Essays; Political, Economical, and Philosophical Part 1

Essays, Political, etc.

Vol. 1.

by Benjamin Rumford.

Dedication

To his most serene highness THE ELECTOR PALATINE reigning duke of bavaria. etc. etc. etc.

SIR,

In requesting permission to dedicate to you most Serene Electoral Highness these Essays, I had several important objects in view: I was desirous of showing to the world that I had not presumed to publish an account of public measures and inst.i.tutions, planned and executed in your Electorial Highness's dominions,--by your orders,--and under your immediate authority and protection, without your leave and approbation. I was also desirous of availing myself of the ill.u.s.trious name of a Sovereign eminently distinguished by his munificence in promoting useful knowledge, and by his solicitude for the happiness and prosperity of his subjects, to recommend the important objects I have undertaken to investigate, to the attention of the Great,--the Wise,--and the Benevolent.

And lastly, I was anxious to have an opportunity of testifying, in a public manner, my grat.i.tude to your most Serene Electoral Highness for all your kindness to me; and more especially for the distinguished honour you have done me by selecting and employing me as an instrument in your hands of doing good.

I have the honour to be, with the most profound respect, and with unalterable attachment,

SIR, Your Most Serene ELECTORIAL HIGHNESS's

Devoted Servant,

RUMFORD.

London,

July, 1st, 1796.

INTRODUCTION.

[ IMAGE ] view of the Military Workhouse at Munich

Situation of the Author in the Service of His Most Serene Highness the ELECTOR PALATINE, Reigning Duke of BAVARIA.

Reasons which induced him to undertake to form an Establishment for the Relief of the Poor.

Among the vicissitudes of a life chequered by a great variety of incidents, and in which I have been called upon to act in many interesting scenes, I have had an opportunity of employing my attention upon a subject of great importance; a subject intimately and inseparably connected with the happiness and well-being of all civil societies; and which, from its nature, cannot fail to interest every benevolent mind;--it is the providing for the wants of the Poor, and the securing their happiness and comfort by the introduction of order and industry among them.

The subject, though it is so highly interesting to mankind, has not yet been investigated with that success that could have been wished. This fact is apparent, not only from the prevalence of indolence, misery, and beggary, in almost all the countries of Europe; but also from the great variety of opinion among those who have taken the matter into serious consideration, and have proposed methods for remedying those evils; so generally, and so justly complained of.

What I have to offer upon the this subject being not merely speculative opinion, but the genuine result of actual experiments; of experiments made upon a very large scale, and under circ.u.mstances which render them peculiarly interesting; I cannot help flattering myself that my readers will find both amus.e.m.e.nt, and useful information, from the perusal of the following sheets.

As it may perhaps appear extraordinary that a military man should undertake a work so foreign to his profession, as that of forming and executing a plan for providing for the Poor, I have thought it not improper to preface the narrative of my operations, by a short account of the motives which induced me to engage in this undertaking. And in order to throw still more light upon the whole transaction, I shall begin with a few words of myself, of my situation in the country in which I reside, and of the different objects which were had in view in the various public measures in which I have been concerned. This information is necessary in order to form a clear idea of the circ.u.mstances under which the operations in question were undertaken, and the different public measures which were adopted at the same time.

Having in the year 1784, with His Majesty's gracious permission, engaged myself in the service of His Most Serene Highness the Elector Palatine, Reigning Duke of Bavaria, I have since been employed by His Electoral Highness in various public services, and particularly in arranging his military affairs, and introducing a new system of order, discipline, and economy among his troops.

In the execution of this commission, ever mindful of that great and important truth, that no political arrangement can be really good, except in so far as it contributes to the general good of society, I have endeavoured in all my operations to unite the interest of the soldier with the interest of civil society, and to render the military force, even in time of peace, subservient to the PUBLIC GOOD.

