ABSTRACT
Lord St. Leonard’s has taken, in affording assistance to the wives and children of soldiers sent to the East, exactly the proper course; with the sole exception of hinting at Government aid as possible hereafter. It will, we suspect, be impossible for Government to give any aid to the wives and children of soldiers who have married without leave. As Lord Ellenborough said, if the rule be departed from in respect of soldiers sent to Turkey, it cannot be maintained in respect to soldiers sent to the colonies, to the East Indies, or to any other place, and must soon be extended to troops at home. In short, give assistance to the wives of soldiers, who have married without leave, and the line of demarkation between those who marry with or without leave would cease. The admission of soldier’s [sic] wives to regimental quarters in behalf of the former class would become an arbitrary distinction; and our regiments would gradually assume the character of Sepoy regiments, with immense appurtenances of followers and their baggage. Very different results might be expected from the improvements that have taken place in the condition of the soldier. While he has become more educated and more regardful of decency, even in regimental life, he has become more solicitous for the welfare of the woman who entrusts herself to his keeping; and he is thus disposed to take a more prudent view of his own life, and to abstain from marriage until he can duly provide for its responsibilities.
