508 Life of Count Rtimford. 



practical experiments and the theories suggested to 

 him as to the organizing of a wisely benevolent plan, 

 to present a new method for the systematic relief of the 

 poor, I have to mention a fact of much interest. I 

 can well conceive that the Count himself would regard 

 this fact as perhaps the most grateful of all the tributes 

 that have been paid to the labors of his life or to his 

 memory. 



In a note which is a part of a correspondence on 

 another subject, my friend, Mr. Thomas C. Amory, 

 lately an alderman of the city of Boston, and one of 

 the most discreet and earnest among those who have 

 administered the municipal charities, writes to me the 

 following sentences, just as I have before me the closing 

 page of this chapter. 



" Pardon me if I venture to call to your attention the fact, 

 that those of us, including the Hon. R. C. Winthrop, who 

 took part in organizing the present system of relief of the poor 

 in Boston with the Industrial Aid Society and Provident 

 Association under the same roof, did not lose sight of the 

 example of Count Rumford at Munich. By permission of the 

 Board, I purchased for its use a copy of his works. It might be 

 worth your while, before completing your work, to take a look 

 at the books and pigeon-holes of the Chardon Street building 

 [the magnificent and commodious structure recently prepared 

 by the city for the administration of many of its charities]. The 

 system, of course, is still in its infancy, and has much progress 

 to make before it approximates perfection. But its aim is the 

 same as Rumford's, to render the poor self-sustaining by find- 

 ing them work. 



" It sometimes occurs to me, that, as Rumford was of our 

 neighborhood, his statue or bust would be a fitting decoration 

 for the blank-wall space of the building over the entrance. He 

 was pre-eminently a philanthropist, and of the best sort, seeking 

 practical ends in improving the condition of his fellow-men. 



