The _Couvre-feu_ is stated to have been used for extinguishing a fire, by raking the wood and embers to the back of the hearth, and then placing the open part of the _couvre-feu_ close against the back of the chimney. The notion that all fires should be covered up at a certain hour, was a badge of servitude imposed by William the Conqueror, is a popular error; since there is evidence of the same custom prevailing in France, Spain, Italy, Scotland, and many other countries of Europe, at this period: it was intended as a precaution against fires, which were very frequent and destructive, when so many houses were built of wood. Besides, the curfew was used in England in the time of Alfred, who ordained that all the inhabitants of Oxford should, at the ringing of the curfew-bell at Carfax, cover up their fires and go to bed. It is, therefore, concluded that the Conqueror revived or continued the custom which he had previously established in Normandy: in fact, it was, in both countries, a beneficial law of police.[44] FOOTNOTES: [41] Count Rumford was one of the founders of the Royal Institution, the workshop of the Royal Society. In the basement of the house of the Institution in Albemarle Street, was fitted up an experimental kitchen, with "Rumford stoves," roasters, and boilers. One of his earliest stoves is in the Museum of the Royal Society, at Burlington House. Count Rumford lived some time at 45, Brompton Row, where the double windows in the house-front long denoted the scientific aims of the ingenious tenant. [42] See Hall-fires, described at p. 122. [43] It was not till the reign of William III. that coal became our staple fuel. [44] See _Popular Errors Explained_. New edit. p. 42. 1858. The old custom of ringing the curfew-bell is retained in several villages and towns. (See Mr. Syer Cuming's paper in the _Journal of the British Archæological Association_, vol. iv. p. 153. Also, _Notes and Queries_, vols. ii. iii. iv. vi. vii. viii.) In proof that the custom cannot justly be considered an evidence of an unworthy state of subjection, is the fact that the obligation to extinguish fires and lights at a certain hour was imposed upon his subjects by David I. King of Scotland, in his _Leges Burgarum_; and in this case no one ever imagined that it conveyed any sign of infamy or servitude. Curfew-ringing is common in the south of Scotland, at Kelso, and other towns in Roxburghshire, which appears to prove that it cannot have originated with the Norman Conqueror. PRIVATE LIFE OF A QUEEN OF ENGLAND.