454 Life of Count Rumford. 



the destruction of men, you have recognized only that which 

 comes from labors to advance their welfare. We have need 

 of this consolation, and of a striking illustration of it. I con- 

 gratulate myself at having seen a philanthropist par excellence. 

 Although you have already given an account of his seventh 

 Essay, you are far from realizing the immense extent of his 

 labors. I hope that he will not delay to give to the public the 

 interesting detail of them. 



"The subject with which Count Rumford as a physicist is 

 chiefly engaged is the Nature and Effects of Heat. He is not 

 only indefatigable in his researches, but, ardently desirous of 

 gathering a large co-operation in the investigations directed to 

 that subject, he has made, as you will see in the volume of 

 Philosophical Transactions for 1797, an endowment of ,1,000 

 sterling, the interest of which is to be devoted to rewarding the 

 authors of the best memoirs on this subject, to be adjudged by 

 the Royal Society of London. He has established a similar 

 endowment in the United States, his native country. He 

 requires that all in both countries who desire to co-operate in 

 this study shall have equal privileges in whatever language the 

 memoirs may be written. 



" It is not necessary to be a savant in order to share in the 

 favors of Count Rumford. Those who have followed his prin- 

 ciples in the construction of fireplaces are already enjoying the 

 fruits of his active benevolence. I hope we shall not be slow 

 to appreciate the whole advantage of it in our kitchen furnaces 

 where the fire is shut in. The economy of combustibles is too 

 important for us in our local circumstances for us to fail of giv- 

 ing it all our care. 



" Count Rumford has pursued another service with like 

 marked success. He has become the ' father of the indigent. 

 His establishment for the poor has banished mendicity from 

 Munich, and his House of Industry tends to the absolute pre- 

 vention of pauperism. The double means used in this under- 

 taking have made me conceive, that, when Benevolence is per- 

 sonified, she ought to wear two visages ; one should express the 

 gaze of pity, with the hand which succors the wretched ; the 



