RISE AND PROGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. XXXV 



of his recommendations. He possessed the 

 happiest command of language, and was equally 

 happy in its application to his subjects. Pre- 

 cision and conciseness were its most frequent 

 and prominent merits. He knew well that a 

 flowery rhetoric was not the proper vehicle of 

 scientific detail ; but no one could be more 

 eloquent and animated than Linnaeus when 

 occasion called or the subject permitted. As 

 fine descriptions may be selected from his 

 works as, perhaps, from those of any modern 

 author ; it is only necessary to consult the 

 Flora Lapponica to prove the truth of this as- 

 sertion. 



One of the greatest merits of Linnaeus, and 

 which must not be overlooked here, is a strain 

 of the most natural and unaffected piety, equally 

 free from fanaticism and superstition. Unlike 

 some inquirers, he was not made an Atheist by 

 his researches into nature. On the contrary, 

 by the constant habit of contemplating her 

 wondrous energies, and scrutinizing her com- 

 plicated operations, his thoughts were con- 

 tinually elevated to the sublime Artist of 

 all. He did not attribute the production and 

 support of the universe to fate, to chance, to 

 generative force, or to any of those unmeaning 

 words, with which a false philosophy delights 



