The ablest man among the New York delegates in the Continental Congress was
Gouverneur Morris. He was born 31 January 1752 at Morrisania, near the city of New York.
Being of a wealthy family, he enjoyed the
advantages of a complete classical education. He graduated at King's College,
in May 1768. Immediately after he entered the office of William Smith (the
historian of the colony) as a student of law, and in 1771 was licensed to
practice law. His proficiency in all his studies was remarkable. He acquired
early much reputation as a man of brilliant talents and various promise. His
person, address, manners, elocution, were of a superior order. In May 1775,
Governeur was chosen a delegate to the Provincial Congress of New York. In
June of that year, he served on a committee with General Montgomery, to confer
with General Washington respecting the manner of his introduction to the
Congress. He entered with zeal and efficiency into all the questions and
proceedings which referred to a vigorous resistance to the pretensions of the
mother country.
In December 1776, Gouverneur acted as one of the committee
for drafting a constitution for the State of New York, which was reported in
March, and adopted in April, of that year, after repeated and very able
debates, in which Jay, Morris, and Robert R. Livingston were the principal
speakers. In July 1777, he served as a member of a committee from the New
York Congress to repair to the headquarters of Schuyler's army to inquire
into the causes of the evacuation of Ticonderoga. In October of that year he
joined the Continental Congress at York, Pennsylvania, and, in 1778, wrote the
patriotic and successful pamphlet called "Observations on the American
Revolution," which he published at the beginning of 1779. We must refer to the
journals of Congress for an account of his many and valuable services,
rendered in that body to the Revolutionary cause. In July 1781, he accepted
the post of assistant superintendent of finance, as the colleague of Robert
Morris. He filled every office to which he was called with characteristic
zeal and ability.
After the Revolutionary War, he embarked
with Robert Morris in mercantile enterprises. In 1785, he published an
"Address to the Assembly of Pennsylvania on the Abolition of the Bank of North
America," in which he cogently argued against that project. In December 1786,
he purchased from his brother the fine estate of Morrisania, and made it his
dwelling-place. Here he devoted himself to liberal studies. In the following
year, he served with distinction as a member of the convention for framing the
constitution of the United States. On 15 December 1788, he sailed for France,
where he was occupied in selling lands and pursuing money speculations until
March 1790, when he proceeded to London as private agent of the American
government with regard to the conditions of the old treaty, and the
inclination of the British cabinet to form a commercial treaty. In November
1790, he returned to Paris, having made a tour in Germany. In the interval
between this period and the beginning of the year 1792, he passed several
times on public business between the British and French capitals. On 6 February
1792, he received his appointment as minister plenipotentiary to France, and
was presented to the king on 3 June. He held this station
until October 1794 during which time he witnessed the most interesting scenes of the
Revolution in the capital, and maintained personal intercourse with the
conspicuous politicians of the several parties. The abundant memorials which
he has left of his sojourn in France, and his travels on the European
continent, possess the highest interest and much historical value, he made
extensive journeys after he ceased to be minister plenipotentiary, of which he
kept a a full diary.
In the autumn of 1798, Gouverneur returned to the
United States to engage in politics with enhanced celebrity and a large
additional stock of political and literary knowledge. He was universally
admitted to be one of the most accomplished and prominent gentlemen of his
country. In 1800, he entered the Senate of the United States, where his
eloquence and information made him conspicuous. The two eulogies which he
pronounced--one on General Washington, and the other at the funeral of General
Hamilton--are specimens of his rhetorical style. His delivery was excellent.
Gouverneur, at an early period, gave special and sagacious attention to the
project of that grand canal by which the State of New York has been so much
honored and benefited. In the summer of 1810 he examined the canal route to
Lake Erie. The share which he had in originating and promoting that noble
work, is stated in the regular history which has been published of its
conception and progress. In May, 1812, he pronounced a public and impressive
eulogium on the venerable George Clinton; in the same year, an oration before
the New York Historical Society; in 1814, another on the restoration of the
Bourbons in France; in 1816, a discourse before the New York Historical
Society. Gouverneur died 5 November 1816 at Morrisania. He passed the
latter years of his life at Morrisania, exercising an elegant and munificent
hospitality, reviewing the studies of his early days, and carrying on a very
interesting commerce of letters with statesmen and literati in Europe and
America. The activity of his mind, the richness of his fancy, and the
copiousness of his eloquent conversation, were the admiration of all his
acquaintance.
Marshall, James V. The United States Manual of Biography and History.
Philadelphia: James B. Smith & Co., 1856. 137-139.
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