particular branch; opportunities of consulting whom will frequently occur after their nomination.
6. WIFE.—There still remains one part of equipment on which to say a word, a wife; it is rather a delicate subject, and I have, on many occasions, been twitted by fair spinsters for my opinions on early matrimony, and as they are the same now that they were when the first edition of this work was published, must run the same gauntlet again. Nevertheless, my advice upon this head has been in vain. Young fathers, and young mothers, and large families, on slender means, now teem in every regiment, and young widows, and young orphans have increased in due proportion. Their numbers have far exceeded the computation of the actuaries of our Military and Orphan Funds. Their finances have been overdrawn to supply pensions, and they were, not long ago, saved from bankruptcy only by large additions to the subscriptions. Again insolvency threatens these noble institutions, and it is now in contemplation to reduce the pensions of the widow and the orphan no less than 10 per cent.
If the young officer has the means of supporting a wife, with all the comforts and luxuries indispensable in India, by all means let him marry the object of his affections; but if he has not, let him remain single, for he must unavoidably get into debt, the greatest curse that he can inflict
