one of the Judges of the Supreme Court) was then a
member of the Senate

, and on the evening of the 12th
of March, I called upon him, and suggested to him a
plan, on which I had never consulted any person, of
proposing to the Legislature, to appoint Commission-
ers, as before mentioned; and I proposed to him, that
he should use his endeavours in the Senate, to far-
ther the plan. He replied, he very highly approved
of my proposition, and asked why not make it the
duty of these commissioners to explore the country,
as far as Lake Erie, with the view to ascertain the
practicability of making a complete canal, from
thence to the Hudson? We immediately drafted a
joint resolution, to be offered to both branches of the
Legislature, which it was agreed he should present
to the Senate next morning. We also thought it
would be proper for us, then to fix on suitable names
to offer to the Senate, as Commissioners, and we
agreed in the necessity of selecting persons equally
from the two great political parties, which then divi-
ded the state. This we did, according to the best
judgment we could form, and the following gentle-
men were named, viz., Gouverneur Morris, De Witt
Clinton, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Simeon De Witt,
William North, Thomas Eddy, and Peter B. Porter.
It was concluded that I should meet Judge Platt, at
the Senate Chamber, next morning, when I accord-
ingly attended, and we called out De Witt Clinton,
and showed him the resolution. He expressed his
hearty concurrence with our plan, and as soon as
the Senate was formed, Judge Platt presented the
resolution, which we had prepared the previous even-
ing. It was seconded by Clinton, and passed with-
out a dissenting voice. It passed the house in the
same manner, within an hour after. In the summer
of 1810, I accompanied the other Commissioners, in
exploring the country, as far as Lake Erie. In 1811,
we made our first report to the Legislature. Several
laws were enacted, favourable to the prosecution of