Upon our arrival at this town, we were obliged to wait at the outward
gate above half an hour, no person being admitted to enter from twelve
till one, tho' all the world may go out; that hour being allotted for
the guards, &c. to eat their dinner. As I had no letter to any person in
this city, but to the French Consul, I had previously wrote to a Mr.
Ford, a merchant at Barcelona, with whom I had formerly travelled from
London to Bath, to beg the favour of him to provide lodgings for me; I
therefore enquired for Mr. Ford's house, and found myself conducted to
that of a Mr. Curtoys; Mr. Ford, unfortunately for me, was dead; but the
same house and business is carried on by Messrs. Adams and Curtoys, who
had received and opened my letter. After this family had a little
_reconnoitred_ mine, Mr. Curtoys came down, and with much civility, and
an hospitable countenance, told me his dinner was upon the table, and in
very pressing terms desired that we would partake of it. We found here a
large family, consisting of his wife, a motherly good-looking woman;
Mrs. Adams, her daughter by a former husband, a jolly dame; and several
children. Mrs. Adams spoke fluently the Catalan, French, English, and
Spanish tongues; all which were necessary at a table where there were
people who understood but one only of each language. Mr. Curtoys pressed
us to dine with him a few days after, a favour which I, only, accepted;
when he told me, he was nominated, but not absolutely fixed in his
Consulship of this city; that he had obtained it by the favour of Lord
Rochford, who had spent some days at his house, on his way to Madrid,
when his Lordship was Ambassador to this Court; and before I went from
him, he desired I and my family would dine with him at his country-house
the next day: instead of which, I waited upon him in the morning, and
told him, that I had formerly received civilities from his friend, Lord
Rochford, and believed him once to have been mine; but that,
unfortunately, I found now it was much otherwise; and observed, that
perhaps his politeness to me might injure him with his Lordship; and
that I thought it right to say so much, that he might be guided by his
own judgment, and not follow the bent of his inclination, if he thought
it might be prejudicial to his interest; and by the way of a little
return for the hospitable manner in which he had received and
entertained me, and my family, I took out an hundred and twenty-five
pound in Banknotes, and desired him to send them to England; adding,
that I had about thirty pounds in my pocket, which I hoped would be
sufficient for my expences, till he had an account of their safe
arrival. But instead of his wonted chearful countenance, I was
_contunded_ with an affected air of the man of business; my bank notes
were shined against the window, turned and twisted about, as if the
utmost use they could be of were to light the Consul's pipe after
supper. I asked him whether he had any doubts of their authenticity; and
shewed him a letter to confirm my being the person I said I was, written
to me but a short time before, from his friend Lord Rochford, from whom
he too had just received a letter: he then observed; that a burnt child
dreads the fire; that their House had suffered; that a Moor had lately
passed thro' France, who had put off a great number of false Bank notes,
and that I might indiscreetly have taken some of them; but assuring him
that I had received all mine from the hands of Messrs. Hoare, and that I
would not call upon him for the money till he had received advice of
their being good, I took my leave, and left my notes.
