most distant regions, the name and products of our land, is often to be protected by the national arm. A new war among any of the great maritime powers of Europe will surely expose us to new aggressions, if we shall be found destitute of suitable preparations for repelling them.

The American army is thus seen to be maintained for purposes the most weighty and beneficent. It is kept up, not for conquest or aggression; not to overawe a restless population, or to decorate a pageant, or to furnish to a favoured few the means of livelihood at the expense of the rest of the community; but to preserve to us the blessings of external peace, and domestic tranquillity; to uphold the civil power; to maintain inviolate the liberties of the citizen; to secure from foreign powers, the faithful discharge of the duties they owe us; and to protect our country from those trespasses, which the proud and the powerful are so prone to commit, on the interests and honour of the weak and undefended. The vocation of the American soldier may therefore be regarded, as not less necessary and dignified, than that of our other public functionaries. All of them, whether executive, legislative, or judicial-whether en

gaged in civil or in military life-are the servants of the people; and it is the duty and privilege of all, to labour for the common good-to spend and be spent, in the public service. The trust assigned to the military, is alike eminent and honourable. It is their high province, to guard the temple of American liberty; to defend it when menaced by open assault or secret machinations; and to secure to all, a safe and ready access to its altars.

For the proper discharge of their appropriate duties, the personal qualities of subordination and love of order; courage and vigilance; patriotism, justice and fortitude; honour and courtesy; are indispensable. Without these, no subordinate officer can rise to eminence; without these, his career, even if it do not end in positive disgrace, will always be inglorious.

It cannot be necessary, my young friends, that I should enlarge to you on this elementary truth. You learn it as a part of your daily instructions; it is enforced by your own observation and experience. In the cases of failure which have occurred during your connexion with the Academy; in your respective positions in your classes; in the regard in which you are held by your teachers and superiors; in the

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estimate you have formed of each other; you have constant and living proof of its universality and importance. I would hope, too, that you connect with this principle, all your aspirations after honourable distinction; that you build on it, as the only sure corner-stone, your every plan of life; and that you seek no higher nor other fame, than such as may be won by a sacred adherence to its injunctions.

But though it were needless to dilate on the general considerations, connected with a topic so obvious and familiar, or on the several particulars included in it, there are two of them which I would strongly urge upon your regard-and the rather, because, whilst they form, in your profession, very essential elements of high character, and deserve to be cultivated from the commencement to the end of the military life, they are not always held in proper estimation, and by the young, especially, are too often regarded as matters of little moment. The points

to which I allude are the first and the last in the enumeration just made—the foundation and the top-stone of the column-subordination and courtesy.

In the former of these qualities, I include, not merely due respect and prompt obedi

ence to superior authority; but a cheerful and exact observance of every part and rule of discipline, in its whole extent, and in every specification, however minute or trivial. It is impossible to overrate the importance to the soldier, of this virtue. Military operations of every kind, depend, for their success, on the exactness and promptitude with which they are they are performed. This, in general, is only to be expected, from those officers and men, who have been accustomed to the regular and exact observance of minor duties; and accordingly the wise military commander, depends on the discipline, rather than on the number of his troops; and on their capacity and readiness to understand and to execute the orders they receive, rather than on physical energy or daring courage.

Whether, therefore, you look forward to the noiseless routine of ordinary duty, or the more stirring scenes of glorious war, you will find the habit of due subordination and of strict attention to particulars, indispensable to comfort, reputation, and success. This habit is only to be acquired in early life, when there is leisure for such matters, and when the mind is flexible, and the character easily moulded to the practice of duties, which, in after years, men have neither

3

time nor inclination to learn.

Let me then urge

it upon those who are to continue in this institution, to make it their constant and earnest study, to obey, in all things, the regulations prescribed for their observance; and let me exhort such of my auditory as are now to enter upon the active duties of their profession, to carry with them into the army, whatever of this habit they may have gained during their pupilage, and sedulously to cultivate it, not only as a means of usefulness and honour, but as constituting, in itself, an important and valuable end.

Many illustrations of the vital importance of subordination and discipline, might be offered; let a single one suffice. The usefulness and reputation of this noble academy, distinguished as it is, for the ability of its professors, and for the elevated standard of instruction it maintains, depend, perhaps, on nothing so much as on the state of its internal discipline. It was during the superintendence of that exact disciplinarian, whose praise is on every military lip, that it emerged from comparative obscurity, and took in its appropriate sciences, the first place among our public institutions; and if at any time its star has been transiently dimmed, it was because discipline had first been incautiously relaxed. I