But among all the blunders which have been committed,
none is more striking than the attempt to enlist on that side the
prudent jealousy entertained by the people, of standing armies. The
attempt has awakened fully the public attention to that important
subject; and has led to investigations which must terminate in a
thorough and universal conviction, not only that the constitution has
provided the most effectual guards against danger from that quarter, but
that nothing short of a Constitution fully adequate to the national
defense and the preservation of the Union, can save America from as many
standing armies as it may be split into States or Confederacies, and
from such a progressive augmentation, of these establishments in each,
as will render them as burdensome to the properties and ominous to the
liberties of the people, as any establishment that can become necessary,
under a united and efficient government, must be tolerable to the former
and safe to the latter.
The palpable necessity of the power to provide and maintain a navy has
protected that part of the Constitution against a spirit of censure,
which has spared few other parts.
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