and sagacity of the European religious and coöperation of the civil employees of the king. In such a crisis, the principle is, to disunite sagaciously the opinions and feelings of the people; and repression by force only unites them. [If the military forces, the forts, and the navy be augmented, the only results will be to demoralize the army, make unnecessary display of the government's power, teach the Indians the art of war (which as few of them as possible ought to know), and impose unendurable burdens on the treasury. Plans of this sort ought to be postponed until the country can bear such burdens. The present permanent veteran force of the islands seems to Bernaldez sufficient for the above purpose;] it consists of four battalions of infantry, each containing approximately one thousand men; of a cavalry corps, recently increased to three squadrons; and a brigade of artillery, with a force of four hundred forty-four men, including a light-armed company. The following may also be regarded as permanent troops: a company, called the Pampanga, annexed to the service of the engineer corps; and three brigades called the "pirate marines" [marina corsaria], who have been in service twenty years. [The system of rewards is costly and useless. The soldier receives enough pay to live comfortably, in a country where living is so cheap; "it is equivalent for an Indian, and even for a Spaniard, to three times the same amount in Europa." The rewards given to the soldiers ought to be reduced in such measure as the circumstances of the colony demand, "taking for a basis the fact that with four hard dollars a month any inferior employee can maintain himself and all his family comfortably in the provinces, and that all beyond that is extravagance." The Pampanga company has no organization; it ought to be placed on a military basis, with European officers, and ranked as a company of pioneers, when it would be very useful in the service. The militia troops of the islands have been neglected, although they are (especially the pirate marines) so important in checking the Moro pirates. The commanders are "men of no force, arbitrarily chosen by the governor there, from the class of merchants and private citizens of Manila, who possess only honorary titles, without any military instruction or love for the military career." The militia forces do not cost the government much, but they are of very little use. Bernaldez thinks that the pirate marines ought to be regarded as a part of the regular army, with the same pay, and with European officers. The cavalry corps of Luzon is untrained, and would be of little use in an invasion of the country; it ought to be replaced by light and irregular cavalry, and supplemented by a small body of veterans. Two squadrons in the corps of dragoons of Luzon would be sufficient to preserve order in Manila, and the third ought to be abolished as unnecessary.] Of the artillery and its dependent branches