192 Life of Count Rumford. 



a.id agreeable food for the diet of soldiers. The nutri- 

 tive qualities of different kinds of food and of vegeta- 

 ble soups are elaborately investigated and tabulated. 

 The courtly Count seems almost to show himself to us 

 in the apparel and with the apron of an artist in one of 

 his own kitchens, when he deals with the matter of Ind- 

 ian meal, and pleads for cakes, dumplings, bread, and 

 especially " Hasty-Pudding," to be made from it. 

 Memories of his boyhood's home in Woburn, of the 

 yellow maize of autumn, of husking-parties, and of his 

 mother's substantial provisions for a youthful appetite, 

 must have come tenderly over him as he fondly argued 

 for this staple of the white and the red men of America. 

 An exiled loyalist, Sir William Pepperell, then living in 

 London, was an intimate friend of Thompson's, and 

 this friend had an American countrywoman in his 

 kitchen. The philosopher, not satisfied, it would seem, 

 to trust wholly to her native skill, gave her some direc- 

 tions and oversight of his own for preparing an " Ind- 

 ian pudding" as a treat for his friends. He adds 

 much useful information about macaroni, barley, and 

 rye-bread. I have noticed in various Parliamentary 

 documents and public journals of the time how highly 

 his advice and efforts were appreciated in that time of 

 scarcity and apprehension. 



Thompson made up another Essay by gathering 

 together sketches of four of his subordinate schemes 

 which he devised as incidental to the larger ones. 

 These were, first, a military academy, in which a thor- 

 ough practical education should be furnished, not ex- 

 clusively, but mainly for youths designed for soldiers. 

 It was planned for one hundred and eighty eleves, 

 distributed in three classes. The first of these was 



