United states of America^ 9 



Although vehemently opposed by his political adversaries, im- 

 peded by the lukewarmness of his friends, and thwarted by 

 narrow views of public economy, he persevered, and succeeded 

 in convincing a majority of the legislature of the correctness 

 of his views ; and the resources of the state were embarked in 

 the enterprise. Even in convincing the reasonable and impartial 

 of the probability of the success of the undertaking, he met with 

 much difficulty ; and this arose, in a great measure, from acts 

 to which he had himself been a party, but from which he had, 

 on mature reflection, dissented. 



The state of New York had, in the year 1810, appointed a 

 Board of Commissioners to examine and report upon the practi- 

 cability of an artificial navigation from the Hudson to Lake 

 Erie. This board, after some preliminary surveys and investi- 

 gations, made a communication to the Legislature in February 

 1811. The duty of drawing this report devolved upon the 

 chairman of the board, Gouverneur Morris, the first named of 

 the commissioners, and who, from his age, his high talent, and 

 opportunities for observing the public works of Europe, was 

 fairly entitled to exercise a preponderating influence over his 

 colleagues. That this influence was exerted in such a way as 

 to preclude them from any collateral inquiries, was most unfor- 

 tunate; for, while the report exhibited, in a most luminous point 

 of view, the advantages to be derived from a canal, the means 

 proposed for executing it were so unreasonable, as to startle 

 the most excited imagination — while, to the cool and calculat- 

 ing, they rather appeared to prove the impracticability of the 

 scheme, than as fitted to awaken any hopes of its success. — 

 Gouverneur Morris, who had some years before dilated with 

 eloquence on the practicability of a navigation for ships over 

 the contemplated route, did not venture to broach this magni- 

 ficent scheme in his report. From this he was probably prevented 

 by the better judgment of his colleagues ; but he proposed a plan 

 which, if less startling to those who had never seen a canal, or in- 

 vestigated the mechanical principles of hydraulic structures, was 

 equally impracticable in the eye of those who were acquainted, 

 either in theory or practice, with canal navigation. Stripped 

 of a few unimportant additions, the plan was, simply — that the 

 water of Lake Erie should be made to flow into the Hudson 



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