300 



year ending the 30th of April 1857, or ten days 

 before the outbreak of the rebellion, 70,000,000 

 acres were under cultivation in Bengal, and the 

 land revenue was .3,295,378. Had the excess of 

 40,000,000 of cultivated acres been assessed at the 

 nominal rate of one rupee an acre, it would 

 have yielded, with little expense, with less trouble, 

 and with no dissatisfaction to the people, a clear 

 revenue of 4 ; 000,000 per annum. Seventy years 

 have elapsed since the year 1793, and taking but one 

 half of this period, the accumulation of the illigiti- 

 mate annual gains of the landholders of Bengal, 

 if hoarded, would represent 140,000,000 sterling, a 

 sum far in excess of the entire present debt of India, 

 the interest of which the whole Community have 

 now to pay. This is certainly a very startling fact, 

 and though it need not follow, and it is not proposed, 

 that a permanent settlement should be made with 

 the proprietors of estates including any large area 

 of uncultivated land, taken in connection with the 

 admittedly depressed condition of the cultivators, 

 and the deplorable state of the public works, and 

 the internal commerce of the Province, it is 

 sufficient to upset any direct conclusions, drawn 

 from general premises, regarding the effects of 

 Lord Cornwallis' settlement, in its relation to the 

 wealth of the Country. True, it may be said that 

 the free gift of large tracts of \\ aste laud, has accel- 

 lerated their cultivation; but the reclamation of 



