MEMOIR OF DE WITT CLINTON

APPENDIX

NOTE S.

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SERVICES OF ELKANAH WATSON AND GENERAL SCHUYLER.

The early views of Elkanah Watson relative to the internal navigation of the State of New-York, and his services in exploring the western parts of the state prior to the act of 1792, introduced and supported by General Philip Schuyler, establishing the Inland Lock Navigation Companies, and the influence of those measures as introductory to the improvements that have subsequently taken place, are fully set forth in the following communication from Col. Troup. This was prepared at my solicitation in answer to certain queries addressed by me to that gentleman. Further remarks upon the merits of Mr. Watson and of General Schuyler become unnecessary. {See Discourse delivered before the New-York Historical Society by Chancellor Kent, in which the memorable services of General Schuyler during the war of the revolution, in the counsels of the state, and in the promotion of internal improvements, are ably and fully exhibited.

"In 1792," says Chancellor Kent, "he was very active in digesting and bringing to maturity that early and great measure of state policy, the establishment of companies for inland lock navigation. The whole suggestion was the product of his fertile and calculating mind, ever busy in schemes for the public welfare. He was placed at the head of the direction of both of the navigation companies, and his mind was ardently directed, for years, towards the execution of those liberal plans of internal improvement. In 1796, he urged his place in the senate, and afterwards published, in a pamphlet form, his plan for the improvement of the revenue of this state, and in 1797, his plan was almost literally adopted, and to that we owe the institution of the office of the comptroller. In 1797, he was unanimously elected, by the two houses of our legislature, a senator in congress; and he took leave of the senate of this state in a liberal and affecting address, which was inserted at large upon their journals."

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Letter from Colonel Robert Troup.

NEW-YORK, 22d January, 1829.

DEAR SIR,

I have learnt from you with much satisfaction, that you are engaged in the meritorious work of rendering justice to those who projected our canal policy, and also to those who assisted in giving it practical effect.

You have, likewise, informed me of your solicitude to have the work distinguished for its strict regard to truth and its inflexible impartiality; and towards obtaining these desirable ends, you have applied to me for the facts I may possess relative to the claims of my estimable friend, Mr. Elkanah Watson, to a portion of public gratitude for his labours in the canal vineyard.

Having been unexpectedly placed, some years ago, in a situation that required my careful examination of Mr. Watson's claims, I rejoice that I can support them by a series of plain facts, which, I think, will justify the most favourable opinion of his usefulness.

That my information may the more exactly correspond with your wishes, I proceed to furnish it in the shape of precise answers to the following questions, which you have been pleased to submit to my consideration.

1. In what years did Mr. Watson first direct his attention to the western part of the state? And how far did he proceed in exploring it?

2. What was the import of his suggestions to General Schuyler respecting the improvement of the navigation between the Hudson River and the western lakes? And did the suggestions aim at the improvement of the natural navigation, then existing, of the lakes, rivers, and creeks, or our western country, and as a medium of connexion between them? or, did they aim at the construction of a continued canal? And, if the latter, what was to be its course and extent?

3. What share had Mr. Watson in procuring the passage of the canal act of March 1792?

In answer to the first question I observe, that Mr. Watson's mind naturally inclines him to speculate in improvements of a public nature. This inclination has derived additional strength from Mr. Watson's travelling, {See Mr. Watson's History of the Western Canals, p. 8.} while he was young, in Flanders, in Holland, and in England, and attentively examining the canals he met with; and also from visiting General Washington, at Mount Vernon, and conversing freely with him on his favourite project of uniting the western waters with the Potomac. Thus prompted by natural inclination, and, at the same time, urged by patriotic motives, Mr. Watson, in September 1788, made a journey from Albany to Fort Stanwix, now called Rome, where state commissioners were holding a treaty with the Indians for the purchase of their western lands. What Mr. Watson, in this journey, saw of the face of the country and of the courses of its waters, and especially the situation of Rome, inflamed his imagination with the lofty conception that, by removing obstructions in the rivers and creeks, and cutting canals to connect them, the state might open a navigable communication between the waters of the Hudson and those of the great lakes; a measure which Mr. Watson supposed would necessarily tend "to divert the trade of the lakes from Quebec and Alexandria to Albany and New-York." {Ib. p. 30.}

