7'2 MEMOIR OF LINN^US. 



injustice to their memory, and betrays a want of 

 power to appreciate their respective merits. 



With regard to Buffon, those who would draw a 

 parallel between him and Linnaeus, cannot but per- 

 ceive that there is no true resemblance between 

 them. The Frenchman, though an excellent inter- 

 preter of Nature, painted her only in her more 

 striking and general features, clothing his ingenious 

 conceptions and his fascinating hypotheses in a style 

 always pure, free, and eloquent. The Swedish 

 philosopher is the reverse of all this, sacrificing 

 every consideration of style to one quality alone, 

 that of conciseness ; and so remarkable is this con- 

 densation, that a single page of his writings has 

 frequently given occasion to long treatises, and 

 even been expanded into voluminous and import- 

 ant works. 



Sometimes he is eloquent too; when admiring 

 the works of creation, or paying a last tribute ta 

 the memory of a departed friend, his poetic mind 

 gives utterance to its emotions in the most touching 

 and expressive language. But excepting in these 

 instances, his style was laconic and full of matter. 

 Buflfon wished to make Nature appear lovely. 

 Linneeus sought to make her plain and intelligible ; 

 he had, moreover, studied her in all her depart- 

 ments, whereas the other rarely seized upon any 

 objects but such as were fitted to make him shine 

 as a writer. Linna3us intended to found a school, 



