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 Morris,
GOUVERNEUR, lawyer; born in Morrisania,
New York, Jan. 31, 1752;
graduated at King's College (now Columbia University) in 1768;
admitted to the bar in 1771, and soon acquired great reputation as a
lawyer. One of the committee that drafted the constitution of the
State of New York, a member of Congress from 1777 to 1780, and one
of the most useful of committeemen in that body, he gained much
political influence. In 1779 he published a pamphlet containing
Observations on the American Revolution. In 1781 he was the
assistant of Robert Morris, the superintendent of finance. After
living in Philadelphia six years, he purchased (1786) the estate of
Morrisania from his brother, and made it his residence afterwards.
Prominent in the convention that framed the national Constitution,
he put that instrument into the literary shape in which it was
adopted. In 1791 he was sent to London as private agent of the
United States, and from 1792 to 1794 was American minister to
France. He had seen many of the phases of the French Revolution, and
with a tantalizing coolness had pursued Washington's policy of
neutrality towards France and England. This course offended the
ardent French republicans, and when making out the letters recalling
Genet, the committee of public safety, in which Robespierre and his
associates were predominant, solicited the recall of Morris. For
reasons of policy the President complied, but accompanied the letter
of recall with a private one, expressing his satisfaction with
Morris's diplomatic conduct. This letter, sent by a British vessel,
fell into the hands of the French government, and greatly increased
the suspicion with which the American administration was regarded.
To allay that suspicion, Washington sent Monroe, an avowed friend of
the French Revolutionists, as Morris's successor. Mr. Morris
afterwards traveled in Europe, and in 1798 returned to the United
States. In 1800 he was chosen United States Senator. He was one of
the early advocates of the construction of the Erie Canal, and
chairman of the canal commission from 1810 until his death in
Morrisania, N. Y., Nov. 6, 1816. |