To facilitate and promote these important objects, to establish a respectable standing military force, which should do the least possible harm to the population, morals, manufactures, and agriculture of the country, it was necessary to make soldiers citizens, and citizens soldiers. To this end the situation of the soldier was made as easy, comfortable, and eligible as possible; his pay was increased, he was comfortably, and even elegantly clothed, and he was allowed every kind of liberty not inconsistent with good order and due subordination; his military exercises were simplified, his instruction rendered short and easy, and all obsolete and useless customs and usages were banished from the service. Great attention was paid to the external appearance of the buildings; and nothing was left undone, that could tend to make the men comfortable in their dwellings. Schools were established in all the regiments, for arithmetic; and into these schools, not only the soldiers and their children, but also the children of the neighbouring citizens and peasants, were admitted gratis, and even school-books, paper[1], pens, and ink, were furnished for them, at the expense of the Sovereign.

Besides these schools of instruction, others, called schools of industry, were established in the regiments, where the soldiers and their children were taught various kinds of work, and from whence they were supplied with raw materials, to work for their own emolument.

As nothing is so certain fatal to morals, and particularly to the morals of the lower cla.s.s of mankind, as habitual idleness, every possible measure was adopted, that could be devised, to introduce a spirit of industry among the troops. Every encouragement was given to the soldiers to employ their leisure time, when they were off duty, in working for their own emolument; and among other encouragements, the most efficacious of all, that of allowing them full liberty to dispose of the money acquired by their labour in any way they should think proper, without being obliged to give any account of it to any body. They were even furnished with working dresses, (a canvas frock and trousers,) gratis, at their enlisting, and were afterwards permitted to retain their old uniforms for the same purpose; and care was taken, in all cases where they were employed, that they should be well paid.

They commonly received from sixteen to eighteen creutzers[2] a-day for their labour; and with this they had the advantage of being clothed and lodged, and, in many cases, of receiving their full pay of five creutzers, and a pound and a half (1 lb. 13 1/2; oz.

Avoirdupois) of bread per day from the Sovereign. When they did their duty in their regiments, by mounting guard regularly according to their tour (which commonly was every fourth day,) and only worked those days they happened to be off guard, in that case, they received their full pay; but when they were excused from regimental duty, and permitted to work every day for their own emolument, their pay (at five creutzers per day,) was stopped, but they were still permitted to receive their bread, and to lodge in the barracks.

In all public works, such as making and repairing highways, --draining marshes,--repairing the banks of rivers, etc.

soldiers were employed as labourers; and in all such cases, the greatest care was taken to provide for their comfortable subsistence, and even for their amus.e.m.e.nt. Good lodgings were prepared for them, and good and wholesome food, at a reasonable price; and the greatest care was taken of them when they happened to fall sick.

Frequently, when considerable numbers of them were at work together, a band of music was ordered to play to them while at work; and on holidays they were permitted, and even encouraged, to make merry, with dancing and other innocent sports and amus.e.m.e.nts.

To preserve good order and harmony among those who were detached upon these working parties, a certain proportion of officers and non-commissioned officers were always sent with them, and those commonly served as overseers of the works, and as such were paid.

Besides this permission to work for hire in the garrison towns, and upon detached working parties, which was readily granted to all those who desired it, or at least to as many as could possibly be spared from the necessary service of the garrison; every facility and encouragement was given to the soldier who was a native of the country, and who had a family of friends to go to, or private concerns to take care of, to go home on furlough, and to remain absent from his regiment from one annual exercise to the other, that is to say, ten months and a half each year.

This arrangement was very advantageous to the agriculture and manufactures, and even to the population of the country, (for the soldiers were allowed to marry,) and served not a little to the establishment of harmony and a friendly intercourse between the soldiers and the peasantry, and to facilitate recruiting.

Another measure which tended much to render the situation of the soldier pleasant and agreeable, and to facilitate the recruiting service, was the rendering the garrisons of the regiments permanent.

This measure might not be advisable in a despotic, or odious government; for where the authority of the Sovereign must be supported by the terror of arms, all habits of social intercourse and friendship between the soldiers and the subjects must be dangerous; but in all well-regulated governments, such friendly intercourse is attended with many advantages.

A peasant would more readily consent to his son's engaging himself to serve as a soldier in a regiment permanently stationed in his neighbourhood, than in one at a great distance, or whose destination was uncertain; and when the station of a regiment is permanent, and it receives its recruits from the district of country immediately surrounding its head-quarters, the men who go home on furlough have but a short journey to make, and are easily a.s.sembled in case of any emergency; and it was the more necessary to give every facility to the soldiers to go home on furlough in Bavaria, as labourers are so very scarce in that country that the husbandman would not be able without them to cultivate his ground.

