in the address, and that he was gratified with the discrimination I had made; which expressions were distinctly recollected by the general, in a late conversation with him on the subject.

As one of a committee from Syracuse, I attended the fete to the mingling of the waters of Lake Erie with the ocean off Sandy Hook; and from that day to the receipt of your letter, have been attending to my own concerns, satisfied with having, in any degree, contributed to so great a public benefit— and trusting that an impartial posterity would render to each person concerned his just meed of praise. Nor should I have deemed it at all important to have detailed these facts, occurring since the contest for fame began, had not the singular circumstance occurred, that the origin of a great public work, but just completed, should so soon be involved in obscurity, and the facts, relating to its incipient stages, confidently denied, so that thousands who are experiencing the benefits of the canal, are in doubt to whom they are indebted for the boon, instead of possessing such a clear statement of the case as would enable them justly to appreciate the share each person took in it, from its conception to its final consummation.

I submit these facts and remarks, hastily thrown together, to your discretion, to make such use of them as you shall think proper.

TO DAVID HOSACK, M. D.

I remain, with respect,

Your most obedient servant,

JOSHUA FORMAN.

It has been incorrectly stated by Mr. Haines,* that nothing had been done as the result of the foregoing resolution introduced by Mr. Forman. On the contrary, it appears that, in conformity to the resolutions referred to of the senate and assembly, that the surveyor general immediately employed Mr.

*See Introduction to his Public Documents, xlix.

† Canal Documents, Vol. I. p. 9 and 10.

James Geddes, of Onondaga county, to make the necessary surveys, and opened a correspondence with Mr. Joseph Ellicott, of Batavia, an agent of the Holland Land Company. By information derived from those gentlemen, both "practical surveyors, of experienced skill, of investigating minds, of sagacious observation, and perfectly well acquainted with the country," the fact was satisfactorily established, that, in the language of the surveyor general, "a canal from Lake Erie to Hudson River was not only practicable, but practicable with uncommon facility."*

In January, 1809, Mr. Geddes made his luminous report in favour of the practicability of a route directly from Lake Erie, addressed to the surveyor general, by whom it was communicated to the legislature.†

Mr. Ellicott's communication, says Tacitus, also contained a perspicuous description of the country, and was accompanied by an explanatory map. All which papers, it is added, with the writings of Mr. Hawley, were in the possession of the canal commissioners, appointed in 1810; and, unquestionably, the idea adopted by that board, of the Erie canal, originated from these investigations, fortified by the observations under their direction.

Tacitus proceeds to remark,-" No further view, however, was taken on this subject until the session of 1810; when, in consequence of representations from the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, and from a great number of citizens of Albany, Schenectady, Utica, and other places, interested in the internal trade of this state, commissioners were appointed, to explore the country between the great lakes and the navigable waters of the Hudson, and to report upon the most eligible route for a water communication. It was suggested by those representations, as a point deserving of particular attention, that the commerce of the country was directed, in a great degree, to Canada. The report of Mr. Gallatin in favour of canals and roads had awakened the public attention to that important object; and the proceedings referred to took place in the legislature, on the motion of the Hon. Jonas Platt, then a senator, now a judge of the supreme court-a gentleman equally distinguished for strength of understanding and purity of heart.”

* Canal Documents, Vol. I. p. 44.

† Ibid. p. 13.

Ibid.

But it ought to be added, that about the same period of time, (probably in consequence of the suggestions referred to in the message of Mr. Jefferson,) besides the labours of Mr. Hawley and of Mr. Forman in this state, a general spirit was awakened, and diffused throughout our country, relative to internal improvements, and the means of opening an advantageous intercourse by roads and canals, between the most distant parts of the United States; not only for the purpose of strengthening the Union, but of promoting our independence of foreign nations, by calling forth the native riches and resources of our country. To this spirit, doubtless, is to be ascribed the valuable report of Mr. Gallatin; the bill introduced into the Senate of the United States by Mr. Pope, a member from Kentucky; and the resolution afterwards moved in the House of Representatives by Mr. P. B. Porter, then a member of congress from this state; and the writings of the late Dr. Hugh Williamson, all which attracted the attention of the legislature of New-York, and prepared the pub. lic mind for the measures which subsequently ensued.

The report of Mr. Gallatin, which was presented to Congress in April, 1808, with its appendix, containing the communications of Messrs. Latrobe and Fulton relative to canal navigation, (although that part of it which concerns the state of New York, recommended the route to the west by canals and locks to Lake Ontario, and around the falls of Niagara,) was eminently serviceable.

