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His humane and practical methods of suppressing beggary gave him the title of "The Father of the Indigent." While he was dangerously ill, the poor of the city marched in procession to the cathedral and offered up prayers for his recovery. Imagine my feelings," said he, "upon hearing the confused noise of the prayers, of a multitude of people, passing in the streets, when told that it was the poor of Munich, hundreds in number, who were going in procession to the church to put up public prayers for me for a private person-a stranger-a protestant."

Thompson's essays on heat and light had been published by the Royal Society in their "Philosophical Transactions." He had been made a member of the Berlin Academy, and of several scientific societies of Bavaria, and later a member of the Institute of France. The elector advanced him to chamberlain, major general, head of war department, chancellor of state, and in 1791 conferred on him the title. of Count of the Holy Roman Empire.

Concord, New Hampshire, was incorporated in 1734 under the name of Rumford, and in choosing his title, Thompson selected the early name of the American town where he had lived.

RUMFORD MEDAL. OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.

One of the beneficent acts of Count Rumford was that of establishing a public park, called the English Garden. A neglected tract of forest in the environs of Munich that had been a part of the hunting grounds of the elector was by him converted into a beautiful park surrounded by a drive six miles in circuit. Its lovely lakes, walks, grottos, waterfalls and other charming features, are still alluring to a population fond of living in the open air. Within the park is a monument to the memory of its founder, a massive quadrangular structure of freestone. On one side is a bas-relief of Count Rumford in alabaster, below this is the inscription:

To him who rooted out the greatest of public evils,
Idleness and Mendicity, relieved and instructed

the poor, and founded many institutions for
the education of youth.

-Go, Wanderer, and strive to equal him in genius
and activity, and us in gratitude.

Hand

I have hereunto set my
and seal at Munich this fifteenth
in the year one

day of

February

Thousand Seven hundred and Ninety

On the opposite side is the following:

Rumford, the friend of mankind, by genius,
taste and love inspired, changed

this once desert place into what thou
now beholdest.

His health being impaired, he spent more than a year in Italy, and then returned to England after an absence of eleven years. On entering London he met with a terrible loss, which he never ceased to bemoan. While passing St. Paul's churchyard in the evening, his postchaise was stopped and a trunk containing all his private papers was cut from its fastenings and stolen. He said: "By this cruel robbery, I have been deprived of the fruits of the labor of my whole life and have lost all that I hold most valuable."

Rumford's wife had died in 1792 and his daughter, who was an

infant when he left America, now a young lady, joined him in London and lived with him for many years.

He was now forty-two years of age, and the main purpose of his return to England was to publish his essays. Several editions were subsequently brought out in both Europe and America, and they have been translated into German, French and Italian. While on this visit he presented a fund of one thousand pounds to the Royal Society, the interest of which was to be awarded every second year to the author of the most important discovery in light and heat. The society decided that the awards should be made in the form of medals, one of gold and one of silver, which together should contain an intrinsic value equal to the interest.

Rumford, at the same time, gave $5,000 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of Boston, to be used in the same way. In 1837 this fund had increased to $20,000. It has now grown to $59,000 and the annual income is $2,550. Up to 1905, the Rumford premium had been awarded but twenty times. The academy has, however, made a great number of grants of money from the fund to assist those who are. making researches in the phenomena of heat and light, and by a decision of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, a portion of the income from the fund has been diverted to Harvard University. The Rumford professorship of Harvard will be referred to later.

After remaining a year in England, Rumford, accompanied by his daughter Sarah, returned to Munich. Here they occupied a palace supplied with every elegance, convenience and luxury. They were also permitted to use the princely summer residence of the elector, with its extensive park and mountain scenery. His daughter was made countess of the empire and allowed a pension of 2,000 florins for life.

When Napoleon repulsed the Austrians at Friedburg they retreated towards Munich, followed by the French. The elector, delegating Rumford with full authority, left the city, taking refuge in Saxony. Count Rumford at once employed his military talents to meet the emergency. He took chief command of the Bavarian forces, determined to prevent both the Austrians and French from entering the city. The gates were ordered closed and the Austrian forces occupied the opposite side of the river, where they planted their batteries. By a show of force, firmness and presence of mind, he was successful in preventing the occupation of the city by a foreign force.

In 1798 he was appointed Bavarian minister to the court of St. James's. It was a thing quite unprecedented to receive at the English court a subject of Great Britain as a representative of a foreign country, and it was one of the great disappointments of his life when informed that, being a British subject, he could not be received in a diplomatic capacity. He did not receive information of his ineligibility until he had arrived in London in company with his daughter.