The habits of industry and of order which the soldier acquired when in garrison, rendered him so much the more useful as a labourer when on furlough; but not contented with merely furnishing labours for the a.s.sistance of the husbandman, I was desirous of making use of the army, as a means of introducing useful improvements into the country.

Though agriculture is carried to the highest perfection in some parts of the Elector's dominions, yet in others, and particularly in Bavaria, it is still much behind-hand. Very few of the new improvements in that art, such as the introduction of new and useful plants--the cultivation of clover and of turnips--the regular succession of crops, etc. have yet found their way into general practice in that country; and even the potatoe, that most useful of all the products of the ground, is scarcely known there.

It was princ.i.p.ally with a view to introduce the culture of potatoes in that country that the military gardens were formed.

These gardens (of which there is one in every garrison belonging to the Elector's dominion, Dusseldorf and Amberg only excepted[3]) are pieces of ground, in, or adjoining to the garrison towns, which are regularly laid out, and exclusively appropriated to the use of the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers belonging to the regiments in garrison.

The ground is regularly divided into districts of regiments, battalions, companies, and corporalities (corporalschafts,) of which last divisions there are four to each company; and the quant.i.ty of ground allotted to each corporality is such that each man belonging to it, whether non-commissioned officer or private, has a bed 365 square feet in superficies.

This piece of ground remains his sole property as long as he continues to serve in the regiment, and he is at full liberty to cultivate it in any way, and to dispose of the produce of it in any manner he may think proper. He must however cultivate it, and plant it, and keep it neat and free from weeds; otherwise, if he should be idle, and neglect it, it would be taken from him and given to one of his more industrious comrades.

The divisions of these military gardens are marked by broader and smaller alleys, covered with gravel, and neatly kept; and in order that every one who chooses it, may be a spectator of this interesting scene of industry, all the princ.i.p.al alleys, which are made large for that purpose, are always open as a public walk. The effect which this establishment has already produced in the short time (little more than five years) since it was begun, is very striking, and much greater and more important than I could have expected.

The soldiers, from being the most indolent of mortals, and from having very little knowledge of gardening, or of the produce of a garden, for use, are now becoming industrious and skilful cultivators, and they are grown so fond of vegetables, particularly of potatoes, which they raise in great quant.i.ties, that these useful and wholesome productions now const.i.tutes a very essential part of their daily food. And these improvements are also spreading very fast among the farmers and peasants, throughout the whole country. There is hardly a soldier that goes on furlough, or that returns home at the expiration of his time of service, that does not carry with him a few potatoes for planting, and a little collection of garden-seeds; and I have no doubt but in a very few years we shall see potatoes as much cultivated in Bavaria as in other countries; and that the use of vegetables for food will be generally introduced among the common people. I have already had the satisfaction to see little gardens here and there making their appearance, in different parts of the country, and I hope that very soon no farmer's house will be found without one.

To a.s.sist the soldiers in the cultivation of their gardens, they are furnished with garden utensils gratis; they are likewise furnished from time to time with a certain quant.i.ty of manure, and with an a.s.sortment of garden-feeds; but they do not rely solely upon these supplies; those who are industrious collect materials in their barracks, and in the streets, for making manure, and even sometimes purchase it, and they raise in their own gardens most of the garden-seeds they stand in need of.

To enable them to avail themselves of their gardens as early in the spring as possible, in supplying their tables with green vegetables, each company is furnished with a hot-bed for raising early plants.

To attach the soldiers more strongly to these their little possessions, by increasing their comfort and convenience in the cultivation and enjoyment of them, a number of little summer-houses, or rather huts, one to each company, have been erected for the purpose of shelter, where they can retire when it rains, or when they are fatigued.

All the officers of the regiments, from the highest to the lowest, are ordered to give the men every a.s.sistance in the cultivation of these their gardens; but they are forbidden, upon pain of the severest punishment, to appropriate to themselves any part of the produce of them, or even to receive any part of it in presents.

CHAPTER. I.

Of the prevalence of mendicity in Bavaria at the time when the measures for putting an end to it were adopted.