LINNAEUS. 19 
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 
object discoveries in natural history, and all his 
moments, not embittered by pain, were devoted 
to his darling science. 
In the following year he gave a proof of the re- 
maining vigour of his constitution, by delivering 
a customary oration upon his resignation of office 
of Rector of the Assembly, which he had already 
held three times. He chose asasubject the ‘‘ De- 
liciz Nature,’’ 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 Swedish 
language. 
In 1773 he was chosen member of a committee 
to superintend a translation of the Bible into 
Swedish, and the task of ascertaining and de- 
scribing the plants and vegetable productions . 
mentioned in the Holy Scriptures was entrusted 
to his care. In the year following he composed 
Surinam a collection of curious plants preserved 
in spirits, -with the fruit and flowers entire, and 
with much liberality presented them to Linnzeus, 
who composed a catalogue of the whole, making 
out thirteen new genera and about forty unde- 
scribed species. One of these he dedicated to his 
sovereign, under the title of Gustavia Augusta, 
