John James Audubon to Claude François Rozier
[Letter No. 7, addressed]
Monsieur Fr. Rozier,
Negociant,
Nantes.
Loire Inférieure.
New York, July 19, 1807.
Dear Sir:
Mr. Benjamin Bakewell as well as myself have received your letters by the Comet, which had a passage of 42 days. We have at present in the warehouse a great part of the merchandise of the latter [vessel], and in good condition; Mr. B. B. appears to be satisfied; he is about to send some teas that you have ordered from him. It has grieved me much to see him send a boat to Nantes, and not consigned to you, but his reasons were, I believe, so sound that I did not dare remonstrate. The agents of the house of Rossel and Boudet paid him the ⅔ of the invoice, or a draft upon London for an equivalent sum, that neither Ferdinand nor I were authorized to do; the latter is at Philadelphia. In a short time we are leaving for a voyage upon the Ohio, the details of which you will learn [from him], or from my father, and which I believe will be very advantageous to us. We hope to sell Mill Grove this autumn, which we shall do, however, only at a profit. We received this morning a letter from Mr. Fleury Emery, who urges Mr. B. B. to give him some shipments, but regarding this I do not know his intentions. I have also received a letter to-day from our friend, Fd, who is quite well, and longs to be doing something.
Mr. Emery advises me of the receipt of a little box of seeds for my father and you. I think that your gardens are now embellished with foreign trees.
Mr. B. B. is loading tea for you, a thing that gives me much pleasure. I am sending you a letter from Ferdinand that I received yesterday. Presenting you as well as your whole amiable family with humble respects,
I continue to be
your faithful servant,
Audubon.
My regards, I pray to you, to my cousin, the younger.
Audubon's loyalty to his kind-hearted employer is evident in every one of these amiable letters, yet it is plain that they were written upon his own initiative, and a merchant of today might seriously object to such a candid exposition of his dealings as young Audubon's friendly epistles occasionally revealed.