Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 1.djvu/75

Rh army and the priesthood. They may be distinguished as the upper and lower currents—the apparently prevailing, and the secretly influential elements—of public opinion.

The manner of recruiting the army resembles the mode in which the English navy was manned in time of war, by means of pressgangs. A well-armed party is sent forth into remote and wilderness places, for the purpose of securing and bringing home any men they may be able to catch. These unfortunates—for the most part ragged Indians—are without more ado chained together, and when a sufficient number has been captured are driven like beasts to the barracks of the capital, there to be dressed in linen-cloth uniforms, and drilled by marching them through the streets. In seasons of difficulty and urgency, also, a selection is made from those well-stored reservoirs of desperate humanity—the public prisons. The recruits are usually armed with rifles, far more dangerous to themselves than to anybody else; and sometimes placed under the command of an officer of congenial spirit—a liberated felon like themselves.

The numbers of the army are constantly over-estimated; this, indeed, is a kind of