Irttrro to tht eititor.
COWARDLY ATTACKS UPON THE ARMY.
3d October 1854.
SIR—The excellent remarks in your paper of the 30th of last month might be carried further ; and if the public expect that officers must become a pattern for the rest of the world, and be a moral set, before the Army can be in what they choose to call a perfect state, they are most egregiously mis- taken.
Generally speaking, the British Army is composed of gentlemanly well- educated men, who know and do their duty in an admirable manner.
With thirty or forty officers in a regiment, often in quarters without ad- ditional society, how is their time to be passed when off duty ? A very few may be hard readers, and retire soon after dinner. Drinking (the curse of society) has fortunately long been discontinued ; but in my early days it was carried to such an extent, that four bottles a man was not an uncommon oc- currence : when the point of discussion the next day was " how many bot- tles did we drink ?" no one was allowed to pass the wine without taking off his " heel tap," and filling a bumper. Now, the mesa is soon broken up : sometimes there is a billiard-table •, whist-parties are formed ; cigars are in requisition ; and the vice of gambling is nearly extinct. All this is a great improvement. It has never been the custom to prevent men having women in barrack- rooms ; and though I do not pretend to justify the immorality, you cannot change human nature, and to attempt it would do serious mischief. From my earliest days to the present time, all ranks (not excepting commanding- officers) have constantly received females into their rooms, and I have never known any ill consequences result from the practice.
Noblemen and others in private life are not more moral than they should be ; but as soon as an officer is found out, down come the public upon him. if you drive women out of barracks, the disgraceful system of olden times will return, as the only resource of passing a dull evening ; and if the Army is to be formed of sanctified men, a fellow will be found, not with a cigar in his mouth and his heart in the right place, but saying his prayers, when he ought to be in the front rank at the attack of Sebastopol.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant and constant reader, A VERY OLD HAND.
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