It is due to Mr. Pope, to observe, that early in 1810, some weeks prior to the celebrated speech delivered by Mr. Porter in the House of Representatives, he introduced a bill into the Senate, for the improvement of our nation, by facilitating intercourse between its different parts. That bill contemplated the union of the waters of Boston harbour with those of Newport, in Rhode Island of the Raritan in New-Jersey with the Delaware-of the Hudson with the Lakes Erie and Ontario-of the Delaware with the Chesapeake-a canal to pass the cataract of Niagara—the union of the Hudson with Lake Champlain-the Ohio with Lake Erie-a canal to pass the falls of the Ohio, and from the Roanoke to the Appamatox, and from the Tennesee to the Tombigbee—a road from the highest navigable waters of the western states—and a turnpike road for the general mail from Maine to and through Georgia.

For the above purpose a tract of land in the peninsula of Michigan was contemplated to be appropriated, containing perhaps ten millions of acres.

Mr. Pope's bill in the Senate not having been acted upon by that body, Mr. Porter, on the 8th of February, 1810, presented to the House of Representatives the following resolution.

“Resolved―That a committee be appointed to examine into the expediency of appropriating a part of the public lands, or the proceeds thereof, to the purposes of opening and constructing such roads and canals, as may be most conducive to the general interest of the Union, and that they have leave to report thereon by bill or otherwise."

Mr. Porter introduced this resolution with an able and elaborate speech, in which he took a comprehensive view of the subject, and went into details, showing the feasibility of the plan, the benefits which would result from it to the country, and the readiness with which funds might be raised to carry it into effect. Mr. Porter displayed an intimate knowledge of the geographical relations, local habits, and natural interests of the interior. In this speech, says the writer of the Supplement to Colonel Troup's letter to Brockholst Livingston, he took an expanded view of the great subject to which his resolution referred, pointed out the benefits which would result from the construction of roads and canals under the direction of the general government, and particularly enlarged upon the advantage and necessity of a navigable communication from the Hudson to Lake Erie. The resolution was adopted, and a committee of twenty appointed, of which General Porter was the chairman. The committee, on the 23d February, 1810, reported a bill " for the improvement of the United States by roads and canals," which provided among other improvements, for "opening canals from the Hudson to Lake Ontario, and around the Falls of Niagara."

Doubts being entertained by some of the members as to the powers of congress to authorise the construction of roads and canals, and differences of opinion existing among others respecting the details of the bill, the enterprising and patriotic efforts of General Porter proved unsuccessful. They nevertheless made a strong impression upon the people of this state, and had

no small share in exciting the attention of the New-York legislature, then in session, to this subject.

Although the speech of Mr. Porter attracted much notice at the time it was delivered, and was published in the journals of the day, as it contains much valuable matter still applicable to the general interests of the Union, it merits a place in these documents, and is accordingly subjoined.

Speech of the Hon. P. B. Porter on Internal Improvements, delivered in the House of Representatives on the 8th February, 1810.

I have risen, sir, for the purpose of asking the attention of the house to a subject, than which, I may confidently say, there is no one that regards our domestic policy, more important, or which more loudly calls for the interposition of the national legislature.

The subject to which I allude, is the internal improvement of the United States by roads and canals; and I intend, before I sit down, to offer a resolution, the object of which will be to ascertain the sense of the house in relation to the expediency of appropriating a part of the public lands to such improvements.

I am not in the habit of trespassing upon the patience of the house, and I am sure no apology will be required for the time I may occupy in presenting such general views of this subject as the importance of it seems, in my opinion, to demand. I know that the time of the house is precious. I am aware that there are many matters connected with our foreign relations that have strong claims to its attention; but they surely ought not to exclude every other subject of legislation. I have the honour to represent a portion of the country which is perhaps as little affected by our exterior commercial relations as any part of the United States; and yet I listen, with great attention and interest, to the various plans and propositions which are daily submitted and discussed in this house, and with which, indeed, its time is almost exclusively occupied, for the protection and security of commerce; and I trust that I shall show by my vote, on every proper occasion, that I consider my constituents as bound to support with their persons and their property, and to the last extremity, the just rights of the merchants of this country. On the other hand, I have a right to expect that the gentlemen who represent the mercantile interest will not only hear with patience the proposition I am about to submit, but that they will thank me for the fair opportunity I intend to afford them of proving the sincerity of those professions which we hear so often and so loudly made on this floor, in favour of the agricultural interest. The gentlemen tell us that commerce is only the handmaid of agriculture; and that their zeal to protect commerce