr. Strahan You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that Majority which has doomed my Country to Destruction. You have begun to burn our Towns and murder our People. — Look upon your hands! They are stained with the Blood of your Relations! — You and I were long Friends:— You are now my Enemy, — and I am, Yours. B. Franklin