n the applause of newspapers and public
meetings, but in the grateful prayers and good wishes of those who
are benefited by them; and in the favour of the Deity in the next
world, for benefits conferred upon his creatures in this.[5]

What the people of India want is not public spirit, for no men in the
world have more of it than the Hindoos, but a disposition on the part
of private individuals to combine their efforts and means in
effecting great objects for the public good. With this disposition
they will be, in time, inspired under our rule, when the enemies of
all settled governments may permit us to divert a little of our
intellect and our revenue from the duties of war to those of
peace.[6]

In the year 1829, while I held the civil charge of the district of
Jubbulpore, in this valley of the Nerbudda, I caused an estimate to
be made of the public works of utility and ornament it contained. The
population of the district at that time amounted to 500,000 souls,
distributed among 4,053 occupied towns, villages, and hamlets. There
were 1,000 villages more which had formerly been occupied, but were
then deserted. There were 2,288 tanks, 209 'baolis', or large wells
with flights of steps extending from the top down to the water when
in its lowest stage; 1,560 wells lined with brick and stone, cemented
with lime, but without stairs; 860 Hindoo temples, and 22 Muhammadan
mosques. The estimated cost of these works in grain at the present
price, had the labour been paid in kind at the ordinary rate, was
R86,66,043 (866,604 pounds sterling).[7]

The labourer was estimated to be paid at the rate of about two-thirds
the quantity of corn he would get in England if paid in kind, and
corn sells here at about one-third the price it fetches in average
seasons in England. In Europe, therefore, these works, supposing the
labour equally efficient, would have cost at least four times the sum
here estimated; and such works formed by private individuals for the
public good, without any view whatever to return in profits, indicate
a very high degree of _public spirit_.

The whole annual rent of the lands of this district amounts to
R650,000 (65,000 pounds sterling), that is, 500,000 demandable by the
Government, and 150,000 by those who hold the lands at lease
immediately under Government, over and above what may be considered
as the profits of their stock as farmers. These works must,
therefore, have cost about thirteen times the a