44 MEMOIR OF SWAMMERDAM. 



chased by the Duke a step which he never could 

 bring his mind to immediately put an end to anv 

 chance of disposing of it in that quarter ; and lie 

 wrote an indignant reprimand to his venal friend for 

 venturing, in reference to his religious profession, to 

 make a proposal to him which would at any time 

 have been considered offensive, but which, in the 

 present state of his sentiments, he regarded with un- 

 qualified abhorrence. While measures were in pro- 

 gress for the sale of his museum, he occasionally 

 employed himself notwithstanding his conviction of 

 the sinfulness of allowing any secular pursuits, even in- 

 cluding those of science, which may be said to be 

 the best and purest, to distract the niind from uninter- 

 rupted meditation on the Supreme Good, and the 

 concerns of a future life in further arranging and 

 improving its contents, especially with a view to ren- 

 der the many delicate preparations it contained as 

 durable as possible, and thus increase their value in 

 the event of a sale. 



Swammerdam's intercourse with Bourignon had 

 hitherto been confined to epistolary correspondence, 

 but he now conceived it essential to his happiness 

 that he should have a personal interview with her, 

 and for this purpose he repaired to Sleswick in Hoi- 

 stein, where she then resided. He staid for some 

 time in her house, and became ere long one of her 

 favourite adherents. An opportunity soon occurred 

 to afford a proof of her confidence in him, and the 

 sincerity of his attachment. The Lutheran divines 

 of Holstein, taking alarm at the pernicious principles 



