Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/55

 Club is entitled to a few remarks; already the subscription list amounts to upwards of 2,000, and its daily visitors on an average to 150; the situation is most convenient,and all the luxuries and comforts of London Club life are there. It is very agreeable to the stranger, otherwise lost in the wilderness of London,to find a habitation and a home immediately after his arrival, and to feel that he is as much at ease in the Club as in his own mess-room, where he meets so many old friends with fellow feelings and associations; from the member of council to the junior magistrate; from the major-general to the ensign, from the member of the medical board to the assistant-surgeon. It is to be regretted that more officers in India do not belong to the Club, for only a fourth part of the United Service have joined it. This is not quite consistent with the esprit de corps so generally met with in Indian officers.

The club house with all its advantages, is however only a family mansion and is but a humble representative of the Indian army compared to the club palaces of the Royal United Service in its immediate neighbourhood. The managers would very willingly have a better house, but, with due regard to the finances of the club, their best intentions are neutralised by the want of funds to enable them to meet the expenses of a worthy representative of the East India United Service.