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THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR
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elevating the condition of the Natives both mentally and physically. He firmly believed in the possibility of such improvement among all classes, but especially among the lower-middle and the poorer sections of the community. Regarding the latter, he sympathized with their lowly lot, he felt for their griefs, losses and distresses, he rejoiced in their humble joys and their modest prosperity. He was anxious to mitigate their hardships, to render them happier in their homes, to lead them on in the path of peace and pleasantness. He would be the helper of the helpless, the supporter of the weak, the protector of the oppressed. He could put his finger with unerring precision on every one of their faults. But he recollected the temptations which had for ages beset them. He recognized their merits and especially their domestic virtues. He knew indeed that the truest improvement must spring from the people themselves. He thought that crime and other popular faults sometimes arose from unintentional misgovernment, fiscal, executive, or judicial. As a district officer he had often warned his superiors of this. As a superior he would give the same warning to his district officers. But he believed that good government would produce that disposition in the people which leads to self-help and self-improvement.

So he resolved that, by putting his shoulder to the wheel and his hand to the plough, he would, if life were spared to him for a few years, leave his people better far than he found them in wealth and circumstances, in wisdom and understanding. In forming such deter-