To James Madison from George W. Erving (Abstract), 8 June 1805
§ From George W. Erving
8 June 1805, London. No. 32. “I have just recieved a letter from Mr Monroe of May 3d. It is not very particular, but I see with concern Enough in it to convince me that he is not in the way of very speedily returning to his station here. Mr Bowdoin write[s] to me (Ap. 9th)1 of his intentions to Embark on the 10th May, & mentions that you had not heard from Mr Monroe since he was in Holland. I presume that you will have heard time Enough to delay Mr B’s departure, & as accidents may prevent your receiving Mr M’s further communications I have thought it well to mention my apprehensions as to his continued detention.
“I am writing to you more at large but cannot complete my letters by this conveyance; Mr Barlow who takes this is to leave London to Night or to morrow Morning.”2
RC (MHi: Winthrop Family Papers). 2 pp.; marked “Private”; docketed by JM.
1. For James Bowdoin’s 9 Apr. 1805 letter to Erving describing his plans to travel to Spain with his wife, his niece Sarah Bowdoin Winthrop, his private secretary George Sullivan, and three servants, see “The Bowdoin and Temple Papers,” Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 7th ser., 6 (1907): 238–40.
2. On 4 Aug. 1805 Joel Barlow arrived at New York after having spent eighteen years in Europe (New-York Evening Post, 5 Aug. 1805; Charles Burr Todd, Life and Letters of Joel Barlow, LL.D., Poet, Statesman, Philosopher [New York, 1886], 203–4).