CH. xxv. LINN&AN COLLECTION. ill I 



place. With this help he continued to work at science till 

 within two years of his death, when his mind became feeble. 

 He died in 1778, loaded with honours and beloved ar<i 

 esteemed by the greatest men all over the world. His had 

 been a noble life; enthusiastic and truth-loving, he had 

 worked, even when he was poor, for science and not for 

 wealth, and when he became famous and rich he helped his 

 pupils as others had helped him, and lived simply and 

 frugally till his death. Unlike Buffon, his private life was as 

 pure as his public life was famous. Over the door of his 

 room he placed the words ' Innocut write, Numcn adest' 

 (' Live innocently, God is present '), and he lived up to his 

 motto. His study of nature had filled him with deep 

 reverence and love for the Great Creator, and he used 

 often to tell his friends how grateful he was to God for 

 those gifts which had made his life so full of interest and 

 delight. 



After the death of Linnaeus his family sold his collection 

 of plants and insects, and all his books and manuscripts, 

 to Dr. James Edward Smith (afterwards Sir J. E. Smith), 

 for one thousand pounds. The King of Sweden was at 

 this time away from Stockholm, but directly he returned 

 and heard that such a valuable national treasure was on 

 its way to England he sent a man-of-war to try and bring 

 it back. A very amusing chase then took place; Dr. 

 Smith did not mean to lose his prize if he could help 

 it, so he set full sail and literally ran away till he reached 

 the Thames, and landed safely in London without being 

 caught. Thus the Linnaean collection came to England, 

 and is now in Burlington House. The Swedes are natu- 

 rally sorry that it left their country, but, on the other hand, 

 it has become more known to scientific men in London 

 than it could ever have been in Stockholm. 

 16 



