icy those great republican doctrines which constitute the strength of our national existence.
in reference to the army and navy， lately employed with so much distinction on active service， care shall be taken to insure the highest condition of efficiency， and in furtherance of that object the military and naval schools， sustained by the liberality of congress， shall receive the special attention of the executive.
as american freemen we can not but sympathize in all efforts to extend the blessings of civil and political liberty， but at the same time we are warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own beloved washington to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign nations. in all disputes between conflicting governments it is our interest not less than our duty to remain strictly neutral， while our geographical position， the genius of our institutions and our people， the advancing spirit of civilization， and， above all， the dictates of religion direct us to the cultivation of peaceful and friendly relations with all other powers. it is to be hoped that no international question can now arise which a government confident in its own strength and resolved to protect its own just rights may not settle by wise negotiation； and it eminently becomes a government like our own， founded on the morality and intelligence of its citizens and upheld by their affections， to exhaust every resort of honorable diplomacy before appealing to arms. in the c