After reflecting for several years on this important measure, and becoming by his reflections more partial to it, Mr. Watson, in company with a few friends, in the autumn of 1791, travelled, partly by land but chiefly by water, from Schenectady to Geneva in Ontario county. Mr. Watson kept a particular journal {Ib. p. 25.} of these travels; and from his journal it appears, that he carefully explored the ground, lakes, rivers, and creeks, lying in his route, and was sanguine in his opinion of the feasibility of opening a navigable communication between the Hudson and the western lakes. And dwelling, almost with rapture, on the vast benefits such a communication would be likely to produce, Mr. Watson pressed it in emphatical terms on the "policy of the state." Anticipating this policy, he "promised to notice every obstacle, and, according to" his "best judgment, to devise plans and make estimates." And he further promised, "by every effort in his power, to excite the public attention to the grand object;" insisting, that "its cost would bear no comparison with the immense advantages the state would be sure to derive from it."

In answer to the second question I observe, that in January 1792, Mr. Watson delivered his journal to General Schuyler, who was then a leading member of our senate. With his journal, Mr. Watson also delivered to the General a report, {See appendix to Colonel Troup's letter to B. Livingston, Esq. p. 8.} framed from the remarks and estimates which the journal contained. The report minutely traced the route of the proposed navigation - described the obstacles to be removed - calculated the probable expense of some of the operations - and concluded with a declaration, that "it would require a folio volume to point out the advantages that would result to the union, to the state, and to individuals, by laying the navigation entirely open.

Mr. Watson did not extend his travels to Oswego, because the fort, at that time, was still possessed by British troops, owing to the non-execution of the treaty of peace. But, in his journal, Mr. Watson said it would be necessary to improve the navigation to Oswego, in order to "complete the chain of water communications from Ontario to the Hudson."

From Mr. Watson's report, it is obvious that the route, designated by him, was from Schenectady to the Seneca and Ontario Lakes; and that he contemplated the improvement of the natural navigation by the intermediate lakes, rivers, and creeks, as a medium of connexion between them, without intending a continued canal. Indeed, Mr. Watson himself, speaking of his own views and those of his fellow-labourers, frankly disclaims all idea of having suggested a continued canal, or attempted more than to improve the natural navigation to the Seneca and Ontario lakes, when he says, that "the utmost stretch of our views was, to follow the track of nature's canal, and to remove natural or artificial obstructions; but we never entertained the most distant conception of a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson. We should not have considered it much more extravagant to have suggested the possibility of a canal to the Moon." {See Mr. Watson's History of the Western Canals, p. 100.}

Such having been Mr. Watson's views, a regard to distributive justice obliges me to remark, that, whatever be the degree of praise which public gratitude may award to him for his sagacious suggestions and generous labours, to improve the natural navigation to the Seneca and Ontario lakes, it should not be forgotten that equal praise, at least, will be rightly due to the enlightened and patriotic men who conceived, and to those who prosecuted, the sublime plan of extending the navigation to Lake Erie by a continued canal, independent of the natural navigation by the lakes, rivers, and creeks, which intersect the country. And I know Mr. Watson too well to suspect that this sentiment will not receive his hearty approbation.

In answer to the third question I observe, that, during the years 1791 and 1792, Mr. Watson and General Schuyler both lived in Albany, and were in habits of intimacy. Mr. Watson, besides delivering his journal and report to General Schuyler, had frequent conversations with him on the matters they contained. In these conversations it was agreed, that General Schuyler should use his exertions and influence in the legislature to procure the passage of an act to incorporate a company for opening the navigation from the Hudson to the Seneca and Ontario lakes. The legislature was to sit in New-York, in the beginning of January, 1792; and Mr. Watson's zeal for the passage of the act carried him to New-York early in the session, to unite his exertions and influence with those of General Schuyler. Mr. Watson accordingly remained several weeks in New-York, and, while there, he afforded every aid in his power to promote General Schuyler's success: and, after Mr. Watson's return to Albany, he made General Schuyler the tender of another visit to New-York, on the like errand, if the General should think it expedient.

