The Memorandum on temperance and morality in the Army drawn
up by the Commander-in-Chief, and issued to the troops, is a sensible and straightforward document. Its isste in no sense means that soldiers are more drunken or vicious than other men, but their temptations are great, and it is a good thing that the encouraging of a high moral standard should be officially declared to be part of the officer's duty. The sneaking notion secretly entertained by many men that a soldier must necessarily be a bit of a blackguard, and that when he ceases to be a rough he loses a good deal of his fighting powers, is a pure delusion,—and a very mischievous one. The only Army of which it was said; and said accurately, "Truly they were never beaten, and wherever they were engaged against the enemy they beat continually," was the New Model of the Puritans, and there the standard of moral conduct was very high.
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