“It may be safely presumed, that at the present state of our affairs, a moderate and efficient navy would be a great civilizing power; it would hover around the path of our ships, and by the very exhibition of its power suppress all attempts to molest them in their mission of peace and brotherhood across the seas. But in addition to this, our navy is even now aiding strenuously in the march of geographical discovery, and in enlarging our stock of scientific knowledge, and our familiarity with the facts of physical philosophy. When we consider the character of our institutions--when we consider that our great interests lie in the paths of peace--we must be impressed with the fact, that the contributions to science, and the civilizing influences of our navy, are one of the most powerful means by which we can uphold our interests, and carry out our institutions to the fullest development of which they are capable. “Under all circumstances and all disadvantages, the navy has never, at any period of our history, failed to do honor to itself, and to shed lustre on the American character. From the Revolutionary war down to the late conquest of Mexico, in every case in which its co-operation was at all possible, it has given proofs of activity and power equal to the proud and commanding position we are to occupy among the nations of the earth. We have opportunities to supply the service with the means of moral and physical progress, to free it from the shackles of old forms, and suffer it to clothe itself with the panoply of modern science, and to be identified with the spread of civilization and enlightenment over the world. It will continue to be our pride and our boast, the worthy representative upon the ocean, of the genius, the skill, and the enterprise of our people--of the boundless resources of our growing country--of the power, and grandeur, and glory, as well as the justice and humanity of our free institutions.”