Gouverneur, as the younger son, was to receive two thousand pounds from Staats, who had to pay seven thousand pounds in all to the younger children. Lewis had already received his share of the property by possessing that portion of Morrisania which lies west of the Mill Brook. As Staats had no intention of residing in America Gouverneur purchased his share and became seized, in fee of Morrisania east of the i Mill Brook, but still continued to reside in Philadol- | phia. In 1787 he was elected a delegate from Pennsylvania to the convention which formed the constitution of the United States and on the dissolution of the convention he repaired to Morrisania and busied himself in putting the estate in order. To arrange some matters relating to his extensive business transactions he sailed for France in December, 1787, and from that time down to 1792 was for several years a resident of Paris, attending, most of the time, to private affairs, traveling occasionally in England and on the continent, and in the interim acting for a short time as agent for the American government in conducting &pour parler with England with a view to an interchange of ambassadors, but without success. His journal contains much interesting information as to the politics and society of France at the time of the outbreak of the French Revolution.

In January, 1792, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary from the United States to the Court of France. On August 10, 1792, the King and Queen were taken prisoners by the mob, and on the 31st of August, Morris was advised by Talleyrand to ask for his passport and leave France, as the minister of foreign affairs had written him an insulting letter; but an apolog)^ having been sent, he stayed in France awaiting instructions from America as to what course he should pursue with reference to the acknowledgement of the new revolutionary government.