1To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 10 October 1785 (Jefferson Papers)
I have lately understood that Congress have under consideration a report of their Minister for foreign affairs, relative to the appointment of Consuls in several parts of Europe; and that the appointment is to be made by the Ministers Plenipotentiary from the United States: the power of each Minister in this respect to be exercised within a certain district; and that your Excellency’s district...
2To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 23 October 1785 (Jefferson Papers)
Proposals having been made by the Marquis de Lafayette for a Commercial Establishment between this Country and France; I beg Leave to recommend to your Excellency’s Patronage and good Offices Mr. Nathl. Barrett, the Gentleman to whose Care the Merchants here, Confiding in his Integrity and Judgment, have Committed the Negotiation. The Object, the admission of American Oil into France, for...
3From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 8 February 1786 (Jefferson Papers)
I was honoured with your Excellency’s letters of Octob. 10. and 23. by Mr. Barrett. Before his arrival a Mr. Boylston had come here with a cargo of whale oil, and had wished of the Marquis de la Fayette and myself to procure for him the same exemptions from duty as had been obtained the year before for a company. I was of opinion it would be better at once to obtain an abatement for all our...
4To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 22 July 1786 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the pleasure of your Letter of the 8th. February, and thank your Excellency for the information contained in it. The young Gentleman, who will do himself the honour of waiting upon you with this Letter, is Mr. Appleton, a Son of the Intendent of the United States loan office in this Town. He is in the mercantile line, and has conducted with reputation. The Father, a very worthy...
5To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 24 February 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
Although I am personally unknown to you, it is not with the less pleasure, that I congratulate you upon the events of the late election, which introduce you to the chair of the United States. The contest has been an arduous one, & the triumph, which has succeeded it, I trust, will prove not less beneficial to our common country, than honourable to you. Be assured Sir, that neither my wishes,...
6From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 8 March 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
I recollect with great satisfaction the acquaintance I had the honour of having with your most respectable father, and have seen with great pleasure the line of conduct you have yourself pursued, so worthy of him. the wonderful combinations of events, with the uses made of them, has been such as might lead even the best men from the true principles of free government. that you have not yielded...
7To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 23 November 1804 (Jefferson Papers)
I should be insensible to the marked & distinguished notice, you have been pleased to take of me, in nominating me, as one of the foreign ministers of the united States, did I not avail myself of the earliest opportunity, to thank you for your condescension & politeness, in thus thinking of me.— Should it Sir, not meet the sanction of the Senate or should I, from ill-health, or other cause,...
8To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 25 March 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
I cannot resist, Sir, the disposition which I feel of writing to you, from the renewed instance of your politeness & condescension, in readily dispensing with my attendance at Washington, from motives, which refer to my Health: this indulgence, rather than to accept of my Resignation, demands from me my most respectful acknowledgments; and you will permit me upon the occasion to present you...
9From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 27 April 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of Mar. 25. has been duly recd. I regret that the state of your health renders a visit to this place unadvisable. Besides the gratification we should have felt from personal considerations the perusal of the correspondences, for some time back, with the governments of Europe most interesting to us, would have enabled you to act under all emergencies with that satisfaction to...
10To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 7 May 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Letter of the 27th. Ultimo: & I regret extremely that such has been the State of my health, as not to allow of my proceeding to Washington, to receive the pleasure of being more intimately known to you Sir, & to the Gentlemen assisting you in the heavy burdens of government; as well as to derive those advantages so justly suggested in your...
11To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 1 March 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I shd. have written to you ‘ere this had I have had any thing to suggest to you, which I could think of any importance beyond those communications, which I have had the honour to transmit to you through the Secretary of State: By these letters you will doubtless have seen the line of conduct I have pursued in reference to my health, to my mission, & to the objects necessarily connected...
12To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 20 May 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the honour to write to you on the 1st. of March last, wch. I forwarded by Mr. Cabel, & wch. like others of my letters, seems to have met unexpected detention: I therein stated to you what had been my situation & conduct since my arrival in europe, and what changes had taken place in the situation and politics of france, & of some of the principal european states: and particularly in...
13To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 3 July 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I take the liberty of acquainting you with the sudden death of Mr Lewis oBrien, late Consul of the U States for the Port of St. Ander in Spain. He was at Madrid making reclamations of the property of our Citizens, condemned in the lower [prvat] Courts, where he died in a most distressing manner on the 24th of April last, as will appear by the enclosed letters. I was not personally acquainted...
14From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 10 July 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I believe that when you left America the invention of the Polygraph had not yet reached Boston. it is for copying with one pen while you write with the other & without the least additional embarrasment or exertion to the writer. I think it the finest invention of the present age, and so much superior to the copying machine that the latter will never be continued a day by any one who tries the...
15From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 26 July 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I wrote you a long letter on the 10th. inst. since which your favor of May 20. has come to hand. by this I percieve, & with the deepest affliction, not only that a misunderstanding has taken place between yourself & Genl. Armstrong, but that it has occasioned a misconstruction of your powers likely to defeat the object of your mission, a mission on the result of which the eyes of all our...