Mr. Watson's zeal, however, did not suffer him to stop here. So far from it, when in New-York, he addressed to the legislature, through the medium of a city paper, a piece under the signature of "a Citizen," {See appendix to Col. Troup's letter to B. Livingston, Esq. p. 14.} in which he represented the state, from its geographical position, as enjoying advantages for internal intercourse much above those of her neighbours - communicated substantially the information contained in his journal and in his report - extolled the advantages that would probably flow from a navigable intercourse with "the great chain of lakes forming our north-western boundary" - and recommended, with enthusiastic ardour, the improvement of the navigation to the Seneca Lake; keeping always in sight, its further improvement as soon as "the British should be dispossessed of the outlet of Oswego river." And Mr. Watson's zeal for improving the navigation continuing unabated, he once more pressed the subject on the notice of the legislature, with fresh and cogent reasons, in a piece under the signature of "an Inland Navigator," {Ib. 22.} which he forwarded from Albany, and had also published in a New-York paper.

It unfortunately happened that a bill was brought into the senate, without the concurrence of General Schuyler, the objects of which were the removal of obstructions in the Mohawk River, and the junction of that river with Wood Creek; thus appearing to relinquish the improvement of the navigation to the Seneca and Ontario lakes. Whilst this bill was labouring in its progress through the Senate, Mr. Watson, then being at Albany, wrote a letter {Ib. 13.} to General Schuyler, in which he observed, that he had not been "inattentive to the progress of the great objects of the western canals since the commencement of the session of the legislature" - expressed "much regret that no one of that body, except" the General, "appeared to soar beyond Fort Stanwix" - complained "that stopping at Fort Stanwix would be half doing the business" - and he declared that "although the whole plan might not be accomplished for years to come, yet as the improvements on Wood Creek were indispensible to making the contemplated canal at Fort Stanwix of any value, the charter should stretch to Seneca Lake, and the harbour of Oswego, as pointed out in his journal, and in conformity to (his) conversations with the General, so as to admit the commerce of the great lakes into Hudson's River, and vice versa."

Mr. Watson, in the same letter, treated the "enterprise" as a "proper state object," and he expressed a firm belief that the "enterprise would succeed if the charter be so shaped as to embrace the objects contemplated by" him and the General, and "a term of twenty years be granted for the completion of the plan;" and, in reply to the objection that undertaking the enterprise would be premature, Mr. Watson, in the same letter, avowed his settled conviction that "the enterprise could not be undertaken too soon," and consequently he "determined" to do his "utmost to co-operate with" the General's "enlarged views of the very important subject."

The ardent desire of Mr. Watson for a charter on a scale embracing the navigation of the Seneca and Ontario lakes, was finally gratified by the passage of the canal act of March, 1792; which was the golden fruit of General Schuyler's eminent talents and controlling influence.

General Schuyler, ever disdaining to receive honors not fairly his due, often acknowledged {See appendix to Col. Troup's letter to B. Livingston, Esq. p. 31.} to that excellent man and public spirited citizen, the late Thomas Eddy, that "the observations made by Mr. Watson, in his tour to the western part of the state in 1791, first turned his attention to that important object, and induced him to offer to the senate the act incorporating the western and northern inland navigation companies."

The facts which I have thus detailed, will be found in Mr. Watson's "History of the Western Canals," published in 1820; and also in a Letter from me "On the Lake Canal Policy," addressed to the late Brockholst Livingston, Esq. one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and published in 1822.

The consideration of these facts, will naturally lead to the conclusion, that they form the ground, on which Mr. Watson rests his claim to a portion of public gratitude for his labours to improve the inland navigation of the state.

I am much deceived if the facts do not irresistibly show that Mr. Watson's labours have been useful. Their usefulness consists in his travelling to explore our western country, its lakes, rivers, and creeks - in his observations on the practicability of a navigable communication between the Hudson and the western lakes - in his communications to Gen. Schuyler - in his concerting with the General a plan of navigation embracing the western lakes, to be submitted to the Legislature - and, lastly, in his unwearied pains to assist Gen. Schuyler to obtain a preference for the concerted plan, by the passing of the canal act of March, 1792.

