n the other man into my service?--for the minute _my white man_, for
he was a _whitish_ Moor, saw the black one arrive, he decamped; they
were afraid of each other, and both wanted to escape; my man went off on
foot; the black man was apprehended, while he was in treaty with the
master of the same bark he came in, to carry him to some other sea-port.
Now had I come in with such a servant, and with my suspected Bank notes,
without letters of credit, or recommendation; had the Moor arrived, who
is the real culprit, and who had been connected with my man, what would
have become of his master, your unfortunate humble servant?--I doubt the
_abilities_ of his Britannic Majesty's Consul would not have been able
to have divided our degrees of _guilt_ properly; and that I should have
experienced but little charity on my straw bed, from the humanity of Mr.
Wombwell. However, I had still one card more to play to reinforce my
purse; it was one, I thought could not fail, and the money was nearer
home:--I had lent, while I was at Calais, thirty guineas to a French
officer, for no other reason but because he wanted it: I knew the man;
and as he promised to pay me in three months, and as that time was
expired, I applied to Mr. Harris, a Scotch merchant, at his house at
Barcelona, on whom the London Bankers of the same name give letters of
credit to travellers. I begged the favour of him to send the note to his
correspondents at Paris, and to procure the money for me, and when it
was paid, that he would give it to me at Barcelona; but Mr. Harris too,
begged to be excused: he started some difficulties, but at length did
give me a receipt for the note, and promised, reluctantly enough, to
send it. I began now to think that I should starve indeed. Every article
of life is high in Spain, and my purse was low. I therefore wrote to Mr.
Curtoys, to know if he had any tidings of the Bank bills; for I had
immediately wrote to Messrs. Hoare, to beg the favour of them to send
Mr. Curtoys the numbers of those which I received at their house; and
they very politely informed me, they had so done. Mr. Consul Curtoys
favoured me with the following answer:

"Mr. Curtoys presents his compliments to Mr. Thicknesse; no ways doubts
the Bank bills _to be good_, from London this post under the 24th past,
they _accuse_ receipt thereof, &c. _Barcelona_, 12th of December, 1775."

As Mr. Curtoys's correspondent had _accused receipt thereof_, I thought
I might too