54 MEMOIR OF LINNAEUS. 



the king refused to deprive Upsala of her chief splen- 

 dour : but he increased the salary, and allowed the 

 young Linnaeus to be placed as assistant to the pro- 

 fessorship, under the superintendence of his father. 

 Thus did Linnaeus see the fulfilment of his brightest 

 hopes, in the appointment of his son, at the early age 

 of twenty-two, to a chair, which would have been 

 looked upon through Europe, as the greatest and most 

 difficult to be represented. 



Notwithstanding the relief which Linnaeus expe- 

 rienced by the assistance of his son, he continued his 

 public activity till two years before his death ; a mind 

 so constituted, and a manner of life so habituated to 

 activity, could not at once relapse into idleness. In 

 1771* he is described by a traveller, as leading an 

 active and bustling life, never seen at leisure, even his 

 walks had for their objects discoveries in natural 

 history ; and all his moments not embittered by a 

 painful disease, were devoted to his darling science. 

 In the following year he gave a proof of the remaining 

 vigour of his constitution, by delivering a customary 

 oration upon his resignation of office of rector in the 

 assembly, which he had already held three times. 

 He chose as a subject the (C Delicise Naturae," and 

 the whole academical forum found it so beautiful, that 

 the students of the Swedish provinces sent deputies to 

 him the next day, to entreat its translation into the 

 language of that country. 



In 1773, he was chosen member of a committee to 

 superintend a better translation of the Bible into 