There can be no reasonable objection against admitting that this act was the commencement of our state canal policy. Before the existence of the act, nothing appeared, in the community, on the subject of canalling, except the different commercial speculations of individuals respecting it. To dignify their speculations with the title of state policy, would be preposterous. That the policy pursued by a state, can only be known from the schemes adopted by its constituted authorities, and from the measures taken to carry such schemes into effect, is a position too evident to require any illustration. It was the act, therefore, that first gave body and life to the floating ideas about canalling, by the incorporation of a company to undertake the expensive and arduous enterprise of opening a canal navigation to unite the waters of the Hudson with those of the western lakes, and by endowing the company with rights to authorise, and privileges to facilitate its successful prosecution.

To maintain that the act was unimportant in its consequences, would be to incur the censure of violating the dictates of sound sense, and disregarding the plain language of experience. Although the funds of the company incorporated were wholly inadequate to the construction of canals calculated to promote the highest interests of the state; yet the operations of the company, proceeding from the employment of their scanty funds, considerably reduced the rates of transportation, and thereby proved not a little beneficial to trade. But the most important consequence of the act was, that even the limited benefits it produced to trade, served to keep the public eye fixed on the highly interesting objects of canal policy, and eventually to induce our wise and patriotic rulers to adopt a system of canalling which, from the grandeur of its design, and the magnanimity of its execution, has become the pride of the state, and the admiration of the Union.

Allow me, dear sir, to conclude this letter with the assurance of my unfeigned gratification that it has fallen to your lot to perform the meritorious work in which you are engaged; for your able, elegant, and impartial eulogium on the illustrious De Witt Clinton, persuades me to believe the work will be performed in a manner justly entitling it to the praise of every unprejudiced and intelligent reader, as well of the present age as of posterity.

With the most perfect esteem I remain, dear sir,

Your humble servant,

ROBERT TROUP.

TO DAVID HOSACK, M.D.

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Connected with this part of the subject, it gives me pleasure to give place to the following interesting letters from the later President of the United States, John Adams, addressed to Mr. Watson, in the years 1822 and 1823.

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Letter from President Adams to Elkanah Watson.

QUINCEY, 23d December 1822.

DEAR SIR,

I have received and heard read Colonel Troup's letter to Judge Livingston of the 23d January last.

You need not wish a more ingenious, a more able, or a more spirited vindication of your claims to the first suggestion of the canal policy in New-York; and of General Schuyler's sagacious patriotism in adopting and supporting your ideas in the legislature. You have both great merit, but still I think Mr. Clinton has also great merit in supporting your plan. It is right to preserve the memory of the first discoverers and inventors of useful improvements for the amelioration of the condition of mankind.

The gentlemen who were my cotemporaries at Philadelphia used to say, that the first discovery of the efficacy of lightning-rods was Ebenezer Kennesly, a young gentleman of an ardent thirst for science, who drew lightning from the clouds by his iron-pointed kites, before Dr. Franklin had attempted any thing on the subject.

Why, indeed, may we not say, that this discovery was made in the time of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, for, in his reign, the astronomical and astrological poet Manilius wrote these lines, "eripuit jovi fulmen viresque tonandi?" Yet, all this diminishes in no degree the great merit of Dr. Franklin in maturing, digesting, and propagating to the world, his system of lightning-rods. It would be well to ascertain, if it were possible, the first discoverer of the invaluable power of steam. While we should do honour to his memory, we should not withhold our admiration and gratitude from the great Fulton, whose steam navigation will be of greater benefit to mankind than Franklin's philosophy, though that is very great. While I wish to do honour to these great men, I ought to bear my testimony to the merit of your long exertions, which I think have been very useful to our country. With much pleasure I repeat the assurance of the long and continued esteem and affection of your friend and humble servant.

JOHN ADAMS.

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Letter from John Adams to Elkanah Watson.

QUINCEY, 28th February, 1823.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for your letter of the 12th instant, and for the communication of Judge Troup's letter.

I am very much obliged to him for his civility to me, as well as for his testimonies in honour of your meritorious exertions for the public good.

Your active life has been employed, as far as I have known the history of it, in promoting useful knowledge and useful arts; for which I hope you have received, or will receive, a due reward. Shafts are wanton sports; and secret and public malice are common to you, and all men who distinguish themselves,

"Envy does merit, as its shade pursue,

And like the shadow proves its substance true."

This, or something more sublime, must be the consolation of us all.

Your friend, by proxy,

JOHN ADAMS.

ELKANAH WATSON, Esq. Albany.

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