BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

OF

Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count of Rumford.

[From the New (London) Monthly Magazine, for October, 1814.]

Ir a life devoted to the cultivation of science, with a view to increase the comforts and promote the happiness of mankind, is the most legitimate claim to eminence, then must the name of Count Rumford rank in the very first class of the distinguished characters of the present age, and command the admiration and gratitude of posterity, when the memory of men, whose talents have been exerted only for the annoyance of the human race, is lost in oblivion, or, stripped of its fictitious splendour, become the object of universal execration.

Benjamin Thompson was born in 1752, in the little town of Rumford in New England, where his parents, who belonged to the middling class of society, resided. Their son received. the best education that this obscure place could afford; but there is every reason to believe, that he owed more to his own industry and thirst of knowledge, than to the instructions of a master. So early were his talents developed, that he began to instruct others at a period when young men in general are only obtaining instruction for themselves. He also married advantageously early in life, and obtained the rank of a major in the militia of his native district. He had begun to cultivate the sciences with success, when the unhappy contest between the mother country and her American colonies, in which he espoused the cause of the former, drove him from his native land. His local knowledge, and extensive information, gained him the acquaintance and respect of the British generals in America, which, however, he soon quitted, and repaired to England. Here he was consulted on the state and probable issue of the war; and Lord George Germaine, who then pre

sided over the American department, conceived such a friendship for Mr. Thompson, that he gave him an honourable post in his office, and a general invitation to his table. When the war was drawing towards a close, and it was evident that the American department must be annihilated together with the British dominion in America, the same nobleman, with a view to make some provision for his friend, sent him over to New York, where he raised a regiment of dragoons, obtained the provincial rank of lieutenant-colonel, and became entitled to halfpay. Soon after his return to England, in 1784, his majesty was pleased to confer on him the honour of knighthood.

In the same year Sir Benjamin Thompson made a tour upon the continent, and at Strasburg became acquainted with the present king of Bavaria, then prince of Deuxponts, who so warmly recommended him to his relative and predecessor, the then reigning Elector Palatine and Duke of Bavaria, that the latter invited him into his service, with an offer of the most honourable terms. Having obtained his majesty's permission, he repaired to Münich, and was employed by his electoral highness in effecting the most salutary reforms of the various departments of his government. He arranged the military affairs, and introduced a new system of order, discipline, and economy, among the troops; constantly endeavouring in all his operations to unite the interest of the soldier with that of civil society, and to render the military force, even in time of peace, subservient to the public good.

The next object to which he directed his attention was the suppression of mendicity. Not only the capital, but the whole country, swarmed with beggars, who levied contributions on the industrious inhabitants,-stealing, robbing, and leading a life of indolence and the most shameless debauchery. Mendicity was actually formed into a trade, and the many thousands who subsisted by it seemed to consider their profession, like others, entitled to peculiar rights and privileges. To such a pitch was this notion carried, that no house, no church, was free from their annoyance; and either the magistrates would

not or durst not interfere with them; while the military, from a mistaken principle of delicacy, would have deemed themselves dishonoured by seizing the individuals, and putting a stop to the growing evil. Sir Benjamin, who had by this time been decorated by the sovereign with the insignia of various orders, promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and been created Count of Rumford, after the place of his nativity, determined to apply a remedy to so intolerable a nuisance. Having prepared a building for the reception of the mendicants, and materials for their employment, he fixed upon the 1st of January, 1790, (new year's day having been peculiarly set apart for giving alms in Bavaria,) as the most favourable for the commencement of his operations. Accompanied by the field-officers of the regiments in garrison at Münich, and the chief magistrates of the city, to whom he had previously communicated his plan, he sallied forth into the streets, and, to prevent the possibility of disgrace being attached to so salutary a measure, he began by arresting the first beggar he met with his own hand. No sooner had the commander set the example, than the officers and soldiers, without making any difficulty, cleared the streets with equal promptitude and success, but at the same time with all imaginable good nature, so that before night not a single beggar was to be seen in the whole metropolis. As fast as they were arrested, they were conducted to the town-hall, where their names were inscribed, and they were then dismissed with directions to repair the next day to the new work-house provided for them, where they would find employment and a sufficiency of wholesome food. By persevering in this plan, and by the establishment of the most excellent practical regulations, the Count so far overcame prejudice, habit, and attachment, that these heretofore miserable objects began to cherish the idea of independence to feel a pride in obtaining an honest livelihood -to prefer industry to idleness, and decency to filth, rags, and the squalid wretchedness attendant on beggary. In order to attain these important objects, he introduced new manu

