264 LINNJEUS. 



that kind of forbearance which he showed towards 

 his critics : — '' I have never sent back upon my ene- 

 mies the shafts which they have hurled at me. The 

 grins of the malicious, the ironies and attacks of the 

 envious, I have quietly borne. They have always 

 been the reward of the labours of great men ; but 

 nothing of all this can hurt a hair of my head. Why 

 should I not tolerate the wretches, when I have been 

 loaded with the praises of the most celebrated bo- 

 tanists, before whom they must bend in the dust. 

 My age, my profession, and my character, prevent 

 me from waging war with my opponents. I will 

 employ the few years I have to live in making use- 

 ful observations. In natural history, errors cannot 

 be defended nor truths concealed. I appeal to pos- 

 terity." The decision of posterity, however, may be 

 as unjust as that of our contemnoraries, and the 

 former is in all cases of less impc tance to us than 

 the latter, for it can in no degree benefit the au- 

 thor who relies upon it. And to show that Lin- 

 naeus severely felt the censure of his opponents, 

 we have only to refer to his private memoirs. His 

 treatment of them seems to have been the effect 

 of pride more than of magnanimity, although it 

 appeared to belong to the latter. Rousseau, who 

 greatly admired it, was heard to exclaim, '' Would 

 that I had imitated the Upsal professor ! I should 

 have gained some days of happiness and years of 

 peace." 



About this time also was published his descrip- 

 tion of the museum of Count Tessin, already allud- 

 ed to, under the name of Musaeum Tessinianum. 

 Loefling sent him plants from Spain, and similar 

 accessions poured in from other quarters; but he 



