1883.J on Count Bumford, Originator of the Eoyal Institution. 419 



ThompsoD, however, evoked no religious animosity. He avowed him- 

 self a Protestant, but met with no opposition on that score. Holding 

 as he did the united offices of Minister of War, Minister of Police, 

 and Chamberlain of the Elector, his influence and action extended to 

 all parts of the public service. Then, as now, the armies of the con- 

 tinent were maintained by conscription. Drawn away from their 

 normal occupations, the rural population returned after their term of 

 service lazy and demoralised. This was a great difficulty, in dealing 

 with which patient caution had to combine with administrative skill. 

 Four years of observation were spent at Munich, before Thompson 

 attempted anything practical. The pay of the soldiers was miserable, 

 their clothing bad, their quarters dirty and mean ; the expense being 

 out of all proportion to the return. The officers, as a general rule, 

 regarded the soldiers as their slaves ; and here special prudence was 

 necessary in endeavouring to effect a change. The more earnest 

 among the officers were induced to co-operate with him, by making 

 the reforms which he sought to introduce to originate apparently with 

 them. He aimed at making soldiers citizens and citizens soldiers. 

 The situation of the soldier was to be rendered pleasant, his pay was 

 to be increased, his clothing rendered comfortable and even elegant, 

 while all liberty consistent with strict subordination was to be per- 

 mitted him. Within, the barracks were to be neat and clean ; and 

 without, attractive. Eeading, writing, and arithmetic were to be 

 taught, not only to the soldiers and their children, but to the children 

 of the neighbouring peasantry. The j)aper used in the school would, 

 it was urged, be practically free of cost, as it would serve afterwards 

 for cartridges. 



The marshes near Mannheim were dreary bogs, useless for cultiva- 

 tion and ruinous to the health of the city. Thompson drained them, 

 banked them in, and converted them into a garden for the use of the 

 garrison. For the special purpose of introducing the culture of 

 the potato, he extended the plan of military gardens to all other 

 garrisons. They were tilled, and their produce was owned, by non- 

 commissioned officers and privates, each of whom had a plot of 

 365 square feet allotted to him. Gravel walks divided the plots from 

 each other. The plan proved completely successful. Indolent 

 soldiers became industrious, while the soldiers on furlough spreading 

 abroad their taste and knowledge, caused little gardens to spring up 

 everywhere over the country. Having secured this end, he converted 

 it into a means of suppressing the enormous evils of mendicity. 

 Bavaria was infested with beggars, vagabonds, and thieves, native 

 and foreign. These mendicant tramps were in the main stout, 

 healthy, and able-bodied fellows, who found a life of thievish indo- 

 lence pleasanter than a life of honest work. "These detestable 

 vermin had recourse to the most diabolical arts, and the most horrid 

 crimes in the prosecution of their infamous trade." They robbed, 

 and maimed and exposed little children, so as to extract money from 

 the tender-hearted. In the cities the beggars formed a distinct caste. 