factures into the electoral dominions; and having, during a journey in Italy for the recovery of his health, made himself acquainted with the establishments for the relief of the indigent in some parts of that country, he entertained hopes of enabling the poor of Bavaria to live comfortably by the manufacture of clothing for the poor of Italy.

The change wrought in the hearts and sentiments of those whose external situation the Count had undertaken to improve, could not fail to afford the highest gratification to a mind like his. Every reader of the least sensibility must envy him the emotions which, while he is describing these improvements, suggested passages such as the following:-"When these poor creatures were first brought together, I used very frequently to visit them-to speak kindly to them—and to encourage them; and I seldom passed through the halls where they were at work without being a witness to the most moving scenes. Objects formerly the most miserable and wretched, whom I had seen for years as beggars in the streets; young women, perhaps the unhappy victims of seduction, who, having lost their reputation, and been turned adrift in the world, without a friend and without a home, were reduced to the necessity of begging, to sustain a miserable existence, now recognized me as their benefactor, and with tears dropping fast from their cheeks, continued their work in the most expressive silence. If they were asked what was the matter with them, their answer was, "nothing;" accompanied by a look of affectionate regard, so exquisitely touching, as frequently to draw tears from the most insensible of the by-standers.

"As examples of success are sometimes more efficacious in stimulating mankind to action than the most splendid reasonings and admonitions, it is upon my success in the enterprise, that my hopes of engaging others to follow such an example, are chiefly founded; and hence it is, that I insist, with so much perseverance, on the pleasure which this success afforded me. I am aware that I expose myself to being suspected of ostentation, particularly by those who are not able

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to enter fully into my situation and feelings; but why should I not mention the marks of affectionate regard and respect which I received from the poor people, for whose happiness I interested myself; and the testimonies of the public esteem with which I was honoured? Will it be reckoned vanity if I mention the concern which the poor of Münich expressed in so affecting a manner when I was dangerously ill?-that they went publicly in a body in procession to the cathedral church, where they heard divine service performed, and put up public prayers for my recovery?—that four years afterwards, on hearing that I was again dangerously ill at Naples, they of their own accord set apart an hour each evening after they had finished work to pray for me? Will it be thought improper to mention the affecting reception I met with from them on my first visit to the work-house on my return to Münich after an absence of fifteen months; a scene which drew tears from all who were present?—and must I refuse myself the satisfaction of describing the fête I gave them in return in the English garden, at which 1800 poor people of all ages, and above 30,000 of the inhabitants of Munich assisted?-and all this pleasure I must forego, merely that I may not be thought vain and ostentatious?-Be it so then; but I would just beg leave to call the reader's attention to my feelings on the occasion, and then let him ask himself, if any earthly reward can possibly be supposed greater, any enjoy ments more complete, than those I received. Let him figure to himself, if he can, my situation, sick in bed, worn out by intense application, and dying, as every body thought, a martyr in the cause to which I had devoted myself:—let him imagine, I say, my feelings, upon hearing the confused noise of the prayers of a multitude of people who were passing by in the streets, upon being told that it was the poor of Münich, many hundreds in number, who were going in procession to the church to put up public prayers for me-for a private person, a stranger, a Protestant! I believe it is the first instance of the kind that ever happened; and I dare venture to affirm, that no proof could be stronger than this, that the measures adoptVOL. V. 3 D

No. 19.