d the
sidewalks are "jammed."

Each regiment as it passes is greeted with greater or less applause,
according to its popularity. The day is a sort of holiday in the city,
and the parade is one of the sights of the New World, for New York is the
only city in the country which can put so large and splendid a force of
troops in the field in a mere parade.

But the First Division is not a holiday force, and parades and receptions
are not the only occasions which bring it upon the streets. The city of
New York contains a population hard to manage, and which can be
controlled only by a strong, firm hand. The police force, about 2000 in
number, is utterly inadequate to the repression of an uprising of the
criminal class of the city, and the scoundrels know it. The police have
never been lacking in emergencies, but their task is wonderfully
lightened by the knowledge that behind them stand 13,000 disciplined and
well-equipped troops to support them if the task of enforcing the law
proves too great for them. The roughs of New York know that they are no
match for such an army as this, and they are influenced greatly by this
knowledge. The respectable class, the men of property, and the heads of
families find no little comfort in this certainty of protection. They
know they can trust to the troops, for the members of the National Guard
represent the best part of the population of New York, and are to a man
directly interested in preserving the peace and prosperity of the city.

The troops are always ready for duty. They are scattered all over the
city, pursuing various useful callings, but at a certain signal sounded
from the City Hall bell, they will rally at their armories, and in an
hour there will be a strong body of trained troops ready to enforce the
law in any emergency. No one can doubt that the summons will be obeyed,
for the past history of the division proves that even the men who are
careless about attending parades, etc., are very careful to be at their
posts in the hour of danger.

The employment of this force is not open to the objections that are
brought against the use of the military in a free country. These men are
not mercenaries, but are useful and honorable citizens and members of
society. They have a good record, and the history of the city contains
several conspicuous instances of their gallantry and devotion. In 1837,
when the banks suspended specie payments, they alone prevented a terrible