134 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINNAEUS 



above using mean arts, at length got rid of Linnaeus, 

 at any rate for the present. Linnaeus left Rudbeck's 

 house and gave up his situation of tutor towards the 

 end of the year, at which time he went to his native 

 province of Sm&land. 1 Linnaeus passed part of the 

 winter with his father at Stenbrohult. A vastly different 

 home-coming from before : the young man honoured with 

 a state commission of importance, the vicarial professor 

 of botany at Upsala, was quite another being from the 

 struggling student who was merely seeking his way. 

 The sisters might well be proud of such a brother, 

 and Gabriel Hok, now rector of the adjoining parish of 

 Wirestad, was glad to make a visit to his old pupil 

 an excuse for also enjoying the society of Linnaeus 's 

 fair sister. We are not told precisely when the rector 

 of Wirestad married Anna Maria Linnaea, but we 

 may reasonably conclude it was about this time, and 

 it is very probable that Gabriel's bridesman, a clerical 

 friend, on the same happy occasion met and admired 

 the lively and equally pretty sister Juliana, whom he 

 afterwards carried off to another South Swedish rectory. 2 



In January 1732 Carl paid a visit of some days to 

 his kind friend and preceptor Stobasus at Lund, who 

 had by this time forgiven him for leaving his protection. 

 One of Carl's objects in visiting Lund was to study the 

 collection of fossils belonging to Stobgeus, this being 

 the only branch of natural history he was not well versed 

 in. Linnaeus's mind had grown since he used to look 



1 Diary. 2 Both their portraits are at Hammarby. 



