LINN.EUS. 193 



little patrimony was soon exhausted, and he was reduced to 

 depend upon chance for a meal. Unable to pay even for the 

 mending of his shoes, he was obliged to patch them himself 

 with folded paper. 



At length, in the autumn of 1729, as he was intently exa- 

 mining some plants in the garden of the university, he was 

 accosted by Celsius, professor of divinity, and an eminent 

 naturalist, who was then engaged in preparing a work on the 

 plants mentioned in the scripture. A little conversation 

 soon apprised him of the extraordinary botanical acquisitions 

 of the student, and perceiving his necessitous circumstances, 

 he took him to live in his own house. It was in this year 

 that LinnoDus conceived the idea of a new systematic ar- 

 rangement of plants. He drew up a treatise, which was 

 shown to Celsius, and by him to the botanical professor, who 

 had the liberality to bestow on it his warmest approbation. 

 As the professor's advanced age made him desirous of an as- 

 sistant in the office of lecturing, LinnfKus was appointed. 

 He was afterwards invited by the Academy of Sciences at 

 Upsal, to explore the cold regions of Lapland, and the ala- 

 crity with which this proposal was accepted, and the faith- 

 fulness with which the objects of his journey were secured, 

 were equally creditable to his zeal and perseverance. He 

 visited Holland, and the most richly stored gardens of Eng- 

 land and France. The great object of his wishes had always 

 been the professorship of botany at Upsal, and through the 

 kindness of an eminent Swedish statesman, he at length 

 was chosen to that station, and he entered upon the duties of 

 his c^ce in the autumn of 1741. His increasing fame at- 

 tracted students from every quarter, among whom were se- 

 veral, who imbibed, and diffused throughout the civilized 

 world, a taste for the science over which Linnaeus presided. 



His father who had so often grieved at the perverseness of 

 his son's disposition for hunting after plants and insects, for- 

 tunately lived to see him, not only professor of botany, but 

 dean of the College of Physicians at Upsal, caressed by the 

 noblemen of Sweden, and honoured by all the learned men 

 of Europe. His opulence was such as to enable him to pur- 

 chase an estate near Upsal, which was his chief summer re- 

 sidence during the last fifteen years of his life. His views 

 of nature impressed him with the most devout sentiments 

 towards its author, and a glow of unaifected piety is conti- 

 17 