16To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 22 August 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the honour to write to you under dates of the 1st. of Mar. 20th. May & 23 of July; and to Mr. Madison of the 20th. May, 23d July & of this day, to which you will permit me to most respectfully refer you. You will observe Sir, by my letters to Mr. Madison, that the Spanish govermt. had appointed M. Isquierdo an agent or minister to confer with genl. Armstrong & me on the subsisting...
17To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 20 October 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
Since I had the honour last to address you, it has turned out, that the reputed Spanish agent, Mr. Isquierdo, has not had the appointment of his governmt. as was expected, and that whatever may have been the appearances of an approximating negociation & settlement of our affairs, they were grounded upon no substantial Basis. Who is to blame? Whether it is Spain, who may wish to gain time & to...
18To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 15 November 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the honour last to address you on the 20th Ulto., & altho’ I have nothing specially important to communicate, I think it my duty to apprize you, that there is no change taken place in the posture of our affairs, and that there is little reason to expect there will be any: the same apathy & indifference on the part of france, and the same obstinacy & perverseness on that of Spain continue...
19From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 2 April 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I wrote you on the 10th. of July last, but neither your letter of Oct. 20. nor that of Nov. 15. mentioning the reciept of it, I fear it has miscarried. I therefore now enclose a duplicate. as that was to go under cover of the Secretary of State’s dispatches by any vessel going from our distant ports, I retained the Polygraph therein mentioned for a safer conveyance. none such has occurred till...
20To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 1 May 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I have had the honour, to address you under dates of the 1st of March, 20th of May, 3d of July, 22d of Augt., 20th of Octo. & 15th of nov. last, and as yet have not been favored with your Reply, nor do I know, whether my letters have reached you in Safety. Altho’ I am sensible, that you are not the regular channel of my official correspondence, & that I have in the above instances departed...
21From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 10 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I wrote you on the 10th. of July 06. but, supposing from your not acknoleging the reciept of the letter, that it had miscarried, I sent a duplicate with my subsequent one of Apr. 2. these having gone by the Wasp, you will doubtless have recieved them. since that yours of May 1. is come to hand. you will see, by the dispatches from the department of state, carried by the armed vessel the...
22To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 24 September 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
The public dispatches forwarded by the Revenge having been directed to General Armstrong and me jointly by Mr. Bullus, they were bro’t to me by Mr. Vail the consul of Lorient accompanied with Lt. Hunt; I opened them, & found your letter of the 10th of July last, enclosed in one from Mr. Madison, it gave me great pleasure, as it is the first & only one, I have had the honour to receive from...
23To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 7 November 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Having come here to embark for England on my return to the United States, I became extremely perplexed & embarrassed from an Embargo confined to this Port, in consequence of the intended sailing of a french frigate: The Embargo being laid by the Commissary of the marine, I obtained his permission to hire a vessel to be cleared per the United States, provided she should be put under the escort...
24To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 17 February 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
As the present posture of our affairs in this country may require, that you shd. receive information from every source by which it may be obtained, I have thôt it my duty to state to you the result of such observations as I have made relative thereto, since my late arrival here; & perhaps I cannot do it better than by enclosing you a copy of a letter written to David Williams Esqr. at his...
25From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 29 May 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved the favor of your letter written soon after your arrival, a little before I left Washington & during a press of business preparatory to my departure on a short visit to this place. this has prevented my earlier congratulations to you, on your safe return to your own country. there, judging from my own experience, you will enjoy much more of the tranquil happiness of life, than is to...
26To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 9 June 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the honour of writing to you from London on the 17th of feba. last, & to enclose you a copy of Mr. Baring’s late pamphlet; & also copies of a correspondence I then had with Davd. Williams Esqr. of Londo.: I have since acquainted the Secretary of State with my arrival here, and I should have sooner done myself the honour of writing to you, but having been quite unsettled & not in my own...
27To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 12 June 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the honour to write to you on the 9th instant, & the last evening to receive your friendly & obliging letter of the 29th of May:—I thank you Sir, for your congratulations upon my safe return to my native country: it is truely a cause of Joy & Consolation to me after so long an absence; & so many difficulties & disappointments, as I have experienced:—I will not enter into the causes of...
28From Thomas Jefferson to James Bowdoin, 23 June 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson salutes mr Bowdoin with great esteem & respect, and now incloses him copies of the letters he wrote him while in France according to the request in his favor of the 12th. inst. he would be happy to learn which of them did not get to mr Bowdoin’s hands, as he might perhaps still find out the conveyance through which it went. MeB .
29To Thomas Jefferson from James Bowdoin, 18 July 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
Being quite unwell when your obliging letter of the 23d Ultimo & its enclosures reached me, I embrace the first moment of convalescence to thank you for them. Your letters to me while in france, with one exception, intercepted by means as I have reason to believe, as unjustifiable as dishonourable, would have afforded me much satisfaction, had I have duly recd. them; but left as I was without...
30Thomas Jefferson’s Memorandum on James Bowdoin’s Letter, 18 September 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
M r Bowdoin’s letter of May 1. 1807 with Ch. M. Somers’ affidavit as to the negociation for 3. millions of a s of land in the Floridas between Omeely ,