At that time the navigation of the stream was impeded, if not wholly destroyed, by Macomb's dam, constructed under an act of Legislature passed in 1813. This obstruction to a navigable stream was, in the opinion of Mr. Morris and his associates, a public nuisance, and a plan was forthwith formed for its abatement. Mr. Morris, at the request of his neighbors, hired a small vessel, owned by parties in another State (with a view of having the question brought before the P'ederal I courts), and engaged the master to deliver a cargo of coal at his landing. The attempt of the vessel to proceed on her voyage being prevented by the dam, the company on board proceeded, on the night of September 14, 1838, to abate the nuisance by tearing down and removing a portion of the obstructing work. The suit-at-law which followed, in the case of " William Renwick vs. Lewis G. Morris et a'.," was carried up to the Court of Chancery, and the final decision established the theory that Harlem River was a navigable stream, and any obstruction was a public nuisance liable to be abated by any one interested in the navigation. The constant remonstrance and persistent efforts of Mr. Morris and his associates to prevent the building of a low bridge over the river were at length crowned with success, and an Act of Legislature passed May 3, 1839, prescribed that the Aqueduct Bridge should be constructed with arches and piers of at least eighty feet span and a hundred