And the members of "Congress could have come from all parts by water." The company were astonished and asked how. Morris answered: "Why, by tapping Lake Erie and "bringing its waters to the Hudson, by an inclined plane or a water table which can be found." Simeon De Witt, Surveyor General of New York, gives Mr. Morris the credit of starting the idea of direct communication between Lake Erie and the Hudson, and Stephen Van Rensselaer, one of the first canal commissioners, considered Mr. Morris " the father of our "great canal.'' Mr. Morris was chairman of the canal commissioners from March, 181U, until within a few months of liis death. He and De Witt Clinton went on a special mi ssion to Congress for the purpose of obtaining Federal aid for the construction of the canal, but though they drafted a bill for the purpose, it never came up, as there were too many divided interests in that body. In the midst of his labors, Mr. Morris died at Morrisania, November 6, 1816, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. His remains were buried where now St. Anne's Church stands, the cast aisle covering their original resting-))lace. They were afterwards transferred to the family vault, which is the fiist one east of the church. His wife caused a marble slab to be placed over the temporary tomb, and that still remains.' His will was dated October 26, 1816. In it he con-

1 Tlie ttutlior is indebUil to Jaml Sparks' " Life and Writings of Goutenieur Morris " for the niateriale of tli« foregoing sketch.