Excerpt from A Narrative of a Tour of Observation: Made During the Summer of 1817 Impressed with the magnitude of this subject, Mr. Monroe had no sooner passed through the forms of his inauguration, than he directed his attention to the means by which to accomplish so desirable an Object. A mere theoretical knowledge would be in sufficient for the consummation of his views; and, indeed, could not be entirely depended upon. Avail ing himself, therefore, of the experience acquired before the close of the late contest, he determined to engage in a personal examination of the situation, strength, and condition, of all the citadels and mili tary posts in the northern and eastern departments of the union. To the early execution of this inten tion, - he was urged, as he has himself intimated, by a desire to look into the economical expenditure of the public monies, which had been liberally appro priated by congress to facilitate the completion of these measures; and to ascertain the propriety of adopting plans, suggested by the agents employed in the service of fortification. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.