1883.] on Count Bumford, Originator of the B&ifcH Ingtitution. 427 



the carriages fur tte want of an inn : scantiness of provisions, joine«i 

 with great fatigne, rendered onr jonmev by no means as^eeable." 

 At !3Innicli tbey were Ljdged in the splendid honse allotted to the 

 Count France and Austria were then at war. while Bavaria sousht 

 to remain rigidly nentraL Eight days after Enmford's arrival, the 

 Elector took refuge in Saxouy. Moreau had crossed the Ehine and 

 threatened Bavaria. After a defeat by the French, the Austrians 

 withdrew to Munich, but found the gates of the city closed against 

 them. They planted batteries on a height commanding the city. 

 According to arrangement with the Elector, Eumford assumed the 

 command of the Bavarian forces, and by his firmness and presence of 

 mind prevented either French or Austrians from entering Munich. 

 A foreigner acting thus was sure to excite jealousy and encounter oppo- 

 sition, but, despite all this, he was eminently successful in realisincr 

 his aims. The consideration in which he was held by the Elector 

 is illustrated by the fact that he made Miss Thompson a Countess of 

 the Empire, conferring on her a pension of 200/. a year, with liberty 

 to enjoy it in any country where she might wish to reside. 



The following incident is worth recording. In March 1796, 

 Eumford s daughter, wishing to celebrate his birthday, chose out of 

 his workhouse a dozen of the most industrious little bc»TS and sirls, 

 dressed them up in the imiform of that establishment, and robing 

 herseK in white, led them into his room and presented them to him. 

 He was so much touched by the incident, that he made her a present 

 of two thousand dollars (400/.) on condition that she should, in her 

 will, apply the interest of the sum to the clothing, every year for ever, 

 on her own birthday, of twelve meritorious children — six girls and six 

 boys — in the Mimich uniform. The poor children were to be chosen 

 from her native town, Concord. Habit must to some extent have 

 blinded Eumford's eyes to the objection which independent Xew 

 Englanders were likely to make to this fantastic apparel. They 

 bluntly stated their objections, but " with grateful hearts " they never- 

 theless expressed their willingness to accept the donation. Xothing 

 further was done during Eumford's lifetime, 



O 



The Xew England girl, brought up in Concord, transplanted 

 thence to London, and afterwards to Munich, was subjected to a 

 somewhat trying ordeaL After a short period of initiation, she 

 appears to have passed through it creditably. Her writing does 

 not exhibit her as possessing any marked qualities of intellect. She 

 was bright, gossipy, "volatile," and throws manifold gleams on 

 the details of Eumford's life. He constantly kept a box at the opera, 

 though he hardly ever went there, and hired by the year a doctor 

 named Haubenal. She amusingly describes a quintuple present made 

 to her by her father soon after her arrival in Mimich. The first 

 item was ** a little shaggy dog, as white as snow, excepting black eyes, 

 ears and nose '" ; the second was a lady named Yeratzy, who was 

 sent to teach her French and music : the third was a Catholic priest, 

 named Dillis, who was to be her drawing master ; the fourth was a 



