can hardly be said to have a standing army; but we have eight hundred thousand militia, disciplined and armed, which costs the republic nothing At a moment's warning, when war is declared, they are converted from citizens to soldiers to defend their home. In peace, they again become citizens. With a treasury overflowing, we pay no taxes. PERPETUITY TO OUR

REPUBLIC.

Dd2

THE

SECOND TOUR

OF

JAMES MONROE,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

IN 1818.

THE determination of the President, soon after his election, to explore the extensive Republic over which he has presided, and still presides with such universal popularity, excited the undivided pleasure of his fellow citizens. His first Tour carried him through a large and very important section of the American Republic. The plain and unostentatious manner in which he travelled—the unaffected and dignified manner in which he received and reciprocated the civilities bestowed upon him-the interesting and impressive manner in which he answered the numerous addresses delivered-the deep interest he manifested in the Agricultural, Manufacturing, Commercial, and Mechanical interests of the people, all tended to increase the pleasure of an interview between a great Magistrate and the citizens of a great Republic.

The primary object, however, of his first Tour, was to devise the best possible mode of defending the

extensive sea-board and frontier of the northern and eastern states. A sanguinary war had recently exposed them to the ravages of a powerful, an insolent, and in many respects, a barbarous foe. Naval demonstrations had clearly evinced the necessity of strong fortifications in our harbours, and a regular line of military posts upon our frontiers. The President, having been himself a distinguished soldier in the war of the revolution, could view the country with the eye of a soldier ; being accompanied by the accomplished Gen. SWIFT, the then Chief Engineer in the American army, he availed himself of his military science in determining the places which formed the most proper military sites. But although this was his primary object, his capacious mind embraced within its excursive range every great subject connected with the permanent interest of his beloved country. As a scholar he viewed the progress of the higher branches of literature, and saw a portion of citizens who in the eastern world, are called the peasantry, subject to the capricious whims of imperious. landlords, and the extortions of profligate governments. He there saw them FREEMEN, owners of the soil they cultivated, and enjoying the blessings of a mild and equal government.

After completing this laborious and interesting Tour, the President returned to the seat of government, where he soon after met the grand council of the Republic, and presented to them his first Message, already inserted.

Devoting himself to the important duties devolved upon him by his high office, he spent the succeeding winter and spring at the seat of government.

Soon after the conclusion of the interesting session of Congress in 1817-18, and after arranging the important affairs of the Cabinet, the President, in pursuance of his determination to explore every portion of the Republic, where it was practicable, and where it was most exposed to the naval and military forces of our enemies, prepared to survey the CHESAPEAKE bay, and to explore the country lying upon its extensive shores.

About the 20th May, 1818, he left the seat of government, and proceeded to Annapolis, the political capital of the state of Maryland. He was accompanied by the Hon. JOHN C. CALHOUN, Secretary of War, the Hon. BENJAMIN CROWNINSHIELD, Secretary of the Navy, and other gentlemen of distinction.

In no respect does our country present a more striking difference from others, than in the course pursued by our Rulers in elevated stations. I need not repeat what was said in the few remarks introductory to the first Tour, published soon after it was ended; but the admiration of our countrymen cannot too often, nor too highly be excited, by calling their attention to the unceasing assiduity with which our President, and the members of the Cabinet discharge the duties assigned them by the Constitution and the Government. What the Rulers of other nations do by agents, our Rulers do themselves. The President and the heads of two departments, leave their residences to determine the best mode of defending a section of the union peculiarly exposed to the incursions of a naval force, and which had recently felt the necessity of more efficient defence.

The citizens of Annapolis, remembering the splendid manner in which the President was received every