Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/71

 fighting for the honour of conveying him to his destination, and his want of power to make himself understood perplexes him sadly; and he will, therefore, be fortunate if he can land under the protection of some one of experience. Should he have invitations to live with a friend,he will find his friendship doubly valuable; should he not, the best thing he can do is to go to Spence's Hotel, where he will be comfortable and can mature his plans for the future. If a cadet, he will be taken under the protection of the superintendent of cadets in Fort William, have quarters assigned him in the fort, and have a good mess to go to with other cadets as mess mates. On the day of his arrival, he must wait, in sword and surtout, upon the Town Major, the Assistant Adjutant General and report his arrival,and if an Assistant Surgeon, on the Secretary of the Medical Board, the Superintending Surgeon, and the Surgeon of the General Hospital. He must not expect much condescension or fellow feeling on such occasions, nor anything more than formal civility. What is the most important act of a young soldier's life is an every day occurrence to an old one in office. I have known sensitive young men hurt at the coldness of such receptions, and returning to their hotels in disgust. There have been bears in public offices, but such a generation has now passed away, and if a bear