ST. MARTINIS SUMMER 345 



less lovely, not so neat. Fabricius, after expatiating 

 upon Linnaeus's fine eyes beaming upon their mirth, goes 

 on to describe the rest of the family with less gusto : 

 1 His wife was tall, robust, domineering, selfish, and 

 destitute of every advantage of a good education. She 

 frequently robbed us of the joys which gilded our social 

 moments. Unable to hold any conversation in decent 

 company, she consequently was never much fond of it 

 herself. Under these disadvantages the education of the 

 children of Linnaeus could not but be of an inferior 

 description. The young ladies, his daughters, are all 

 good-tempered but rough children of nature, and de- 

 prived of those external accomplishments which they 

 might have derived from a better education.' Fabricius 

 speaks with great indignation of Fru von Linne's un- 

 natural dislike of her only son. ' He had actually to 

 sweep his own room,' says he, who is evidently Carl's 

 friend. i Even when he bore an academical dignity she 

 made him sweep his own room ! ' She grudged him 

 even his clothes. One of his kinsmen once made him a 

 present of a great-coat [could this have been one of 

 the two prosperous rectors, his paternal uncles-in-law ?] ; 

 ' she also envied him this gift, and when it was worn 

 out he clandestinely went into the garden and there 

 turned it himself.' 



One cannot understand such unnaturalness in the 

 home of the great naturalist. Linnaeus was afraid of 

 his wife ; though at times, after a storm, he asserted his 

 legitimate authority. According to Fabricius (an eager 



