by enquiry soon found the office of the said agent, & presented my Bill--he cast his eye upon it, without speaking, then gave me a very scrutenizing look, & said, how came you in possession of this draft--I received, Sir, from M. V. la Fontaine, Minister of Marine at Brest--did you receive it in person, or thro” other hands--I received it myself--has it been in your possession ever since--it has--who are your freinds in this city--I have none, nor even a corispondent, nor ever was in the city before, &, Sir, your office, is the first, & only building I ever entered in Hamburg,--where did lodge last night--I now told him, that I came a passenger from Brewst, that the vessell stopped at Gluxstaad, that I landed & hired a carriage to bring me to Hamburg, that we were too late to enter the city last night, that the driver landed me in Altona, at Lants’s Hotel, where I lodged & Breakfasted this morn”, that I came alone into the city, & by enquiry had found his office--He then observed, it is an unusual mode of negociating bills, it is generally done thro” some resident merchant, especially by a stranger, like yourself--I told him, that in so simple a transaction, as that of presenting a draft for acceptance, I felt myself competant to the task, and thereby save paying a commission--well, ‘said he you have acted discreetly, took a pen & wrote accepted, across the face of the Bill--He then said; your money is ready for you; but this draft, must not go out of my hands again; for if it does, it never will be paid by me. This embarrassed me extreemly; what could I do, with 40,000 crowns in silver, in my situation, an entire stranger, in a strange City. After a moments reflection, I said to him, will you, Sir, give me your due bill, & allow me to receipt the draft--certainly, said he, I will; and accordingly, it was done. This, I knew, was exchanging the obligation, of a great & powerfull nation, for that of a private induvidual; but I thought, that circomstances justified the Act. I then asked him, if he would name to me, a house of entertainment, frequented by Americans, & he ordered a servant to conduct me to Lilbons Hotel--and thus closed the important interveiw with De’ chapeaurouge; & I found his _due Bill_, as good as Cash. [Sidenote: The Ways of Providence] Thus, how fortunate the circomstance of my interveiw with M^{r.} Loyle--but for his kind information & advice, I shou’d, no doubt, have put my draft, into the hands of the American Consul for collection; the consequence would have been, a protest; and another tour to France, to seek redress. And all this saved, by the Gates being shut before I reached them. How often, my dear Grand Children, do we repine and murmer, when disappointment, affliction, and trouble come upon us; & even distrust the goodness of our Heavenly Father; when we, very frequently, afterwards, realize that it was for our good.