his fa the r h ad surpassed him in almos t every field of endeavor, h e wo uld d o more to h o n o r a nd p erpe tuate the fa mily name by endowing a college in h is me mory. O nce his d ecisio n was made to su pport the crea tion o f the College, Bo wdoin took wh a t h as been best d escr ibed as a "frie ndly but di sta nt in te rest in its affairs. "65 H e expressed views o n the design of its first building (recomme nding a pla n by Thomas Dawes, th e a rc hitec t of Ha rvard 's Hollis H all), contributed to the creatio n o f a "Professorship of Ma the ma tics & of na tural & experimental Philosophy," a nd wh e n efforts to get the school opened lagged, que ried his frie nd Daniel Cony o n such inaction. He took a n active ro le in the selecti o n o f th e Reve re nd J ose ph McKeen as th e school 's first president, began soliciting equipme nt fo r its classrooms, and e n ergetically so ug ht books fo r its library. But, som ewh at curiously, he never '~sited Brunswic k to see th e resul ts o f his ge n e rosity, eve n after Massac husetts H all ( 1799- t 8o2 ), th e Coll ege's first building, was constructed and McKee n ina ug urated .66 Any curiosity he had a bo ut the sch ool's appear an ce was outwe igh ed (presumably) by his fragile health and his hesitance to mak e the boat trip necessary to sec the College fi rst-ha nd. His own though ts abou t the education al goals soug ht b y a n ins titutio n su c h as this a re m os tl y unknown, althoug h o n o n e occasio n h e wrote his sister r egarding he r son 's educatio nal interests in law, notin g that "th e re is su c h a co nn exio n be tween all the learned professio ns that success in any of them \'Cry muc h d e pe nds upo n a well directed collegia te educatio n in which the rudime n ts o f scie nce ar e d eeply laid. "67 Meanwhile, the pro fi tability of J a mes Bowdo in III 's political maneuvering was far less appa re n t. In 1796, having moved back to Bosto n, h e lost to Ha rrison Gray Otis in a race fo r the H ouse of Re presen tatives.68 The following year he a no nymo usly a uthored Opinions Respecting the Commercial In tercou rse Between the United Stales of America, and the Dominions of Great-Britain (which wa s hi s assault o n the Jay Trea ty, b y which Bowdoin felt Britain was g ive n too much autho rity a nd Fra n ce treate d unfairly). During th ese sa me yea rs Bowd o in h e ld min o r state o ffi ces
(Governor's Council in 1794 a nd State Se nate in 1801 ) a nd bided his time waiting fo r the political atmosphe re (a nd his prospects) to improve. H e tho ug ht he saw his oppo rtuni ty in 180 1 with the electio n o f J effe rson as the first Re publican preside nt. Within weeks of the n ew president's ina ugura tion, he wro te, o ffe ring, "I have no hesitan ce in te nde ring to you my Services witho ut being a ble to po int out in what way they can be partic ula rly useful. "69 Altho ugh this o ffe r a ppa rently went unackno wledged, Bowdo in renewed a n ex pressio n o f inte rest th e fo ll owin g year, whe n he learn ed that Rufus King was to retire as ministe r to Engla nd. This time, however, h e was careful to express his inte rest throug h Ge neral He n ry Dearbo rn, secretary o f wa r, and a fellow landowne r in the Distri ct of Maine, beseeching him to "me ntion my Na me to Prcside ntJeffe rson as a successor to King. "70 By 19 ove mbe r 1804 , th e in te r es t h a d p e r co la ted thro u g h J e ffe rso n 's administra ti o n a nd Bowd o in was nominated , no t for service in England, but to be "Ministe r Ple nipo te ntiat1' to the Court of Spain ." Altho ug h disappo inted tha t he was no t go ing to Engla nd, he accepted. In pre p arati o n fo r his d e p a rtu re , Bowdoi n wro te his un c le , Geo rge Erving, in Lo nd o n regarding wh at style of court dress Mrs. Bowdoi n would be expected to wear in Madrid. He asked specifically to have a descriptio n that a f aiseur des robes in Paris mig ht use, "as she unde rstands tha t h oo ps a r e wo rn in Co urt in Madrid , a nd th a t they are no t h e re. "7 1 His impe nding departure may also h ave influe n ced him to have mad e a minia ture o f himself (fig. 13) (colo r fro ntispiece). It was painted by Edward Ma lbo ne, the leading miniaturist o f his generatio n , who h ad recently come to Boston and ope ned a studio a few d oor s down Beacon Su路eet. It is th e most fla ttering a nd sensitive po rtrait o f J a mes Bowdo in III 's a dult life a nd a ppa r e ntl y provide d th e source fro m which Gilbert Stua rt's pendant (fig. 15) (colo r on p. 66) for his life p ortrait of Mrs. Bowdoin (fig. t 6) (color on p. 71 ) was made.72 In March 180 5, just prior to his d e parture for Spain, Bowdo in se nt J effe rson the g ift of a marble sculpture, n ow known to be Ariadne (fig. 19) but believed a t the time to re prese nt Cleopa tra.
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