192 LINN.EUS. 



resided as a clergyman. His father was attached to his gar- 

 den, which he had stocked with some of the rarer plants 

 in that climate, and it is to the delight with which this 

 spot inspired Charles, from his earliest childliood, that he 

 himself ascribes his botanical passion. He was not distin- 

 guished for his proficiency in the ordinary studies of a lite- 

 rary education ; but he made a rapid progress in the know- 

 ledge of plants, which he ardently pursued, both by frequent 

 excursions in the fields, and by the unwearied perusal of 

 such books on the subject as he was able to procure. When 

 his father, who designed him for his own profession, came 

 to the seminary, at which he was placed, for the purpose of 

 inquiring into his improvement, he vvas much mortified to 

 find his son declared utterly unfit for a learned profession by 

 the tutors, who advised that he should be put to some manual 

 occupation. In this perplexity he applied to the physician, 

 Rothman, who was also lecturer in natural philosophy. This 

 person discovered in young Linnaeus, talents, which, though 

 not fitted to make him a theologian, were not ill adapted for 

 another profession, and he proposed that of a physician. 

 He took the youth gratuitously into his own house, gave 

 him private instructions, and put him into a systematic me- 

 thod of studying botany. 



In 1727, Linna3us entered the' University of Lund. He 

 lodged in the house of Stoboeus, a physician, who pos- 

 sessed a good library, and a museum of natural history. He 

 paid for his entertainment by various little services, and it 

 was only by accident that his host came to know the extent 

 of his studious ardour. The mother of Stoboeus having ob- 

 served that the candle in his chamber was burning at unsea- 

 sonable hours, was induced, through fear of fire, to complain 

 of it to her son. Stobojus, therefore, entered his chamber 

 at a late hour, and found him diligently occupied with read- I 

 ing. Struck with this proof of his thirst after improvement, 

 he gave Linnaeus the free use of his library, and admission 

 to his table. The advice of Rothman, however, caused him, 

 in 1728, to quit Lund, and to remove to Upsal, for the sake 

 of the superior advantages it afforded. His father advanced 

 him the sum of about eight pounds sterling, which he was 

 informed was all the paternal assistance he was to expect. 

 Thus he was turned out upon the world while yet but a learn- 

 er in the profession by which he was to obtain his bread. His 



