THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY 225 



Taylor, its secretary, had been elected honorary mem- 

 bers. Count von Rumford was voted a gold medal, 

 with suitable inscription, for his attention to the Society 

 during his late residence in Ireland. 



Sir Benjamin Thompson (Count von Rumford) was 

 born in Massachusetts in 1753. He attended Harvard 

 University lectures, and became a schoolmaster at Rumford 

 (subsequently called Concord) in New Hampshire. He 

 married a lady of independent fortune, and soon sailed for 

 England, where he arrived in 1775. Being of a scientific 

 turn, he experimented in gunpowder, and in 1779 he was 

 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He went to 

 Bavaria, where the Duke Maximilian became his patron, 

 and in 1795 he was created Count von Rumford of Bavaria. 

 King George the Third also knighted him. In 1796 

 Count Rumford came to Ireland with Lord Pelham, where 

 he introduced many improvements into workhouses and 

 hospitals. He was particularly interested in the cooking of 

 food, the proper warming of houses, and in domestic 

 economy generally. The Dublin Society and its working 

 had great attractions for the Count, who spent a good deal 

 of time in Poolbeg street, and " Count Rumford's kitchens " 

 are mentioned in the minutes. He was so much pleased 

 with the lecture theatre, and the prospect of instruction 

 opened up by it, that on returning to London he projected 

 the Royal Institution, Albemarle street, an additional proof 

 that the Dublin Society may be considered as the prototype 

 of numerous societies for the diffusion of knowledge. Count 

 Rumford's collected works appeared in 1796 as Essays, Politi- 

 cal, Economical, and Philosophical. He died in 18 14. 



In 1802, Thomas Lysaght, junior, was appointed 

 solicitor to the Society in Mr. Tisdall's place, and a list 

 of members present at each meeting began to be printed, 

 this not having been done since the series of printed 

 Proceedings was commenced. 



In the same year the Right Hon. John Foster was 

 asked to sit for his portrait by Hamilton, which was to 



p 