But as there was a possibility, nay, a probability, that Mr. Curtoys
might not have very early advice from England, or might not give it to
me if he had, (for all his hospitality of countenance and civility was
departed) I thought it was necessary to secure a retreat; for I should
have informed you, that I found at his table a Mr. Wombwell, whose uncle
I had lived in great intimacy with many years before at Gibraltar, and
who left this man (now a Spanish merchant) all his fortune. Indeed, I
should have said, that Mr. Wombwell had visited me, and even had asked
me to dine with him; and as he appeared infinitely superior both in
understanding, address, and knowledge of the world to good Mr. Curtoys,
I went to him, with that confidence which a good note, and a good cause,
gives to every man. I told him the Consul's fears, and my own, lest I
might want money before Mr. Curtoys was ready to supply me; in which
case, and which only, I asked Mr. Wombwell if he would change me a
twenty pound Bank note, and shewed him one which I then took out of my
pocket; but Mr. Wombwell too examined my notes, with all the attention
of a cautious tradesman, and put on all that imperiousness which riches,
and the haughty Spanish manners to an humble suitor, could suggest. I
tell you, my dear Sir, what passed between us, more out of pity than
resentment towards him; he said I will recollect it as nearly as I can,
"that if you are Mr. Thicknesse, you must have lived a great deal in the
world; it is therefore unfortunate, you are not acquainted with Sir
Thomas Gascoyne, a gentleman of fashion, well known in England, and now
in the same auberge with you." I confessed that I had seen, and
conversed with Sir Thomas Gascoyne there, and that it was very true, he
was to me, and I to him, utter strangers; but I observed, that Sir
Thomas had been ten years upon his travels, and that I had lived
fourteen years in retirement before he set out, and therefore that was
but a weak circumstance of my being an impostor; I observed too, that
impostors travelled singly, not with a wife and children; and that
though I by no means wished to force his money out of his pocket, I
coveted much to remove all suspicions of my being an adventurer, for
many obvious reasons. This reply opened a glimpse of generosity, though
sullied with arrogance and pride. "I should be sorry (said he) to see a
countryman, who is an honest man, in want of money; and therefore, as I
think it is probable you are Mr. Thicknesse, I will, when you want your
note changed, change it;" adding, however, that "he thanked God! if he
lost the money, he could afford it." I then told him, he had put it in
my power to convince him I was Mr. Thicknesse, by declining, as I did,
the boon he offered me; I declined it, indeed, with an honest
indignation, because I am sure he did not doubt my being Mr. Thicknesse,
and that _he_, not _I_, was the REAL PRETENDER. I had before told him,
that I had some letters in my pocket written by a Spanish Gentleman of
fashion, whose hand-writing must be well known in that town;--but to
this he observed, that there was not a Moor in Spain who could not write
Spanish;--he further remarked, that if I was Mr. Thicknesse, I had, in a
publication of my travels, spoke of Sir John Lambert, a Parisian Banker,
in very unhandsome terms, and, for aught he knew, I might take the same
liberty with his name, in future. I acknowledged that his charge was
very true, and that his suggestion might be so; that I should always
speak and publish such truths as I thought proper, either for the
information of others, or the satisfaction of myself. Mr. Wombwell,
however, acknowledged, that Mr. Curtoys, to whom I shewed Lord
Rochford's letter to me, ought to have been quite satisfied whether I
was, or was not an impostor; but I still left him under real or
pretended doubts, with a resolution to live upon bread and water, or the
bounty of a taylor, my honest landlord; for, tho' a Spaniard, I am sure
he had that perception, and that humanity too, which Mess. Curtoys and
Wombwell have not, or artfully concealed from me: yet, in spite of all
the unkind behaviour of the latter, I could not help shewing him my
share of vanity too; I therefore sent him a letter, and enclosed therein
others written to me by the late Lord Holland, the Duke of Richmond,
Lord Oxford, and many other people of rank; and desired him to give me
credit, at least, for _that_ which he could lose nothing by--that of my
being, if I was an impostor, an ingenuous one. He sent the letters,
handsomely sealed up, back again, without any answer; and there
finished for ever, our correspondence, unless _he should renew it_.
I am ashamed of saying so much about these men and myself, where I could
find much better subjects, and some, perhaps, of entertainment; but it
is necessary to shew how very proper it is for a stranger to take with
him letters of recommendation when he travels, not only to other
kingdoms, but to every city where he proposes to reside, even for a
short time; for, as Mr. Wombwell justly observed, when I have a letter
of recommendation from my friend, or correspondent, I can have no doubt
who the bearer is; and I had rather take that recommendation than Bank
notes.--I confess, that merchants cannot be too cautious and
circumspect; I can, and do forgive Mr. Curtoys, for reasons he shall
shew you under his own hand: but I have too good an opinion of Mr.
Wombwell's perception to so readily forget his shrewd reprisals; though
I must, I cannot refrain from telling you what a flattering thing he
said to me: I had shewn him a printed paper, signed _Junius_; said he,
"If you wrote this, you may be, for aught I know, really JUNIUS." I
assured him that I was not; for being in Spain, and out of the reach of
the inquisitorial court of Westminster-Hall, I would instantly avow it,
for fear I should die suddenly, and carry that secret, like _Mrs.
Faulkner_, to the grave with me.