i8 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINNAEUS 



fighting off memory, so that he might be able to return 

 at a later period rich and great to claim his Elizabeth, 

 having won her by sheer force of toil. ' Casting one 

 single regard of a painful victorious knowledge,' he now 

 felt the rebound of spirits. * I meet with few minds 

 to excite me, many to drain me off, and by the habits 

 of discharging, and receiving nothing in return, I am 

 run off to the very lees.' * So it was with Linnseus : he 

 must go to nature again. He would not, however, leave 

 the benefactor to whom he owed so much until he had 

 accomplished all that was expected of him. He perfected 

 the garden and completed the c Hortus Cliffortianus.' In 

 consequence of all this labour he became, towards the 

 autumn of this year, so much enervated thai? he could 

 no longer bear the air of Holland, although he lived in 

 the best circumstances that any mortal could wish for. 2 

 For Clifford redoubled his kindness and persuasions, 

 ' and when he found Linnaeus intended to leave him, he 

 requested him to remain at Leyden at his (Clifford's) 

 expense, to attend Boerhaave as long as he chose, and 

 not to depart before the professorship of botany at 

 Utrecht was vacated by the death of old Serrurier, as 

 Linnaeus might be quite sure of succeeding him. He 

 also offered Linnaeus a salary during this interval.' 3 



Even the proffered dead men's shoes were no tempta- 

 tion. Carl writes naively that, notwithstanding these 

 offers, and the delight and reputation he enjoyed at 

 a place where he was visited as an oracle by every 

 1 Ed. Irving, * Diary. 3 Ibid. 



