Describing how he carried out his principles, he says of the prisoners thus captured: ‘Most of them had been used to living in the most miserable hovels, in the midst of vermin and every kind of filthiness, or to sleep in the streets and under the hedges, half naked and exposed to all the inclemencies of the seasons. A large and commodious building, fitted up in the neatest and most comfortable manner, was now provided for their reception. In this agreeable retreat they found spacious and elegant apartments kept with the most scrupulous neatness; well warmed in winter and well lighted; a good warm dinner every day, _gratis_, cooked and served up with all possible attention to order and cleanliness; materials and utensils for those that were able to work; masters _gratis_ for those who required instruction; the most generous pay, _in money_, for all the labour performed; and the kindest usage from every person, from the highest to the lowest, belonging to the establishment. Here in this asylum for the indigent and unfortunate, no ill-usage, no harsh language is permitted. During five years that the establishment has existed, not a blow has been given to anyone, not even to a child by his instructor.’ This appears like the very expensive scheme of a benevolent utopian; but, to set my readers at rest on this point, I will anticipate a little by stating that, although at first some expense was incurred, all this was finally repaid, and, at the end of six years, there remained a net profit of 100,000 florins, ‘after expenses of every kind, salaries, wages, repairs, &c., had been deducted.’ When will _our_ workhouses be administered with similar results? I must not dwell upon his devices for gradually inveigling the lazy creatures into habits of industry, for he understood human nature too well to adopt the gaoler’s theory, which assumes that every able-bodied man can do a day’s work daily, in spite of previous habits. Rumford’s patients became industrious ultimately, but were not made so at once. This development of industry was one of the elements of financial and moral success, and the next in importance was the economy of the commissariat, which depended on Rumford’s skilful cookery of the cheapest viands, rendering them digestible, nutritious, and palatable. Had he adopted the dietary of an English workhouse or an English prison, his financial success would have been impossible, and his patients would have been no better fed, nor better able to work.