<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">What's happening? </h2>

Historian Renaud Morieux did not know what to expect when he opened the box. Inside were three piles of letters. "I realised I was the first person to read these very personal messages since they were written."

The letters were sent during the Seven Years WarA global conflict that began in 1756. to the sailors onboard a French warship. But the letters never reached the sailors, because their ship was captured.

One letter was to the ship's first lieutenantAn army officer of middle rink. , Louis Chambrelan, from his wife Marie Dubosc.

"I could spend the night writing to you," she wrote. "I am your forever faithfulLoyal. wife. Good night, my dear friend. It is midnight. I think it is time for me to rest."

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Several letters were written to Nicolas Quesnel, a young sailor from NormandyA region of northern France..

His mother tells him off for writing more to his fiancee than to her. She adds: "In your letters you never mention your father. This hurts me greatly."

"These letters are about universal human experiences," Morieux says. "They're not unique to France or the 18th Century. They reveal how we all cope with major life challenges."

Yes! The letters show that love and sadness were felt just as strongly hundreds of years ago as they are today.

No! How we feel depends largely on the culture we live in. What some people find scary, others find exciting, for example.

Seven Years War - A global conflict that began in 1756.

Lieutenant - An army officer of middle rink.

Faithful - Loyal.

Normandy - A region of northern France.