298 



Country. In ratifying this measure, the Governor 

 General declared himself to be fully confident " that 

 the proprietors of land, sensible of the benefits con- 

 ferred upon them by the public assessment being fixed 

 for ever, would exert themselves in the cultivation of 

 their land, under the certainty that t ey would eujoy 

 exclusively the fruits of their own good management 

 and industry, and that no demand would ever be made 

 upon them for an augmentation of the assessment in 

 consequence of the improvement of their estates/'* 

 words which, without book, might easily be quoted as 

 aa extract from, a despatch of 1862. " To conduct 

 themselves" the Ordinance continues " with good faith 

 and moderation towards their dependent talookdars 

 and ryots,are duties at all times indispensably requir- 

 ed from the proprietors of land, and a strict observ- 

 ance of these duties is now more than ever incumbent 

 upon them, in return for the benefits which they will 

 themselves derive from the orders now issued. The 

 Governor General in Council therefore expects, 

 that the proprietors of land will not only act in 

 this manner themselves towards their dependent 

 talookdars and ryots, but also enjoin the strictest 

 adherence to the same principles, in the persons 

 whom they may appoint to collect the rents from 

 them/' 



His Excellency, no doubt, thought to make English 

 landlords of the Zemindars of Bengal ; but it is patent 



* Vide Regulation I. 1793, Section VII. 



