46 MEMOIR OF SWAMMERDAM. 



he might be able to pursue his scientific enquiries 

 without molestation. He now intimated to this 

 gentleman that it would be convenient for him t 

 accept of this offer ; and his mortification was no 

 slight at receiving a direct refusal. Whether Or 

 had been insincere in his original offer ; whether cir 

 cumstances had so changed as to render Swammer 

 dam's presence inconvenient, or that the latter' 

 peculiar habits, and extravagant religious notions 

 might be thought likely to make him not a ver v 

 desirable inmate, it is useless to enquire : instances 

 of similar treatment, from mere caprice and want o 

 feeling, are too common to render any other expla 

 nation requisite. 



In the midst of these perplexities our author' 

 father died, an event which relieved him from an 

 immediate inconvenience arising from the insensibilit 

 of his reputed friends ; it even held out to him the 

 agreeable prospect of a competency to live according 

 to his inclinations, without the annoyance of any 

 professional drudgery, to which he always entertained 

 a strong dislike. But, when the museum came to be 

 disposed of and his father's property divided, these 

 prospects w r ere by no means realised. His sister 

 claimed more than was rightly her due, and took the 

 chief management of the sale, an exercise of authority 

 to which Swammerdam submitted for the sake of 

 peace, and that he might sooner enjoy the retirement 

 and repose on which his heart was set. But even 

 this surrender of his just rights was far from exempt- 

 ing him from annoyance ; and the vexations attending 



