31. ACADEMY, Need of a Naval.—
I think * * * that there should be a school
of instruction for our Navy as well as artillery;
and I do not see why the same establishment
might not suffice for both. Both require
the same basis of general mathematics,
adding projectiles and fortifications for the
artillery exclusively, and astronomy and theory
of navigation exclusively for the naval
students. Berout conducted both schools
in France, and has left us the best book extant
for their joint and separate instruction.
It ought not to require a separate professor. [3]
—
To John Adams.
Washington ed. vii, 218.
(M.
1821)
