Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-02-06

| them to its burshens, and gives it the parental
character! 1t is It's protecting arm. There are
no other means so effectua in securing to it the
affection and support Of the nation. None
need ever apprehend it to be dangerous course
for the Government to extend its power in the
protection Of its citizens The foundations OF
the Government were laid for this very end,
and the gentleman is under that moral obliga-
ton which binds every statesman 10 maintain
! and cherish the system Of the national defen-
ces.
The gentleman from Pennsylvania had said,
that the system of Forli6catons was bad, be-
cause the system Of Forti6catons on the CONT
nent Of Europe was bad But, MIR NIL said
he could tell the honorable gentleman from
Pennsy lvapia, it would not do for him 10 look
to Europe for their system OF, inland or land
Fertilization, and draw any argument thence to
apply to the system Of Fertilization for mar
thine nation There might be, he admitted,
some difference Of opinion amongst the best in
formed men as to the expediency OF system
of defence BY Fertilization, Oh an extended land
frontier, but it was impossible 10 establish a
maritime defence without system OF iOrtihca-
ton 1t is the only species OF defence that is
available against naval force. France had
found it 50 for fifty years, and England, with
her immense naval resources, had never neglect
ed it
The gentleman had said, we must rely on the
Navy for defence by sea. That gentleman, Mr.
Mel said, was not more devoted friend 10
the Navy than he was He would go with him
to any extent to cherish the Navy. But, Ma
Wy itself requires protection. IL requires STA
tons, harbors, rendezvous, and vast number
OF facilities that cannot be afforded without for
ti6cations; and thus this system would render
this Navy more efficient, if il was not indlspen-
sable to the maintenance Of Navy. Before
the late war-and he should be permitted to
recur to that, because ii was most important
era in the history ofthis country-it was impor-
| tant in all its consequences; and in none more
than in the fact, that it directed the energies,
the science, and the talents of this country to
repair pre-, ous defects, and to guard against
their future neutrality-suspicious. TO the last
war, we were Observation-Disclosures on any
large scale, he meant. We had, in some Of the
ports, small Forts, but they were erected with
out any view to general system. They were
selected with view to single positions: each
of them defended the single position on witch
it STOOD, the town in the of ii, the points
to which it was adjacent But there was no
system, no kind of connexion between these
forts-they extended the defence no where else
than in their immediate vicinity. Much had
been said about the imperfections Of that sys-
TEN; but it should be recolected that, such as
it was, it repealed the enemy from almost every
point to which it extended. A fleet blockading
the Chesapeake and Delaware kept the whole
country in state of alarm. 1t obliged US to
call out Le,achments Of our army, and place
them in different positions: it obliged US 10
draw the militia from their occupations, and
every man became soldier: they were obliged
| to be every where, because they did not know
where the enemy would come. We were al
most ruined by this war of threatenings, which
drained the Treasury, destroyed the energies of
the People, ruined their industry, paralyzed the
efforts of the Government, and created dissats-
faction throughout the country. Could gentle
men say what would have been the consequent
ces had it not been for the bravery of those men
who fought at New-Orleans, and the skill Of
their accomplished leader? What would have
been the fate of this country, had the British
been repealed there? 1t was probable the war
would have had a very different termination.
1t was, Mr.. Me-. said, to guard against re-
! currence Of these dangers, and to place this
the moment the apprehension OF, war had pass
ed away, the first interval of leisure the Govern
ment had was employed to discover the means
Of remedying these defects, and to establish a
new system OF forthca,ion on larger scale
Having determined to establish this system of
national defence, they appointed commissioners
to reconnoi,re the whole maratime frontier, and
ascertain where the Notifications could be hes,
placed. After making this examination, these
commissioners made their report; and they re-
ported system, not of Notifications only, but
a general system Of national defence They
pointed out the means by which, in any future
emergency, we could be defended at all points
What asked MIR. Mel. were the basis and OBJ
lects of this system? He would state to the
House what they were, & he had extracted the
whole Of his informationfrom these reports
drawn up by men well acquainted with the sub
iect for, Mr.. NIL said, he did not profess, him
self, to have any military skill or science. This
system, which was to render the defence OF this
nation complete, was to consist o! a navy, for
ti6cations, interior communication by land and
water, regular army, and well organised mi
litia. These were all parts Of the ,reat whole;
they were all connected; and to render them ei
hcent, they should BIZ all combined, and so
combined that each one should protect the 9th
err, by which each would be thereby rendered
efficient. 1t would be impossible 10 take from