Without proper
attention to this exercise no regiment is ever kept in order; nor has
any commanding officer ever the respect or the affection of his men
unless they see that he understands well all the duties which his
Government entrusts to him, and is resolved to have them performed in
all situations and under all circumstances. There are always some bad
characters in a regiment, to take advantage of any laxity of
discipline, and lead astray the younger soldiers, whose spirits have
been rendered exuberant by good health and good feeding; and there is
hardly any crime to which they will not try to excite these young
men, under an officer careless about the discipline of his regiment,
or disinclined, from a mistaken _esprit de corps_, or any other
cause, to have those crimes traced home to them and punished.[37]
There can be no question that a good tone of feeling between the
European officers and their men is essential to the well-being of our
native army; and I think I have found this tone somewhat impaired
whenever our native regiments are concentrated at large stations. In
such places the European society is commonly large and gay; and the
officers of our native regiments become too much occupied in its
pleasures and ceremonies to attend to their native officers or
sepoys.
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