among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties.

Dangers from abroad are not less deserving of attention.
Experiencing the fortune of other nations, the United States may
be again involved in war, and it may in that event be the object
of the adverse party to overset our Government, to break our
Union, and demolish us as a nation. Our distance from Europe and
the just, moderate, and pacific policy of our Government may form
some security against these dangers, but they ought to be
anticipated and guarded against. Many 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