ess of the race, and
demonstrated the wisdom which has presided over its organization and
government.

While the gradual and slow enlargement of these respective military arms
has been regulated by a jealous watchfulness over the public treasure,
there has, neverthless, been freely given all that was needed to perfect
their quality; and each affords the nucleus of any enlargement that the
public exigencies may demand, from the millions of brave hearts and
strong arms upon the land and water.

The navy is the active and aggressive element of national defence; and,
let loose from our own sea-coast, must display its power in the seas and
channels of the enemy. To do this, it need not be large; and it can
never be large enough to defend by its presence at home all our ports
and harbors. But, in the absence of the navy, what can the regular army
or the volunteer militia do against the enemy's line-of-battle ships and
steamers, falling without notice upon our coast? What will guard our
cities from tribute, our merchant-vessels and our navy-yards from
conflagration? Here, again, we see a wise forecast in the system of
defensive measures which, especially since the close of the war with
Great Britain, has been steadily followed by our government.

While the perils from which our great establishments had just escaped
were yet fresh in remembrance, a system of fortifications was begun,
which now, though not quite complete, fences in our important points
with impassable strength. More than four thousand cannon may at any
moment, within strong and permanent works, arranged with all the
advantages and appliances that the art affords, be turned to the
protection of the sea-coast, and be served by the men whose hearths they
shelter. Happy for us that it is so, since these are means of security
that time alone can supply, and since the improvements of maritime
warfare, by making distant expeditions easy and speedy, have made them
more probable, and at the same time more difficult to anticipate and
provide against. The cost of fortifying all the important points of our
coast, as well upon the whole Atlantic as the Gulf of Mexico, will not
exceed the amount expended on the fortifications of Paris.

In this connection one most important facility in the defence of the
country is not to be overlooked; it is the extreme rapidity with which
the soldiers of the army, and any number of the militia corps, may be
brought to any point where a