of our citizens are engaged in commerce and navigation, and all of them are in a certain degree dependent on their prosperous state.  Many are engaged in the fisheries.  These interests are exposed to invasion in the wars between other powers, and we should disregard the faithful admonition of experience if we did not expect it.  We must support our rights or lose our character, and with it, perhaps, our liberties.  A people who fail to do it can scarcely be said to hold a place among independent nations.  National honor is national property of the highest value.  The sentiment in the mind of every citizen is national strength.  It ought therefore to be cherished.

To secure us against these dangers our coast and inland frontiers should be fortified, our Army and Navy, regulated upon just principles as to the force of each, be kept in perfect order, and our militia be placed on the best practicable footing.  To put our extensive coast in such a state of defense as to secure our cities and interior from invasion will be attended with expense, but the work when finished will be permanent, and it is fair to presume that a single campaign of invasion by a naval force superior to our own, aided by a few thousand land troops, would expose us to greater expense, without taking into the estimate the loss of property and distress of our citizens, than would be sufficient for this great work.  Our land and naval forces should be moderate, but adequate to the necessary purposes—­the former to garrison and preserve our fortifications and to meet the first invasions of a foreign foe, and, while constituting the elements of a greater force, to preserve the science as well as all the necessary implements of war in a state to be brought into activity in the event of war; the latter, retained within the limits proper in a state of peace, might aid in maintaining the neutrality of the United States with dignity in the wars of other powers and in saving the property of their citizens from spoliation.  In time of war, with the enlargement of which the great naval resources of the country render it susceptible, and which should be duly fostered in time of peace, it would contribute essentially, both as an auxiliary of defense and as a powerful engine of annoyance, to diminish the calamities of war and to bring the war to a speedy and honorable termination.

But it ought always to be held prominently in view that the safety of these States and of everything dear to a free people must depend in an eminent degree on the militia.  Invasions may be made too formidable to be resisted by any land and naval force which it would comport either with the principles of our Government or the circumstances of the United States to maintain.  In such cases recourse must be had to the great body of the people, and in a manner to produce the best effect.  It is of the highest importance, therefore, that they be so organized and trained as to be prepared for any emergency.  The arrangement should be such