the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor the general result of these consultations, and the unanimous desire of the gentlemen who assisted at them that means might be devised for making an attempt to carry the scheme proposed into execution.

The gentlemen of the committee agreed with me entirely in the opinion I had taken the liberty to express, that the Institution which it was proposed to form would be too conspicuous, and too interesting and important, to be made an appendix to any other exist ing establishment, and consequently that it must stand alone, and on its own proper basis; but, as these gentlemen had no direct communication with any persons, except with the members of their own Society, they appointed a committee, consisting of eight persons, from their own body, to confer with me on the subject of my plan.*

I had the honour to meet this committee on this business on the 31st of January, at the house of Richard Sulivan, Esq., where a plan I had previously drawn up, for forming the Institution in question, was read and examined, and its principles unanimously approved; but, as some of the gentlemen present were of opinion that the plan entered too much into detail to be submitted to the public in the beginning of the business, I undertook to revise it, and to endeavour to accommodate it to the wishes of the committee.

Having made such alterations in it as I thought might satisfy the committee, I sent a corrected copy of it to them, accompanied by the following letter:

The gentlemen chosen were the Earl of Winchelsea, Mr. Wilberforce, The Rev. Dr. Glasse, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Richard Sulivan, Mr. Colquhoun, Mr. Parry, and Mr. Bernard.

GENTLEMEN,- Enclosed I have the honour to send you a corrected copy of the Proposals I took the liberty of laying before you on Thursday last, for forming in this capital, by private subscription, a public institution for diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the general and speedy introduction of new and useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and also for teaching, by regular courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of the new discoveries in science to the improvement of arts and manufactures, and in facilitating the means of procuring the comforts and conveniences of life.

The tendency of the proposed Institution to excite a spirit of inquiry and of improvement amongst all ranks of society, and to afford the most effectual assistance to those who are engaged in the various pursuits of useful industry, did not escape your observation; and it is, I am persuaded, from a conviction of the utility of the plan, or its tendency to increase the comforts and enjoyments of individuals, and at the same time to promote the public prosperity, that you have been induced to take it into your serious consideration. I shall be much flattered if it should meet with your approbation and with your support.

Though I am perfectly ready to take any share in the business of carrying the scheme into execution, in case it should be adopted, that can be required, yet there is one preliminary request which I am desirous may be granted me; and that is, that the government may be previously made acquainted with the scheme before any steps are taken towards carrying it into execution; and also that His Majesty's ministers may be informed that it is in the contemplation of the founders of the Institution to accept of my services in the arrangement and management of it.

The peculiar situation in which I stand in this country, as a subject of His Majesty, and being at the same time, by His Majesty's special permission, granted under his royal sign manual, engaged in the service of a foreign prince, this circumstance renders it improper for me to engage myself in this important business, notwithstanding that it might perhaps be considered merely as a private concern, without the knowledge and the approbation of the government.

I am quite certain that my engaging in this or in any other business in which there is any prospect of my being of any public use in this country will meet with the most cordial approbation of

His Most Serene Highness the Elector Palatine, in whose service I am; for I know his sentiments on that subject. And although I do not imagine that His Majesty, or His Majesty's ministers, would disapprove of my giving my assistance in carrying this scheme into. execution, yet I feel it to be necessary that their approbation should be asked and obtained; and, if I might be allowed to express my sentiments on another matter, which, no doubt, has already occurred to every one of the gentlemen to whom I now address myself, I should say that, in my opinion, it would not only be proper, but even necessary, to inform Government of the nature of the scheme that is proposed, and of every circumstance relative to it, and at the same time to ask their countenance and support in carrying it into execution; for although it may be allowable, in this free country, for individuals to unite in forming and executing extensive plans for diffusing useful knowledge and promoting the public good, yet it appears to me that no such establishment should ever be formed in any country without the knowledge and approbation of the executive government.

Trusting that you will be so good as to excuse the liberty I take in making this observation, and that you will consider my doing it as being intended rather to justify myself, by explaining my principles, than from any idea of its being necessary on any other account, I have the honour to be, with much respect,

Gentlemen,

Your most obedient and
Most humble Servant,
(Signed)

RUMFORD.

BROMPTON ROw,* 7th February, 1799.

(Addressed)

To the Gentlemen named by the Committee of the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor to confer with Count Rumford on his scheme for forming a new establishment in London for diffusing the knowledge of useful mechanical improvements, etc. The committee above-mentioned having, in the mean time, made their report to the Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor, that Society came to the following resolution:

(Thursday.)

At a meeting of the Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor, on Friday, the 1st of February, 1799,

PRESENT:

The BISHOP OF DURHAM, in the Chair,

PATRICK COLQUHOUN, Esq.,

THOMAS BERNARD, Esq.,

WILLIAM MANNING, Esq.,
JOHN SULLIVAN, Esq.,
THE REV. DR. Glasse,

JOHN J. ANGERstein, Esq.,

WILLIAM WILBerforce, Esq.,

RICHARD JOSEPH SULIVAN, Esq.,

MATTHEW MARTIN, Esq., Secretary,

the Committee appointed to confer with Count Rumford reported that they had had a conference with the Count, and that they were satisfied that the Institution proposed by him would be extremely beneficial and interesting to the community; that, in order to provide the pecuniary funds of the Society at its commencement, it was proposed that subscribers of fifty guineas each should be the perpetual proprietors of the Institution, and be entitled each to perpetual transferable tickets for the lectures and for admission to the apartments of the Institution; and that, as soon as thirty such subscribers offered, it was proposed to call a meeting of those thirty subscribers, in order to lay the plan before them and elect managers for the Institution.

RESOLVED,

That the said Report be approved of, and that it be referred to the gentlemen of the select committee to communicate the outlines of the plan to the members of the Committee of the Society, and to such other persons as they shall think fit, desiring that those who wish to have their names inserted among the original subscribers to the Institution would communicate their wish to the special committee.

(Extracted from the minutes.)

M. MARTIN, Secretary.

In consequence of this resolution, a paper was printed by the gentlemen of the select committee, containing the outlines of the plan, and sent round privately among

their friends, and others whom they thought likely to countenance the scheme, accompanied by a printed copy of the foregoing resolution, with a request that those who were willing to allow their names to be put down among the original subscribers and proprietors of the Institution would be so good as to communicate their intentions by a letter addressed to Thomas Bernard, Esq., at the Foundling.

The proposals that were circulated in this manner met with so much approbation that fifty-eight of the most respectable names were sent in before measures could be taken for holding a meeting; and these successful beginnings encouraged those who were principally concerned in forming and bringing forward this plan to make some alterations in it, and particularly in respect to the time and manner of choosing the first set of managers, and in regard to an application for a charter for the Institution, which it has been determined to make, in order to place the establishment on a more solid and more respectable foundation, and to give full security to the subscribers against all future claims upon them.

IN THIS STAGE OF THE BUSINESS, and especially as a meeting of the subscribers is to be held in a few days for the purpose of determining what other steps shall be taken for carrying the proposed plan into execution, I have thought it to be my duty to lay all these particulars before the subscribers, and at the same time to state to them at length the general outline of the plan I have taken the liberty to propose, and in the execution of which, if it should be adopted, I am ready to take any part that the subscribers may wish me to take.

RUMFORD.

BROMPTON Row, 4th March, 1799.