To James Madison from James Bowdoin, 20 May 1806
From James Bowdoin
Paris May 20th. 1806.
Sir,
Since my arrival in europe, I have had the honour to address you on the 18th. of June, & 8th. of July from St. Ander: on the 31st. of July & 3d. of Septr. from London: on the 7th. & 27th. of dec:1 feb. 17.2 & mar. 9th. from Paris; since which I have received your circular letter of the 24th. of July;3 & your Letter of the 18th. of mar. last by Mr. Skipwith, wherein you acknowledge the rect. only of my letters of the 18th. of June & 31st. of July, which I suppose from the hurry of business may have escaped you; and that those written from Paris had not arrived: I ought to observe to you, that I make it a rule to forward Duplicates.
With respect to my Letters from Paris, that of the 7th. of dec. I have ascertained, could not reach you, as I expected: Capt. Leond. Jarvis of Boston commanded a fast sailing brig bound from Rochélle for Savannah, was to sail in Ballast about the middle of dec. & knowing both the owner & Captain, who were at Paris, I thôt myself very fortunate in the opportunity of transmitting it; but owing to the tempestuous weather of the last season, and the prevalence of westerly winds principally, the vessel did not actually sail until the 3d. of feb: the Duplicate was sent to England to the Care of mr. monroe to be forwarded: Mr. John Sullivan mercht. of Boston, the bearer of it, was detained twenty nine days at Helversloues4 with a vessel ready to embrace the first wind; but he was not able to cross the Channel during that period, and did not deliver mr. Monroe my dispatches until the 5th. of feb: when I heard of these circumstances, it was too late to remedy the Consequences; and I mention them, as I fear you may have entertained an opinion, that I may have been inattentive in duly advising you of the business committed to me.
I have this day submitted a detailed view of our affairs with Spain & of my present situation to the President,5 that he may see the state of the affairs entrusted to me, & how far my conduct is, or has been proper. I must refer you to that Letter, as it contains a number of important Facts & circumstances, which it would be very improper to be made public; but which, I have nevertheless thôt it my duty to commmunicate to the President. This mode of Proceeding has arisen from no want of Respect to you Sir, or to your Office; but has grown out of the necessity of the case, & the prudence & discretion, which the situation of things require. I shall take care to write to you by every safe opportunity as soon as occurrences of any importance shall take place. Please to present my most respectful Regards to the President, & my respects to Genl. Dearborn, to whom I shall write by this opportunity, if I can find time. I have the honour to subscribe myself with the highest Respect & attachment, Sir, Yr faithful & obed Servant6
James Bowdoin
RC (DNA: RG 59, DD, Spain, vol. 9); letterbook copy (MeB: James Bowdoin Letter Books). RC docketed by Wagner as received 15 July.
2. No 17 Feb. 1806 letter has been found. Bowdoin probably meant his 19 Feb. 1806 letter.
4. Hellevoetsluis, Netherlands.
5. In his fifteen-page 20 May 1806 letter to Jefferson (DLC: Jefferson Papers), Bowdoin stated that one consequence of the Louisiana Purchase was that it had become known that the United States could pay a great deal of money on short notice and that speculators and stockjobbers had made huge profits trading in the United States stocks paid for Louisiana and were hoping to do the same with any funds for the Floridas. He added that speculators had submitted propositions to Armstrong and himself claiming that they had come from Manuel Godoy as well as submitting to Armstrong those purporting to come from Talleyrand’s office, which Armstrong had sent on to the United States government despite his hostility towards them. Bowdoin suspected that the propositions originated with Daniel Parker and a former Philadelphia merchant named Cazeneau who lived in Talleyrand’s house. Bowdoin complained that Armstrong would not give him any information about the latter’s communications with the French government or with the United States until Spanish representatives arrived in Paris to begin negotiations; he claimed that the 13 Mar. 1806 joint instructions to him and Armstrong were unclear as to whether or not each of the commissioners could work alone, and that Armstrong’s refusal to share information left Bowdoin wondering just what part he was to play in the negotiations. He added that “sufficient harmony & good understanding” to allow easy exercise of the commission’s powers did not exist between him and Armstrong and that were he less attached to Jefferson’s administration, “nothing shd. induce me to continue in my present situation under existing circumstances,” and that he was not prepared to be “an automaton to other men’s measures” of which he was kept ignorant. He added in a postscript that should his comments about Talleyrand’s office become known, the consequences might be disagreeable, and that he thought no negotiations would take place because the current proposal to pay cash for the Floridas left the speculators no way to make money from trading in U.S. stock, which they would have preferred, and that should the current state of things lead to hostilities, the French and Spanish colonies would be destitute of supplies, which would lead to “sincere & honest measures” to procure peace.
6. Filed with this letter is a copy of Bowdoin to Albert Gallatin (2 pp.) enclosing his accounts (not found) and stating that because of his “particular situation” since his arrival in Europe, he had paid the expenses of his voyage to Spain and later to England from his private funds. For this reason he had not applied to the Amsterdam bankers for his outfit and salary until he arrived in Holland on 24 Oct. 1805; all of which explained the delay in making up his accounts until the end of the year and why they had not been submitted sooner. He also explained the reasons for the amounts for postage and stationery.